2024 ‘deadliest year on record’ for Kenyan women

Almost 200 Kenyan women were murdered in gender-based violent incidents in 2024, nearly double the previous year, monitoring groups said Monday.

The issue of gender-based violence is endemic in the East African country.

Activists were tear-gassed by police when they tried to march through the capital Nairobi last year to demand an end to femicide.

The second annual report by the Silencing Women Project –- a collaboration between data firm Odipo Dev and media outlet Africa Uncensored –- found 170 women had been murdered, up from 95 the previous year.

“2024 was the deadliest year on record for Kenyan women, and unfortunately there’s no sign of things slowing down,” said lead researcher Patricia Andago.

Nairobi saw the highest number of women killed, with 28 deaths recorded, according to the report, which is based on analysis of 930 female murders since 2016 and draws on court and media reports.

Almost 70 percent of the murders were undertaken by intimate partners, it found, with 61 percent carried out in private or “home” spaces.

“Women need to feel safe anywhere they are. Currently, they face the greatest danger at home,” said Felix Kiprono, head of media at Odipo Dev.

Young women aged 18-35 made up half of victims, with men of a similar age bracket accounting for 66 percent of perpetrators.

The report came a week after the arrest of a 29-year-old man, who was discovered carrying the dismembered remains of a woman –- allegedly his wife -– in Nairobi.

Last year, the country was shocked by the violent death of Ugandan athlete Rebecca Cheptegei, whose boyfriend doused her in petrol and set her alight at her home.

Rights groups have long advocated for better education and tougher sentencing.

The report found conviction rates had increased by 118 percent from the previous year, “the highest level since 2018”, with the average sentence increasing by three years, to 23.

However, justice had slowed, with cases taking on average four years from filing to verdict, and incidents becoming increasingly brutal with a seven percent increase in sexual assault and six percent rise in “hacking incidents.”