Thousands of Kenyans in Nairobi on Saturday came out to protest against femicide in Kenya where over a dozen women have been killed this month in cases that shocked the nation.
The campaigners took to the streets of the capital holding placards while others featured names and photographs of the victims.
“Stop killing us,” they chanted as they marched towards parliament, bringing traffic to a halt in Nairobi’s central business district.
At least 16 women have been killed in Kenya this year, according to media reports, shining a spotlight on violence against women which the government has described as “rising”.
Campaigners want the authorities to expedite justice for all recent victims of sexual and gender-based violence.
Dozens of local rights groups say the government must declare femicide a national emergency and class femicide as a specific crime, distinct from murder.
Demonstrators chanted “Sisi ni watu sio wanyama” in Swahili – meaning “we are not animals”.
Others carried banners saying “only weak men kill women” and “every time you blame the victim you affirm the murderer”.
Victim blaming has been rife on social media, with commenters in Kenya’s so-called “manosphere” blaming murdered women for their deaths.
Many messages on online platforms focus on what the victims were wearing when they were attacked, or question why they did not use their mobile phones to tell family and friends their whereabouts.
Despite Kenya having robust laws against gender-based violence, most perpetrators go unpunished. When prosecutions are brought, they often drag on for years in court.
