Why society must avoid bias against women raising children alone
A mother with her two children. Women-headed households do not emerge in a vacuum; they arise from a complex web of circumstances.
What you need to know:
- Single mothers in Kenya navigate stigma, hardship, and resilience while raising families without societal support.
- Women-led households reveal complex realities shaped by violence, choice, and survival in modern Kenya today.
A parenting story published in the Nation on Wednesday featured a woman who has raised her three children single-handedly.
Joyce Gituro shared her experience of raising her two sons and daughter alone and the persistent stigma she faced. She said in church, women raising children without men are still viewed as lacking morals. In her case, her situation followed the end of a marriage, yet judgment persisted.
This narrative is not isolated. In a separate column last year, Benjamin Nzulu discouraged men from marrying women with children, suggesting that those who identify as “proud mothers” are merely attempting to reclaim dignity in their circumstances.
Such views risk reinforcing harmful stereotypes that further marginalise women-led households. Yet the reality of these households is both recognised and widespread. The 2022 census shows that women head 34 per cent of households in Kenya.
Complex web
These households do not emerge in a vacuum. They arise from a complex web of circumstances. The National Policy on Family Promotion and Protection (2023) acknowledges one-parent households, attributing their existence to factors such as imprisonment, migration, death, abandonment, divorce, or separation.
However, it fails to fully account for other lived realities, including girls under the age of 18 becoming mothers as a result of sexual exploitation and violence, as well as early sexual exposure linked to drug abuse, peer pressure, social media influence, dysfunctional family environments, and mental health challenges.
The policy also does not explicitly recognise women who have fled abusive marriages with their children, often taking on both caregiving and breadwinning roles. One painful reality is the high number of mothers who are themselves still children.
Kenyan courts received 31,460 cases of sexual and gender-based violence in the 2024/25 financial year, a slight decline from 32,909 the previous year, underscoring the country’s ongoing struggle with gender-based offences.
Nine counties – Nairobi, Meru, Kiambu, Nakuru, Machakos, Kisumu, Kisii, Kakamega, and Bungoma – each recorded more than 1,000 cases, according to the 2024/25 Administration of Justice in Kenya Annual Report by the National Council on the Administration of Justice.
Pregnancies in childhood further illustrate this reality. According to the 2024 Economic Survey by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, 253,300 adolescents aged 10–19 presented with pregnancy at their first antenatal care visit. Of these, 11,831 were aged 10–14, while 241,483 were aged 15–19. In 2025, the number stood at 241,228—thousands of children thrust into parenthood while still children themselves. This is in addition to women who conceived as a result of sexual violence during periods such as the 2007/08 post-election crisis, when more than 3,000 women were sexually violated.
Marriage not compulsory
At the same time, it is important to recognise that some women deliberately choose one-parent households through adoption, surrogacy, or IVF. No law in Kenya compels a woman to marry. The Marriage Act (2014) defines marriage as the voluntary union of a man and a woman, whether monogamous or polygamous.
Recognising the unique challenges faced by one-parent households, the government commits in its policy framework to strengthening family wellbeing programmes by expanding and coordinating support services and infrastructure.
However, stigma remains a significant barrier. A 2025 study published in The Family Journal, which examined stigmatisation and coping mechanisms among middle-class single mothers, found that stigma permeates nearly aspects of their lives.
This often results in social isolation, emotional distress, anxiety, loneliness, low self-esteem, professional setbacks, reduced family support, and, in some cases, suicidal ideation. “To cope, single mothers employ various strategies, including limiting social interactions, concealing their marital status, and drawing strength from religious faith or meditation,” the researchers noted.
The study calls for greater societal acceptance to improve the mental and emotional well-being of women-headed households. Pausing before casting judgment acknowledges the complex realities that shape women-headed households.
