Gender and Social Justicein Development

in Kenya

Final Project: MGD 170

Njoroge Kamau

Dec.10.11

Content

Kenya at a glance Women and the Economy Women, Children and Violence Women, Children and the Family Women, Children and Health Women, Children and the Environment Women and Decision-Making

Kenya at glance

Kenya is a developing country in eastern African region

It has a population of 38,610,097 with an aannual population growth rate of 2.462% (Kenya National Census

2009) Sex ration at birth is 1:1.02 male/female (ibid) GDP - per capita (PPP): $1,600 (CIA world fact book) Labor force: 17.9 million (ibid) Population below poverty line: 46% (Kenya Ministry of

Planning 2008)

Kenya at glance…

Infant mortality rate: 52/1,000 Child mortality rate: 77/1,000 Maternal mortality rate 488/100,000 Malnutrition rate among children < 5yrs: 28%

– Source: Kenya Demographic and Health Survey 2008/09

Women and the Economy

Male Labor participation rate for Kenya is 88% in 2009 while that for female is 76% (http://data.worldbank.org/country/kenya)

Kenya Youth Female Literacy Level for female for 2009 is 94% while the level for male is 92% (ibid)

Unemployment rate in Kenya in 9.8%

Women, Children and Violence

Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is practiced in more than three quarters of ethnic communities in Kenya

Although the prevalence of the practice varies widely from one ethnic group to another.

For a long time FGM has been nearly universal among Somali (97%), Kisii (96%), Kuria (96%) and Maasai (93%) women (http://www.gtz.de/en/dokumente/en-fgm-countries-kenya.pdf)

FGM

Currently, 27% of Kenyan women have experienced different forms of FGM (Kenya DHS 2008/09)

This is a drop from 32% prevalence in 2003 and 38% in 1998 (ibid)

Two percent of Kenyan women have WHO class IV FGM – cutting of clitoris, labia minora, labia majora and sewing of the orifice (ibid)

There is a strong relationship between education level and circumcision status.

Fifty-four percent of women with no education report that they are circumcised compared with only 19% of those with at least some secondary education (ibid).

FGM…

More than 4 in 5 women believe that female circumcision should be stopped (82%)

– only 9% feel it should continue, and 4 percent are unsure (Kenya DHS 2008/09)

There have been changes in attitudes, beliefs and practices in several ethnic communities that traditionally practice FGM with increased community awareness and women education (ibid)

The following table shows prevalence of the practice in the last 10 years among some ethnic communities in Kenya

FGM progression among Kenyan ethnic communities

Ethnic Community % FGM prevalence (yr)

1998 2003 2008

Kalenjin 62 48 40

Kikuyu 43 34 21

Kamba 33 27 23

Taita/Taveta 71 62 32

Meru 53 42 40

Maasai 96 94 73

Kisii 97 96 96

Somali 98 97 98

Source: Kenya DHS 1998; 2003; 2008/09

Physical violence

More than 1 in 3 Kenyan women (39%) have experienced physical violence in the last 1 year

One in three (33%) Kenyan women has experienced physical violence by their current or most recent husband in the last 1 year

Only 3% of ever-married women have initiated physical violence against their current or most recent husband

– Source (Kenya DHS 2008/09)

Sexual violence

One in five Kenyan women and girls aged 15-49 years has experienced sexual violence– 22.2% of girls <15 years old had their first sexual

intercourse forced against their will; – For those 15-19 years old the figure stands at

12.5% while 20-24 years old stand at 6.4% (Kenya

DHS 2008/09)

Changing Gender Roles in Kenya

Men in Kenya remain the breadwinners for their family Women are increasingly becoming engaged in income

generating activities whether formally employed or self employed

Rise in female headed families has seen increased engagement of women beyond their homes

Lack of employable skills for majority of women means that more men are in formal employment than women

Women engage in small businesses in addition to farming

Lack of access to credit facilities means that women’s businesses remain small with little prospect for growth.

Maternal health in Kenya

Maternal mortality ratio in Kenya stands at 488 deaths per 100,000 live births (Kenya DHS

2008/09) In other words, 1 in every 200 pregnant

women will die in child birth or within 2 months of child birth as a result of a problem related to pregnancy or child birth

Maternal health; ANC

The main reason for maternal deaths in Kenya is inadequate access to antenatal care (ANC) (Kenya HMIS

Report 2010) ANC coverage in Kenya is 92%, higher than the East

Africa’s average of 74% (WHO [2011] World Health Statistics) However, the mandatory 4 ANC visits during a

pregnancy is low at 43% (Kenya DHS 2008/09) The 4 ANC visits are critical to assess likelihood of

complications during delivery. Many women (37%) begin ANC clinic as late as 6th

month. At this point, many risk factors that could have been arrested much earlier may have aggravated

Maternal health; skilled birth delivery

Inadequate access to skilled delivery is a major cause of maternal mortality (WHO [2009]. Women in Health - Today's

Evidence, Tomorrow's Agenda). Skilled birth delivery in Kenya is at 43% while 56% is

done at home under the care of unskilled birth attendant (Kenya DHS 2008/09).

