State agencies, stakeholders: This is how to address Kenya’s femicide problem
Kenya Women Parliamentarian Association (Kewopa) Chairperson Leah Sankaire Sopiato (centre) speaks during the stakeholder’s engagement by the Technical Working Group on Gender Based Violence (GBV) Including Femicide held at the KICC on April 08, 2025.
Setting court timelines for sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) and femicide cases, allocating more resources to state agencies, and drafting laws to define femicide and punish offenders were among the recommendations presented to the Technical Working Group on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide.
The Kenya Women Parliamentary Association (Kewopa), through Chairperson Leah Sankaire, urged the taskforce to support a law mandating county governments to establish safe houses for SGBV survivors.
To address delays in the courts, Kewopa proposed a timeline of six to 12 months for processing cases in specialised gender courts.
They also called for a national sex offender registry to monitor convicted offenders. Kewopa blamed the slow progress on amending the Sexual Offences Act (2006) on the lack of support from male MPs.
"Patriarchy in Parliament is a serious bottleneck in passing gender laws, including the two-thirds gender law. Men, compared to women MPs, have the numbers and without them, no laws can pass,” said Ms Sankaire, who is also the Kajiado Woman Representative.
Dr Nancy Baraza, the chairperson of the Technical Working Group on Gender Based Violence (GBV) Including Femicide, with vice-chairperson, Dr Sam Thenya, on April 8, 2025 during the stakeholder’s engagement held at the Kenya International Convention Centre (KICC), Nairobi.
Data from the Government Laboratory shows that between 2022 and 2024, women accounted for 48.5 percent of all homicides (787 of 1,624).
During this period, the lab used forensic DNA technology in over 2,500 sexual offence cases, 1,600 murder cases, and 100 assault cases.
Submitting his memorandum, Government Chemist William Munywoki cited challenges such as outdated technology, uncollected reports, lack of training and poor crime scene management.
"Time lapse between evidence collection and submission is absolutely very critical. The window period for taking intimate samples of sexual offences is 72 hours for adults, and 24 hours for pre-puberty victims. When this does not happen, there are high chances of evidence not being helpful in court cases,” Dr Munywoki said.
To improve operations, the Government Chemist recommended modernising systems, increasing budgetary allocations, recruiting more staff and establishing an inter-agency forensic science group. He also called for the formulation of a DNA law, finalisation of the National Forensic Science Bill, and partnerships for resource mobilisation and knowledge sharing.
Dr Bernard Mogase, the CEO of the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR), identified several barriers to addressing SGBV.
These include the lack of a clear definition of femicide and the failure to recognise consensual adolescent relationships, which leads to the unfair prosecution of men.
“There is a need for the law to distinguish between consensual adolescent relationships and exploitative or abusive relationships, thus providing a more nuanced approach that offers guidance and protection without unjust penalties,” Dr Mogase said.
Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) CEO Dr Bernard Mogesa speaks on April 8, 2025 during the stakeholder’s engagement held at the Kenya International Convention Centre (KICC), Nairobi.
The KNCHR also highlighted the lack of legislation on sexual harassment in public spaces and the legality of out-of-court settlements for sexual offences as obstacles.
The Commission recommended the decentralisation and equipping of GBV units within the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions and the National Police Service.
They also urged the State Department of Gender and county governments to establish recovery centres and safe houses across the country.
They also called on the Attorney-General's Office to operationalise the Victim Protection and Legal Aid Fund to provide legal assistance and compensation to survivors.
The National Council on the Administration of Justice (NCAJ) Committee on SGBV noted that women and girls suffer the most from GBV.
A 2022 Demographic and Health Survey found that 16 percent of women had experienced physical violence and 14 percent had experienced sexual violence. In 2021 alone, 8,149 GBV cases were reported, with 92 percent of victims being female.
NCAJ linked the prevalence of domestic violence and lack of accountability to a culture that normalises violence and the "wanton" killing of women.
“Femicide in Kenya is indeed indicative of unchecked gender-based violence... femicide is the most brutal manifestation of GBV,” their memorandum said.
To address this, the NCAJ urged the taskforce to make recommendations to help revise the Sexual Offences Act. The committee has already drafted a bill to define femicide, technology-facilitated GBV, online exploitation, domestic violence and new offences.
NCAJ also called for an integrated data system to collect and manage GBV data for better response. “There is an urgent need to resource the establishment of infrastructure in response to GBV… and improve coordination for the collection and handling of forensic evidence to support prosecution of SGBV cases,” the memorandum said.
A study by the Collaborative Centre for Gender and Development in 2024 found that 90 percent of young adults in Nairobi's tertiary institutions had witnessed technology-facilitated GBV, with 39 percent having personally experienced it.
Simon Nabukwesi, the Principal Secretary for Higher Education and Research, said that power imbalances such as "sex for grades" and drug abuse were common forms of GBV in universities. He also identified peer pressure, toxic masculinity, poor policy enforcement and lack of awareness of consent as contributing factors.
To address this, he recommended comprehensive GBV policies, a zero-tolerance framework, dedicated GBV offices, victim support systems and staff training.
“The causes of SGBV in Kenyan universities are deeply interwoven with societal attitudes, institutional failures and student behaviours. Tackling it requires systemic reforms, including policy enforcement, education on consent and gender equality, and cultural transformation within university communities,” his memorandum stated.
Fresiah Gathumbi, the acting CEO of the National Legal Aid Services, noted that a regressive culture is a major contributor to SGBV, but added that implementation of the law to combat the vice remains a major challenge.
For the NLAS chief, the establishment of SGBV courts, creating awareness on the dangers of normalising domestic violence by husbands against wives as dictated by culture, and strict adherence to the law, are just some of the ways Kenya can better combat SGBV and femicide.
The 42-member technical working group, chaired by former Deputy Chief Justice Nancy Baraza, was formed by President Ruto in January to assess, review and recommend measures to strengthen the institutional, legal and policy response to gender-based violence (GBV) and femicide.