Muthoni Gichimu*

Introduction

Death, is often viewed as a great equaliser that strikes all indiscriminately.[1] However, just like many aspects and facets of life and social experiences, at times, even death discriminates.[2] Precisely through elements such as gender, age and race.[3] The discriminatory nature of death in this case is usually based on gender. By gender, I mean the killing of women because they are women, which is the genesis of the feminist movement that labelled it as femicide.[4]

The term femicide was first defined by Jill Radford in 1992. She explained it as the killing of a woman or a girl by a person of the male gender.[5] Often an intimate partner based on her gender.[6] In analysing femicide and all forms of violence towards women, it is paramount to view it from a cultural lens.[7] In doing so, we can analyse how culture influences organisational, individual and communal attitudes towards male violence against women.[8] These attitudes are what in turn influence public policies and a state's action or inaction in relation to violence towards women.

Most forms of violence against women are rooted in gender inequality and the exertion of structural dominance.[9] This typically manifests as the relative privilege of men over 'disadvantaged', women.[10] The current surge of violence towards women may be rooted in certain cultural and social norms. However, while cultural and social norms play a significant role in sustaining femicide, they are not the only factors at play.

Beyond cultural norms, poverty and socioeconomic inequalities also exacerbate women's vulnerability through limited social amenities and the precarity in the informal sector for women.[11] This often leaves them with reduced decision-making power.[12] Subsequently, this can push them toward risky survival strategies, exposing them to exploitation and cycles of violence that may ultimately lead to death.[13] Additionally, entrenched power and control dynamics, coupled with institutional and legislative failures, accelerate the persistence of violence.[14] These broader forces undeniably shape the landscape of gender-based violence. This article specifically emphasises the social, cultural, and historical dimensions of femicide in Kenya, while acknowledging the influence of these other structural drivers.

Historical perspective

The rampant trend of violence against women is neither incidental nor coincidental. It is a historical pattern that can be traced back to colonial disruption.[15] Prior to the colonial period, women were considered central to the development of societies. They were not merely passive individuals in the community.[16] They made vast contributions in agriculture, trade, spirituality, and even political leadership. Mekatilili wa Menza of the Giriama and Syokimau of the Kamba community were such women – political leaders.[17] They were entrusted by their communities with the responsibility of leading and defending them.[18]

However, colonialism altered this balance by imposing preferred systems of community order. They deemed existing African arrangements backward and primitive, to the extent of criminalisation.[19] The Victorian ideal of womanhood confined women to the home, stripped them of economic agency, and replaced traditional roles.[20] Colonial administrations simultaneously privileged men in land ownership, education, wage labour, and governance, while largely disenfranchising women. Women, who were once recognised as crucial economic and political actors, were recast as subordinates to their fathers and husbands.[21]

In truth, these consequences persist to this day. By elevating men and displacing women from positions of authority, colonial systems entrenched gender inequality. This still shapes some African societies.[22] The structural subordination of women, introduced and reinforced through colonial institutions, continues to manifest in present-day. Moreso, the power dynamics within homes and communities.[23] This legacy renders women more vulnerable to abuse and violence at the hands of men who continue to wield disproportionate power.

It is within this context that femininity and femaleness continue to be evident risk factors especially in intimate relationships.[24] A key feature is the traditional belief that men are entitled to control and discipline women. This has been reinforced over generations by both colonial and patriarchal norms, which makes women more susceptible to abuse and violence at the hands of their partners.[25]

The Kenya Demographic and Health Survey (KDHS) 2014 found that forty five percent of women aged fifteen to forty-nine had experienced physical violence since the age of fifteen.[26] The survey further showed that fourteen percent of women had experienced sexual violence.[27] Spousal abuse was widespread, with thirty nine percent of ever-married women reporting spousal physical or sexual violence.[28]

By contrast, the 2022 KDHS survey, which measured gender-based violence (GBV) in its broader sense, found that thirty-four of women aged fifteen to forty-nine had experienced violence.[29] Majority, since age fifteen with its prevalence being highest among older women aged forty-five to forty-nine.[30] Overall, one in three women aged fifteen to forty-nine reported experiencing physical violence since age fifteen, and an additional thirteen percent reported sexual violence at some point in their lives. It is important to note that the data captures a variation in survey scope. The 2014 survey was limited to domestic and spousal violence, while the 2022 survey encompassed GBV more broadly, making direct trend comparisons challenging.[31]

This rampant increase of violence in the domestic setting is the genesis of the Protection against Domestic Violence Act (2015). The prevalence of female murders and domestic violence sparked the need to formulate legislation that would protect people in violent domestic arrangements. Prior to 2015, The Protection Against Domestic Violence Act was non-existent and the area had inadequate legislative measures to address violence in domestic set ups.[32] The passing of the Act was aimed towards changing the absence of legislative measures and it has consequently introduced additional protection to women against violence in intimate set ups.[33] However, addressing the symptoms without addressing the cultural and historical roots of the violence, especially those masquerading as tradition only acts as a clutch, offering short-term solutions.