A woman requires skilled attendant at this critical moment and failure to access one leads to myriad complications which end up with conditions like obstetric fistula or death.

Effect of maternal deaths on children

Kenya is home to 2.4 million orphans in a country of 40 million people (National AIDS Control Council 2008).

Half of these orphans are orphaned by AIDS with 100,000 orphans living with the virus (ibid).

Orphans are more likely to be malnourished, out of school or sexually, physically or financially exploited than their peers with parents (Republic of Kenya 2007)

The government of Kenya has recently established a cash transfer fund for orphans and vulnerable children (OVCs) to cushion them from such effects

Women, Children and environment: Open Defecation

One in four Kenyans (16.5 million people) do not have access to improved sanitation facility (Kenya HMIS 2010)

Six (6) million Kenyan defecate out in the open. Most of this human waste will find its way to open water

bodies which is the major source of drinking water. As a result, diarrhea, cholera, typhoid and dysentery

contribute to >10% of the disease burden in the country (ibid)

Kenya looses more than 27,000 children under 5 years every yea due to diarrhea alone (UNICEF and WHO 2009:

Diarrhea why children are dying)

Open Defecation…

Many of the affected children who survive live a live of disability with low cognitive capacity due to anemia as a result of intestinal and other worms.

Women suffer lack of privacy in answering a call of nature and many are sexually violated as they relieve themselves in the open in the dark especially in slums (FIDA-Kenya 2010).

Deforestation

At independence in 1963, Kenya had 14% forest cover but this has been reduced to less than 3% (Kenya Ministry of Natural Resources Report 2009).

The effect of this in addition to reduced rainfall is lack of vegetation cover which allows soil erosion and the end result is loss of fertility.

With reduced crop yield means less food and in turn malnutrition for women and children.

In Kenya, stunting for children 5 years stands: 29.6%; wasting at 5.8%; and underweight at 20.3% (Kenya DHS 2008/09).

Women and Decision-Making

Kenyan women are excluded from taking decision-making positions in the public domain (Republic of Kenya

(1999). Kenya Human Development Report) This is corroborated by International Parliamentary

Union who rank Kenya at # 104 worldwide on women representatives in national parliament.

– Kenya has 22 female members of parliament out of the total 222 seats (10%) in the last general election in 2007 (http://www.ipu.org/wmn-e/classif.htm)

– This performance is dismally low even by East African regional standards. The East African Community comprise a female membership of at least 30%, with Rwanda (with 48.8%) making it world’s most advanced country in this respect (Nyokabi Kamau ed (2008). perspectives on gender discourse: Enhancing Women’s Political Participation. Heinrich Böll Stiftung. Nairobi)

Women in Kenya Parliament

Election Year

# of women elected to parliament

# of women nominated to parliament

Total # women in parliament

Total Parliamentary seats

% women representation

1963 0 0 0 124 0

1969 1 0 1 158 0.6

1974 4 0 4 4 2.5

1979 5 0 5 153 3.2

1983 2 0 2 158 1.3

1988 2 0 2 188 1.1

1992 6 0 6 188 3.2

1997 4 5 9 222 4.1

2002 9 8 17 222 9.7

2007 16 6 22 222 10

Source: http://www.eisa.org.za/WEP/kenwomenrepresent.htm

Women in leadership in Kenya…

Number of women in local government shows that women’s participation in elective posts at the county, town, city, and urban and municipal councils remains generally insignificant increasing ranging from 2.1 % in 1986 to 2.7% in 1992 (United Nations Division for the Advancement of Women

(DAW) Expert Group Meeting on “Empowerment of women throughout the life cycle as a transformative strategy for poverty eradication” 26 – 29 November 2001 New Delhi, India)

Socio-cultural attitude towards women maintain the status quo compared to other African countries like Rwanda that have achieved much higher women representation (ibid).

Conclusion

Women in Kenya continue to struggle against socio-cultural hurdles put on their way towards liberty.

Community awareness and increased educational opportunities are needed to accelerate their speed towards women empowerment in the country.