by Nurat Uthman
Kenyan police fired teargas and arrested at least three people on Tuesday as hundreds protested in the capital Nairobi against a wave of femicides, a Reuters reporter and human rights activists said.
Around 300 women marched in downtown Nairobi, where they blew whistles and chanted, “Stop killing women!” They were repeatedly dispersed by police officers firing teargas from moving vehicles before regrouping anew.
The protesters were peaceful and it was not clear why the police intervened. The national police spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Among those arrested was Irungu Houghton, executive director of Amnesty International Kenya, said Mathias Kinyoda, who also works at Amnesty, as well as Faith Odhiambo, president of the Law Society of Kenya.
The protests were called in response to rising gender-based violence. At least 97 women in Kenya have been killed in femicides – intentional killings with a gender-related motivation – between August and October, according to the National Police Service.
The police did not provide statistics for earlier periods, but according to figures compiled by the Africa Data Hub collective based on media reports, there were at least 75 femicides in 2022 and 46 the year before.
Patriarchal views and insufficient legal protections are major factors behind Kenya’s high levels of gender-based violence, researchers say.
Writing on X, Odhiambo said: “The habit of violent response by police to Kenyans expressing their constitutional right to demonstrate and picket is increasingly becoming incorrigible.”
“The police must refocus their energy on ending and fighting atrocities, not perpetuating them.”
At least 60 people were killed in June and July during protests against a government plan to raise taxes. The authorities have broadly defended the police response but said investigators were looking into specific allegations of misconduct.