Social and cultural perspective

Dowry and bride price as an enabler of violence

Femicide and all forms of violence towards women do not occur in a vacuum. They are often the tragic end of a long chain of insidious structural inequalities.[34] One of the deeply embedded practices that continues to fuel gender inequality and violence is the institution of dowry and bride price. While these practices carry cultural significance, they also reinforce patriarchal structures by attaching value to women based on the dowry payment.[35] This commodification undermines women's agency and equality, creating conditions that too often normalise intimate partner violence.[36]

Bride wealth has long been a consistent element within many African communities. Traditionally, it gave marriage validity, compensated a girl's parents for raising her, boosted the bride's esteem, and provided her security within her matrimonial home.[37] In most communities, marriage was considered valid only after payment of bride price, reflecting the interconnection between property and marriage. Its payment was mandatory, and even the poor in society were expected to meet this obligation.[38]

The ongoing popularity of bride price is evident in Kenya's legislation, specifically under the Marriage Act 2014, which propounds that a customary marriage may be proven where dowry is necessary. It further deems that payment of a token amount of dowry is sufficient proof of marriage.[39] This view has also been affirmed as evidenced by the case of LNN v MKNG, where the court, in determining whether a customary marriage existed, relied on the conditions set out in Eugene Cotran's Casebook on Kenya Customary Law, which include the payment of bride price as one of the essential requirements of a valid customary marriage.[40]

Kenya, comprised of diverse ethnic communities, reflects both commonalities and variations in this practice. Among the Luo, for example, marriage was only valid after the payment of cows, while among the Kikuyu and Kamba, goats and other goods were customary. Beyond material exchange, bride wealth once symbolised appreciation and strengthened family ties. Its non-payment would lead to serious consequences in the uncertainty over burial rites, inheritance rights, or even whether children were considered part of the husband's lineage.

Over time, however, external factors such as urbanisation, commercialisation, and individualism have undermined the religious and cultural significance of the practice. What once symbolised respect, unity among families and stability has, in many cases, been distorted into a transactional exchange.[41] The result has been a weakening of marital relations, with some unions degenerating into abusive marriages riddled with domestic violence. Separation, and divorce are often fuelled by men who interpret the payment of bride price as conferring ownership over women.[42]

The original spirit of dowry payment was largely positive, but over time, it has acquired repressive and demeaning connotations. It is often linked to spousal violence due to a distorted perception of ownership. This evolution can be seen, for example, in Kamba traditions. Dowry which once involved the groom's parents and clan in a communal activity,[43] has increasingly shifted the burden solely to the groom due to economic pressures, changing its meaning and impact.

In response to this imbalance, Kamba women have taken up a custom known as Ndwae Ngone Maitu, loosely translated as 'let us go visit my mother', where women themselves contribute to dowry payments.[44] For many women, this act has fostered a sense of entitlement, ownership, and belonging in their marital homes. Respondents in studies noted that contributing to dowry not only earned them respect from husbands and in-laws but also strengthened their own sense of agency within marriage.[45]

The evolution of dowry and bride price from symbolic affirmation to transactional exchange shows how cultural practices shift. Stripped of their original meaning, they can accelerate and promote structural inequality while reinforcing violence against women.

The media in shaping perspective

Another powerful player in either reinforcing or challenging these norms is the media. As the saying goes, 'good news makes no news'.[46] A sentiment that appears to guide the approach of Kenya's mainstream media in its coverage of gender-based killings of women. This is evident in the sensationalised headlines, biased reporting, and subtle undertones of victim-blaming.[47] The media has the potential to serve as a powerful deterrent and educational platform. However, its current posture often does the opposite, downplaying the severity and impact of such crimes. When media coverage distorts the narrative, it risks normalising and even fuelling acts of gender-based violence. This is by failing to highlight the systemic and brutal nature of these killings.[48]

The Media shoulders a great responsibility in putting things into perspective. This is done through three main approaches: framing, agenda setting and, priming. The reality is that public opinion on issues is very malleable and ductile, which lays the burden on the media to present issues. Framing involves shaping how audiences interpret and understand an issue, often by highlighting specific aspects of a story to influence perception.[49] Priming refers to the media's influence on which issues are considered most relevant, thereby affecting the criteria people use in decision-making.[50]Agenda setting, meanwhile, involves steering public discourse by determining which topics receive attention and suggesting how people should think about them.[51]

Kenyan media, including traditional mass media and social media, have a role to play in shaping the public opinion on this societal evil when covering femicide. A number of Kenyan newspapers have referred to murdered young women as 'slay queens'.[52] This is a term loosely used to describe a woman who is chasing a flamboyant lifestyle through money gotten from older and well-off men in the society.[53]

This victim blaming approach negates the reader's focus from the fact that a woman was killed, to the suggestion that she played a part in her own murder. This kind of coverage of femicide by the local media does not help in fighting the crime but rather presents it as something the women sought after, rendering their murders as just and proportional measures taken by their abusers.

