Women right’s group condemns alarming rise in femicide cases

Federation of Women Lawyers Kenya (FIDA-Kenya) has condemned the rising cases of femicide in the country, even as it raised concern that many more might be going unreported.

FIDA-K Vice chairperson, Christine Kungu yesterday termed the cases as unfortunate and worse still, the victims are sometimes shamed.

She said FIDA-K is deeply concerned by the increasing instances of Violence against Women and Girls (VAW/G) and particularly the gruesome murder of Starlet Wahu in circumstances disclosing violence in the form of intimate partner violence (IPV).

And barely a week later, another case of a woman whose body was found at an Airbnb in Roysambu under circumstances suspected to have been IPV and in Lang’ata where another woman is reported to have jumped from a third floor apartment in unknown circumstances.

“FIDA- Kenya equally affirms her commitment to offer pro-bono legal representation and psychological support for the victim’s family as well as other victims of VAW/G in the country,” said Kungu.

She made the remarks as FIDA-Kenya held a focus group discussion at their offices with university student leaders on the rising femicide cases.

In yet another case, Kungu said a Machakos University student was recently found stabbed to death in a boyfriend’s house while a First Year student at Maasai University’s body was found in a bush near the campus raped, burnt with an iron box and strangled.

Kungu said the loss of lives of the young women counts not only to statistics but also sets a worrying trend and uncertainty for the safety of women and girls.

Although FIDA-Kenya commended the National Police Service (NPS) for their efforts in the timely apprehension of the suspect in Wahu case for instance, she said the organisation is concerned about the long-standing State’s failure to protect women and girls from VAW/G, which in most cases occurs in private spaces by perpetrators who are well-known to the victims.