By IMMACULATE AWINJA
“I went to report my abusive husband to my religious leader, he prayed for me and told me to fast and pray for my husband and learn to be submissive” says Anyango a survivor of Domestic Violence.
The constitution of Kenya as the supreme law on the land, mandates the state and the public officers to address the need of vulnerable groups within the society including women, the elderly, and persons with disabilities (PWD), minoritised or marginalized groups, children and youth.
This places the state and its organs and public officers the duty to ensure the Bill of Rights in chapter four of the constitution of Kenya, 2010 is followed to the letter. The amendment of section 38 of the Sexual Offence Act was seen as a major achievement in advancement of women’s right in the fight against SGBV but we still have cases underreported according to National Crime Center report in 2017.
The main root cause of Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV) in Kenya include cultural and religious beliefs. These beliefs persist around women and girls, this attitude continue to perpetuate harmful practices such as female genital mutilation (FGM) and Corrective rape/conversion therapy that contribute to the normalization of SGBV.
The culture of gender-based violence and misogyny devalue women, girls and LGBTQ individuals normalizes or minimize abuse; claims GBV is accidental ;ignores sexism; promotes aggressive or even toxic masculinity; and uses men’s achievements to exonerate ,excuse, and /or deny the impact of their behavior .
Most African societies are highly patriarchal. For example; in rural areas of Kenya .Girls and boys will have fairly separate upbringing with each being taught the duties and obligations specific to their gender. The dowry system, whereby a payment of some form is made to the bride’s family by the grooms’ family is very common in Kenya. After the payment the man feels entitled and treats the woman as their commodity.
Religious ideologies on women being inferior to men, the perception of women as “unclean” and the portrayal of virtuous women as “submissive.” A common understanding is that religion depresses women’s rights in general reproductive and abortion rights in particular. Religious houses are particularly good at responding to the victims of GBV by providing pastrol care, shelter, and welfare, emotional and moral support. However, the good work they do only masks the evil they, themselves, perpetrate on the victims of GBV.
Religious houses are the bastions of chauvinism and women oppression in this country. The religious leaders’ word is unquestioningly taken for gospel by the believer. The worship centers command women to be submissive to men in all circumstance, then chastise the woman for not being enough when a man misbehaves. The fact that Islam and Christian creeds reference women as chattels of their men show how religion contributes to the high rate of GBV.
“As a lawfully wedded wife it is my duty to fulfil my husband’s needs even if I don’t feel like it” said Furaha a victim of Intimate partner violence (IPV).
Most women have normalized GBV in their homes because they believe in religious texts, teachings and communities not knowing that most of them are used to condone or excuse GBV.
As a human rights activist and a paralegal my work becomes so difficult when handling SGBV cases of persons who are staunch believers of religion and culture.
