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Kenya

Inequality Hinders Kenyan Women

A hundred years ago in the United States women were facing many of the same problems  now confronting the women of Kenya.  Some of the problems remain and are shared by the women of both countries .  Part of what will be address in this article may seem secular, but the root is an issue of patriarchal male domination that is in direct opposition to the biblical Christianity and the Kingdom of God.

Kenyan women experience a wide range of discriminatory practices, limiting their political and economic rights and relegating them to second class citizenship .  The Constitution extends equal protection of rights and freedoms to men and women, but only in 1997 was the Constitution amended to include a specific prohibition of discrimination on grounds of gender . 

Levels of education and literacy for men and women differ widely .  Although the number of boys and girls in school is roughly equal at the primary level, men substantially outnumber women in higher education .  Seventy percent of illiterate persons in the country are female . 

Female genital mutilation (FGM), which is widely condemned by international health experts as damaging to both physical and psychological health, is practiced by certain ethnic groups and remains widespread, particularly in rural areas .  Health officials estimate that as many as 50 percent of females nationwide have suffered FGM .  The percentage may be as high as 80 to 90 percent in some districts of Eastern, Nyanza, and Rift Valley provinces .  FGM usually is performed at an early age .  Two presidential decrees banning FGM have been issued but no law bans FGM . 

Violence against women is a serious and widespread problem . 

Traditional culture permits a man to discipline his wife by physical means and is ambivalent about the seriousness of spousal rape .  There is no law specifically prohibiting spousal rape .  With the spread of HIV, this is beyond unacceptable.

A complex mix of factors underlies womens property rights violations in Kenya, particularly discriminatory laws and customs .  The current situation reflects Kenyas traditional, patriarchal property systems and the failure of Kenyas government to combat discrimination against women . 

Customary laws based on gender distinctions give men greater rights than women to own, inherit, acquire, manage, and dispose of property .  Violations of womens property rights are not only an affront to human rights, they also doom development efforts and the fight against HIV/AIDS . 

Gender inequality hinders development .  Womens insecure property rights contribute to low agricultural production, food shortages, underemployment, and rural poverty .  Losing property and undergoing harmful customary practices also increase womens vulnerability to HIV infection .  There is a social stigma of being branded “greedy women” or “traitors of custom” if women assert their property rights.

Violations of Property Rights in Kenya

• Inheritance from Husbands .  Many widows are excluded from inheriting from their husbands .  When men die, widows' in-laws often evict them from their lands and homes and take other property .  If a woman has a son, she may be able to keep her property in trust for her son, but even this is not guaranteed . 

• Inheritance from Parents .  Women seldom inherit from their parents on an equal basis with their brothers since women are expected to marry and be “absorbed” and provided for by their husbands’ families . 

• Customary Practices Relating to Inheritance .  In some areas, widows are forced to engage in risky traditional practices involving unprotected sex in order to keep their property .  These practices include wife inheritance, whereby a widow is “inherited” by a male relative of her deceased husband, and ritual “cleansing,” which involves sex with a social outcast, usually without protection . 

• Division of Property upon Divorce or Separation .  Divorced and separated women are expected to return “home” to their parents with virtually none of their matrimonial property .  Divorced and separated women are frequently expelled by their husbands from their homes with nothing more than their clothing . 

• The Law of Succession Act provides that male and female children should inherit on an equal basis and that spouses should also inherit equally, except that a widow’s inheritance rights are terminated upon remarriage .  However, the law is mostly not enforced .   Since  no uniform marriage statute exists and no requirement that customary marriages be registered,  confusion arises that facilitates property rights violations . 

• Land laws, while not discriminatory on their face, do nothing to promote or facilitate women’s land ownership .  In effect, only 5 percent of land titleholders are women.

In Kenya, where twice as many women have HIV as men, the HIV/AIDS epidemic magnifies the devastation of women’s property violations .  Widows who are coerced into the customary practices of “wife inheritance” or ritual “cleansing” run a clear risk of contracting and spreading HIV .  Moreover, AIDS deaths expected in the coming years will result in millions more women becoming widows at younger ages than would otherwise be the case .  These women and their children will likely face not only social stigma against people affected by HIV/AIDS but also deprivations caused by property rights violations . 

The truth of the biblical equality message must confront Kenyan Christians .  The people of God can lead the way to overcoming the discrimination against women only when they have overcome the distorted view of male and female relationships in the church .  Our prayer is that people will hear and proclaim the word we take to their world .