Conclusion

Femicide remains a paradox in Kenya. While the enactment of the laws addressing femicide as a form of violence would be a laudable step, particularly in aligning with international standards such as those outlined by the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). There is a need to dismantle the deeply rooted social and cultural inequalities. Majorly, on the collective shift in societal attitudes, and responsible, objective media coverage that serves both as a deterrent and a tool for public awareness and desensitisation. This fight is a fight for the very soul of the nation, a fight to affirm that the lives of Kenyan women are invaluable, inviolable, and, unequivocally their own.


* Muthoni Gichimu is an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya and a Certified Professional Mediator, with extensive experience in Family Law. She is currently pursuing an LLM at Nottingham Law School (NTU) and is committed to advancing the rights of children and promoting gender justice through her legal practice.

[1] James Gire, 'How death imitates life: Cultural influences on conceptions of death and dying', 6(2) Online Readings in Psychology and Culture (2014) 3.

[2] Achille Mbembe, 'Necropolitics', 15 Public Culture (2003) 13-15.

[3] Mbembe, 'Necropolitics', 13-15. See for example, Achille Mbembe discusses that political and social structures determine who lives and who is allowed to die. This directly supports the idea that death is still discriminatory and unequal.

[4] Matthias Nowak, 'Femicide: A global problem', Small Arms Survey, 1 February 2012.

[5] Jill Radford and Diana Russell (eds), Femicide: The politics of woman killing, Open University Press, 1992, 3.

[6] Radford and Russell (eds), Femicide: The politics of woman killing, 3.

[7] Radford and Russell (eds), Femicide: The politics of woman killing, 25. See for example, Radford mentions severally that femicide is a practice that is fuelled by patriarchy. A concept as old as time.

[8] Christiana Kouta, Santiago Boira, Anita Nudelman and Aisha Gill, 'Understanding and preventing femicide using a cultural and ecological approach' in Shalva Weil, Consuelo Corradi and Marceline Naudi (eds) Femicide across Europe: Theory, research and prevention, Policy Press, 2018, 53.

[9] Radford and Russell (eds), Femicide: The politics of woman killing, 25-27.

[10]Anne Laure Humbert and Sofia Strid, 'Intersectionality and Gender-Based Violence: An empirical multi-Level examination of prevalence and frequency in universities and research Organisations', 31(10) Violence Against Women (2024) 2555.

[11] Wangrawa Sadia Rita Sonia, 'Women's rights in Africa – progress. Problems! Prospects?', SHS Web of Conferences 134 (2022) 1-6.

[12] Wangrawa, 'Women's rights in Africa – progress. Problems! Prospects?', 1-6.

[13] Wangrawa, 'Women's rights in Africa – progress. Problems! Prospects?', 1-6.

[14] Radford and Russell (eds), Femicide: The politics of woman killing, 25-27.

[15] Lesego Sekhu and Sinqobile Makhathini, 'Deep roots: Confronting the history of sexual and other violence against women and girls in Africa', Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation, 15 February 2023.

[16] Emmanuel Akyeampong and Hippolyte Fofack, 'The contribution of African women to economic growth and development: Historical perspectives and policy implications Part I: The pre-colonial and colonial periods', No 6051, World Bank Policy Research Working Paper (2012) 3.

[17] Laureen Brown, 'Mekatilili wa Menza and the Giriama war', University of Sheffield, 2 September 2021; Francis Mutunga, 'Syokimau the Kamba prophetess', Word Press, 9 September 2017.

[18] Brown, 'Mekatilili wa Menza and the Giriama war'; Mutunga, 'Syokimau the Kamba prophetess'. See for example, during 1912 and 1915, Mekatilili wa Menza fearlessly led theGiriama people against British colonial forces. Syokimau of the Kamba people, was a highly respected prophetess who lived between the 17 and 18 Century and could see visions of people who would plan to attack her community and warn them.

[19] Yanne Manuela Banyi Otseng, 'The impact(s) of colonialism on traditional gender identities in Sub-Saharan Africa', Global Wo.Men.Hub, 16 May 2024, 2.

[20] Mhando Mashaka Mikidady, 'Gender inequality: An alien practice to African cultural settlement', 4(1) Universal Journal of History and Culture (2022) 11.

[21] Otseng, 'The impact(s) of colonialism on traditional gender identities in Sub-Saharan Africa', 2-4.

