“Let violence be a national catastrophe”

An association of Catholic nuns is trying to change the story of gender-based violence in Kenya. The phenomenon is considered a national emergency more than in any other African country, but institutions are struggling to curb it.

According to the Kenyan National Statistical Institute, 34% of the female population, from the age of 15, has experienced violence. There was a record 725 Femicides in 2022.

The data provided by UN Women - the UN body that deals with gender equality and women’s empowerment - show, also in 2022, that 41% of married women suffered physical violence, compared to 20% of unmarried women. The spotlight on this drama was turned on again in early September with the murder of Ugandan marathon runner Rebecca Cheptegei who was living and training in Kenya. The 33-year-old athlete had recently returned from the Paris Olympics, and on that day, a Sunday, she had just been to church with her two children. Her partner, the Kenyan Dickson Ndiema Marangach, after yet another argument doused her with petrol and set her on fire in her house in Endebess, in the western county of Trans-Nzoia, where she had bought a piece of land. It caused burns on 80% of her body, from which she did not survive.

That of the Kenya Sisters’ Association (AOSK) is a gentle work of institutional “stitching”. AOSK is an organisation of pontifical law founded in 1962, and formed by consecrated women in constant and continuous relations with the Holy See, within the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.

AOSK in recent months has officially called on the Kenyan government for a change of pace to address gender-based violence. It did so with a petition addressed to President William Ruto, through the office of Cabinet Secretary for Gender Affairs Aisha Jumwa. The Catholic sisters, from Kenya’s 47 counties, outlined a number of concrete measures that the state should consider to counter this dramatic problem. Spearheading the request was Sister Pasilisa Namikoye, executive secretary of the AOSK. “We urge the government of Kenya, through the office of President William Ruto, to declare gender-based violence a ‘national catastrophe’ and put in place appropriate measures to address the problem,” said Sister Namikoye, here outlining the proposed guidelines.

In one of the first points, the recommendations of the Catholic sisters include the creation of accessible safe houses for victims of gender-based violence.

The association also insisted on the need to train police officers on how to handle cases of gender-based violence and take strong action against abusers.

The sisters also ask the government to establish a national register of perpetrators of violence in all administrative offices and police stations in the country, so that criminals can be more easily identified. They also expressed their commitment, as members of the Catholic Church, to intensify their efforts to combat this phenomenon and to cooperate with the authorities in any solution. In Kenya, they represent a strong force; there are a thousand parishes and almost six thousand religious in Kenya. One third of the population is Catholic.

Speaking to the AOSK was Anne Wang’ombe, Principal Secretary at the Department of State in charge of monitoring the emergency within the Ministry of Gender, Culture, Arts and Heritage of the Republic of Kenya.

Wang’ombe welcomed and praised the step taken by the Catholic nuns. The Principal Secretary said that the fight against gender-based violence “is a campaign that requires the participation of everyone, including the Catholic Church”.

He also said that the Ministry has developed a number of measures, some of which have been implemented, such as the Sexual Offences Act and the Protection from Domestic Violence Act, which are beginning to bear fruit with the decrease in cases of female genital mutilation. “We need everyone’s help. We must all get involved because this is not a war we can win alone,” Wang’ombe appealed. The sisters are up for it and are ready to hold out their hands, waiting for that first goal - to declare gender violence a “national catastrophe” - that would open the door to an unprecedented breakthrough.

by Gelsomino Del Guercio
Journalist

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