|
|
| Put a stop to violence against women aspirants |
|
|
|
| Written by Anna Brandt, Swedish Ambassador to Kenya | |
|
The media in recent weeks has been awash with worrying accounts of violence against female political aspirants. This violence has ranged from use of abusive language and threats to brutal beatings, as tactics to scare and punish women who seem poised to win certain political positions. It seems as violence is being used systematically to stop women from exercising their democratic right to seek leadership positions. This trend poses a big challenge to many women especially those aspiring to both civic and legislative posts. This comes at a time, when we were encouraged to note a widening democratic space in Kenya; more women than ever before are going to vie for civic and parliamentary seats in the upcoming election. These brave women have often overcome resistance in their own families and communities to plunge into politics; an area often thought to be a man’s world.But with violence many of these competent women are prone to drop out and will not even dare stand for an elective post or participate as voters. This depressing development is threatening to affect women representation in Parliament. Even though the number of female politicians has increased in recent years, it is very low in a regional context. Affirmative action has increased the numbers in Uganda to 32%, to 30 % in Tanzania, 32 % in Burundi and 48 % in Rwanda, an almost equal representation between men and women. In Kenya, 18 MPs out of the 222, translating into a mere 8%, is a dismal figure in comparison to other East African countries. The situation in Kenya represents a serious democracy deficit with women forming more than half of the population inadequately represented at political level. To develop as a country, Kenya needs to tap into all its human resources and this includes women in all spheres of society. Hence, women need to be involved in decision making processes if the country is to attain long term sustainable growth and development. It is in this regard that Sweden, as a lead donor, and eight other development partner countries (Canada, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Spain and UK) in collaboration with UNIFEM, are supporting a programme called the Gender and Governance Programme (GGP). The overall goal of the GGP is to help ensure equal participation of women in all spheres of leadership. This year, the programme is focusing on building capacity of women already holding political positions as well as those interested in such positions. According to the programme, one of the ways to realise the goal on increased women participation in politics is to provide the current candidates – both parliamentary and civic – with security. How can this be done? One way is to offer security training to the aspirants and their security personnel. This is being provided by Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA), a GGP partner organisation, in workshops all over the country. The other strategy is the establishment of the Gender Rapid Response Unit (GRRU), which was launched last week in Nairobi. The GRRU is going to work in close collaboration with the police, Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK), media and local women groups to respond to areas where female aspirants might be experiencing violence. Hotline numbers have already been established, which female aspirants and the general public can use to report any incidences of violence or/and threats. The Kenyan constitution under section 70 (a) gives all Kenyans the right to life, liberty and security. Women have to fully exercise these human rights and the responsible institutions need to pay special attention to the issue of violence to ensure women are not intimidated or discriminated against during this year’s election. Firstly, that means that the ECK has to ensure free and fair elections, including for women. Secondly, that the police have to provide security, particularly to women candidates. Thirdly, that the political parties must see to it that their leaders and aspirants are held accountable to securing peaceful nominations of men and women and that campaigns are free from abuse. All Kenyans need to be vigilant as well, especially in the next few months. You need to report hate speeches and threats of violence to the Police, the ECK, local peace initiatives or the GRRU. Together you can make sure that those using defamatory language, threats and hired thugs to beat up and scare female aspirants from running, do not succeed in their illegal ways of gaining power. Violence must not be allowed to stop women from participating in the elections and winning political office! |
| Nairobi +21 Report |
|
|
|||||||||
| Media Monitoring Reports |
|
Find the Coalition on Accountable Political Financing reports on Print Media Monitoring of the 2007 General Elections in Kenya:
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
Download Nairobi + 21 Report