[22] Mikidady, 'Gender inequality: An alien practice to African cultural settlement', 8.

[23] Mikidady, 'Gender inequality: An alien practice to African cultural settlement', 8.

[24] Melodie Nöthling-Slabbert, 'Till death us do part': Intimate femicide in South Africa', 47(1) Codicillus (2026) 6.

[25] Nöthling-Slabbert, 'Till death us do part': Intimate femicide in South Africa', 6.

[26] Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), Ministry of Health (MOH), National AIDS Control Council (NACC), Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) and ICF International, 'Kenya Demographic and Health Survey', 2014, xxiv.

[27] Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), Ministry of Health (MOH), National AIDS Control Council (NACC), Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) and ICF International, 'Kenya Demographic and Health Survey', xxiv.

[28] Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), Ministry of Health (MOH), National AIDS Control Council (NACC), Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) and ICF International, 'Kenya Demographic and Health Survey', 16.

[29] Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), Ministry of Health (MOH), National AIDS Control Council (NACC), Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) and ICF International, 'Kenya Demographic and Health Survey; Introduction and survey methodology', 2022, 83.

[30] Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), Ministry of Health (MOH), National AIDS Control Council (NACC), Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) and ICF International, 'Kenya Demographic and Health Survey; Introduction and survey methodology', 83.

[31] Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), Ministry of Health (MOH), National AIDS Control Council (NACC), Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) and ICF International, 'Kenya Demographic and Health Survey', 2014; Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), Ministry of Health (MOH), National AIDS Control Council (NACC), Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) and ICF International, 'Kenya Demographic and Health Survey: Main report', 2022.

[32] Heinrich Böll Stiftung, 'Protection Against Domestic Violence Act (PADV) 2015', Heinrich Böll Stiftung Kenya, 27 August 2015.

[33] Stiftung, 'Protection Against Domestic Violence Act (PADV) 2015'.

[34] Radford and Russell (eds), Femicide: The politics of woman killing, 3.

[35] Akiah P Glay-Dormoh, 'The role of bride price in sustaining gender inequality in sub-saharan Africa: A critical analysis', 12(5) Global Scientific Journal (2024) 952.

[36] Glay-Dormoh, 'The role of bride price in sustaining gender inequality in sub-saharan Africa: A critical analysis', 954.

[37] Anne Nekesa Wepukhulu, Margaret Nanjala Matisi and Stanley Ngome Mutsotso, 'Evolution of beliefs and practices of bride wealth and their role on marriage among the Bukusu', 6(7) Iconic Research and Engineering Journals (2023) 241.

[38] Wepukhulu, Matisi, Mutsotso, 'Evolution of beliefs and practices of bride wealth and their role on marriage among the Bukusu', 241.

[39] Marriage Act Cap 150 (No 4 of 2014) Section 43(2).

[40] LNN v MKNG, Civil Case 7 of 2018, Judgment of the High Court at Kiambu (2020) eKLR, paras 14-20.

[41] Sreamline Official, 'Court's dowry refund rule ignites gender equity firestorm', Streamline, 4 November 2025.

[42] Telesia Kathini Musili, 'Ndwae ngone mwaitu: A postmodern cultural phenomenon of dowry among the Akamba and its influence on spousal violence', 24(4) Journal of International Women's Studies (2022) 2.

[43] Venus News, 'Kamba dowry payment procedure', Venus News, 29 April 2023.

[44] Musili, 'Ndwae ngone mwaitu: A postmodern cultural phenomenon of dowry among the Akamba and its influence on spousal violence', 2.

[45] Muisili, 'Ndwae ngone mwaitu: A postmodern cultural phenomenon of dowry among the Akamba and its influence on spousal violence', 10.

[46] Charlie Beckett, 'Good news is no news?', LSE Polis, 17 November 2006.

[47] Danai Nesta Kupemba, 'Kenya femicide: A woman's murder exposes the country's toxic online misogyny', BBC News World Africa, 15 January 2024.

[48] Rose Wangui Ng'ang'a, 'News media framing of femicide: An analysis of Kenyan newspapers' reports on the killing of two women', Unpublished MA Dissertation, Aga Khan University, 2021, 4.

[49] Ng'ang'a, 'News media framing of femicide: An analysis of Kenyan newspapers' reports on the killing of two women', 2.

[50] Ng'ang'a, 'News media framing of femicide: An analysis of Kenyan newspapers' reports on the killing of two women', 4.

[51] Ng'ang'a, 'News media framing of femicide: An analysis of Kenyan newspapers' reports on the killing of two women', 4.

[52] Nga'ng'a 'News media framing of femicide: An analysis of Kenyan newspapers' reports on the killing of two women', 30.

[53] Nga'ng'a 'News media framing of femicide: An analysis of Kenyan newspapers' reports on the killing of two women', 30.