There is an urgent need for reforms that go beyond individual cases

This story was written by Wambui Mwaura, and originally published by Minority Africa on September 10, 2024. An abridged version is republished below as part of a content-sharing agreement.

Across Africa, women are being murdered at alarming rates, often by intimate partners or a male family member. Tragically, in 2022, the continent recorded the highest number of femicides by intimate partners and family members, with an estimated 20,000 women and girls losing their lives.

In Kenya, for instance, media reports indicate a sharp rise in cases of women killed by intimate partners. Sadly, Olympic marathon runner Rebecca Cheptegei was one of the recent victims of femicide. However, there is no official tracking system for all women who fall victim to gender-based violence, particularly femicide.

According to statistics released by Africa Data Hub, which has been tracking femicide cases reported in newspapers, 546 women and girls were killed in Kenya between 2016 and 2023. Cases of gender-based violence and femicide, which is an extreme form of gender violence, dominated the news at the beginning of the year 2024.

More than ten women lost their lives to violence at the hands of men in January 2024 alone. Two notable femicide cases which hit the news in that same month were that of Scarlet Wahu, who was murdered on January 3, and Rita Waeni, murdered on January 14. Their deaths sparked the largest-ever femicide protests recorded in Kenya, which took place in various towns and counties on January 27, with activists calling the government to declare femicide a national crisis. The Nairobi protest was dubbed #TotalShutDownKe.

The issue of femicide without justice or delayed justice is not limited to Kenya but is prevalent in other African countries, including Nigeria. An estimated 401 femicide cases were recorded in Nigeria in the year 2022 alone.

Systemic issues

On December 14, 2023, Naftali Kinuthia was sentenced to 40 years in prison for the murder of Ivy Wangechi. Wangechi was a fifth-year medical student at Moi University in Kenya, who was hacked to death in front of her school after refusing Kinuthia’s advances. Kinuthia was found guilty after a four-year trial at Eldoret High Court. Kiroko Ndegwa was the prosecuting lawyer in the case, which reached national and international prominence.

One of the major issues faced by the legal system when it comes to prosecuting femicide cases in Kenya is that it often results in a very long court process. In some cases, it takes such a long time that the families of the deceased lose hope of ever getting justice for their loved ones.

In an interview at his office, Ndegwa, said that the extended time taken in the judicial process of Ivy Wangechi’s case was because the presiding judge was transferred midway through the trial.

“This caused a lot of legal technical difficulties to the proceedings, which included the prospect of the trial starting afresh,” Ndegwa recalls. “This is especially true, as the mother of the deceased, Winfred Waithera King’ori, complained to the media about the slow process of the case and voiced concerns that she might not get justice for her murdered daughter.”

Ndegwa further explained: “The challenge with this is that, if you choose to proceed from where you had left off, then the new judge is not able to interact with the witnesses, get to notice their demeanour. On the other hand, if you begin afresh (“de novo”) there is (the) likelihood that the enthusiasm of some of the witnesses will be dampened, and (you) end up with frustrated witnesses.’’

Another systemic problem plaguing the judicial system in Kenya when it comes to femicide prosecution is how the court of law limits the participation of the families of the victims during proceedings. The legal system in Kenya, as explained by Ndegwa, is unfriendly towards families of victims, despite the provisions of article 50 sub-article 7 of the constitution, which states “that victim’s families also have a right to be heard.”

“Judicial officials restrict their participation, even though the law makes provision for that. Oftentimes, the accused is given a state-appointed advocate if they are unable to afford one, but this same courtesy is not usually extended to the families of the victims,” Ndegwa noted.

Furthermore, in femicide cases in Kenya, witnesses usually fear for their lives whenever the court grants bail to the accused, according to Ndegwa. He said there have been cases where perpetrators were released on bail and lead witnesses shied away from giving their testimonies or retracted their testimonies. Sometimes, leading witnesses are not interviewed.

According to a report by African Data Hub, it takes an average of 1,900 days for a femicide case in Kenya to be concluded in court after the perpetrator has been arrested. In many instances, defense counsel unnecessarily requests adjournments, causing significant delays in delivering justice to the victims’ families. This tactic often works to the detriment of the case, as it discourages witnesses who are burdened by the cost of transportation and the time involved.

This usually leads to delay of justice and, in some cases, miscarriage of justice. Most times, when the alleged killers are people from rich or powerful families, intimidation of witnesses from lesser means is rampant. Kenya’s inability to establish a well-functioning witness protection service is also a significant factor in why witnesses don’t come forward. Since 2016, there have been over 500 femicide cases in Kenya; only 13 verdicts have been reached.

This is also the fate of others in Nigeria, who are compelled to abandon their pursuit of justice due to the shortcomings of the system.

Nigerian laws present significant hurdles in achieving justice for victims of femicide. Unlike murder, there is no specific legislation that explicitly addresses femicide in Nigeria.

“(Femicide) is not in our legal dictionary. Femicide has to be legalised because when a crime isn’t accurately named, then justice cannot prevail,” says Ololade Ajayi, the founder of DOHS Cares Foundation, an organisation that advocates for the rights of women and children.

“This makes the prosecution reliant on fitting the crime under murder charges, which may not fully capture the gender-based motive,” she adds.

On April 4, 2024, DOHS Cares Foundation and allies came out in their numbers to seek justice for the death of thousands of women and young girls who died as a result of femicide. The organisation created a bill and submitted it to the Lagos State House of Assembly. This bill seeks to fix the loopholes in the Nigerian law that prevent justice from prevailing and for femicide to be recognised as a crime in Nigeria.

As protests and advocacy efforts continue, the question remains whether the governments of these countries will implement the necessary reforms to ensure that the families of femicide victims in Kenya and Nigeria finally receive justice for their loved ones.

Source:https://globalvoices.org