In the past decade, many Kenyan women lived in a world where they were subjected to the pain of female circumcision, ignorance of deadly disease prevention methods and a lack of education. Often forced into arranged marriages, these women were faced with the reality of physical and sexual abuse on a daily basis.

Considering the present scenario, have the times really changed? Or is it still the same for the native women?

Marginalization

Women are marginalized at all levels of Kenyan society. Thirty percent of Kenyan women are illiterate, compared with 14% of men. Women make up just 23% of the judiciary and the civil service. Even in agriculture, just one in five extension workers — employed by the government to tell farmers about new seeds, crop rotation, and appropriate agricultural practices — are women.

The biggest gender gap is in parliament:

Less than 3% of the country’s elected politicians are women. In contrast, neighboring Uganda has reserved one parliamentary seat from each of its 45 districts for women. In Kenya, only one woman has ever served as a cabinet minister.

The representation of women in Kenya has always been at the lowest ebb in the authoritative positions. They have even been subjected to battering by their male opponents during elections.

Even after the inception of democracy, the women occupied only nine out of 220 seats in parliament. It clearly depicts the position of women in decision making bodies.

If we take the present scenario into consideration, we’ll find that the number of female MPs have increased to 18 yet this still falls short of the United Nations target of achieving 30% representation of women in politics.

Women MPs continue to play second fiddle and none chairs a parliamentary committee during this ninth Parliament. They are even still not allowed to carry handbags into the House, according to the archaic male-dominated colonial rules.

What could be the reason?

Women who are otherwise interested in politics are not able to contest because of the lack of funds hence, their political potentials go unnoticed. It therefore becomes challenging for women to voice themselves or to take leading positions.

Now, if we talk about campaign rallies, we’ll find that they too are male dominated and thus, women are hardly seen hitting them.

Certain cultural aspects also block women, who are portrayed as not possessing strong leadership qualities. ‘Women is only suited for performing domestic chores and looking after the welfare of the kids’ is an ingrained supposition in the minds of nearly all communities.

Media coverage on the successes of women politicians and potential contenders is limited compared to their male counterparts in Kenya.

Is there any political group which is ‘women friendly’?

Of all the strong and main political parties present in Kenya, only Narc-Kenya seems to take an upper hand when it comes to addressing gender issues.

According to Ann W Njenga, the party does not only have a larger number of women representatives, but its policies are also gender sensitive and the party seems ready for affirmative action.

Women can do it!

The triumph of women in politics in Rwanda, Liberia, Sweden and South Africa for example, depicts that there are many strategies they can use to gain power. Women in Kenya must accept the challenge and call for affirmative action to increase their participation in decision-making bodies. They must unite and keenly partake in nation-building activities.

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