STOP KILLING US!

Sexual and Abusive Content Warning!

Being a human being is hard. Being a woman is even harder.

As men and women, the same blood flows through our veins, each of us driven by the beating of a shared human heart. Yet, men allow hatred and malice to seep into their hearts, clogging their arteries with cruelty, blinding them to inflict pain they inflict on the women who bleed before them.

Women are being slain—not by mere chance or arbitrariness, but through a deliberate and systemic mechanism. A woman does not simply succumb to death the moment a blade rends her flesh or flames consume her; her demise is assured by the very structures and institutions that perpetuate her suffering. The world persistently afflicts her with pervasive sexism syndrome, consigning her to a terminal, debilitating malady. 

The world has coined the term 'femicide’ to encompass the experiences of women across the continent. Femicide refers to the ‘gender-based murder of a woman or girl by a man’.[1] Yet, this is but a fragment of the broader female experience. The spectrum of violence inflicted upon women stretches far beyond this ultimate, brutal act, encompassing a grievous array of physical, emotional, and psychological abuses that inflict enduring scars upon those who endure. Can we not justifiably deem this world a realm of profound cruelty?

Staggering reports from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime and UN Women reveal that 48,800 women and girls globally were murdered (note the use of active language) by their family members.[2] The same report highlights that Afrika, as a continent, recorded the highest number of such female family-related killings, with an estimated 20,000 victims in 2022 alone. This appalling figure constitutes nearly half of the global total, indicating that the remaining six continents collectively account for the burden that Afrika bears by itself. Moreover, the actual scale of such violence in Afrika is likely much greater than reported.

The statistics become even more distressing when we delve deeper into the continent. In South Africa, often referred to as the "Femicide Capital of the World," a woman is murdered every three hours.[3] The country's femicide rate is five times higher than the global average. In Nigeria, one in three women has experienced physical violence by age 15.[4] Kenya reports that 45% of women between 15-49 have experienced physical violence, with 14% having experienced sexual violence. In Uganda, a mind-boggling 95% of women have experienced physical and sexual violence. Need we say more?

Although appalling, these numbers fail to show the full extent of the suffering faced by these women. These are more than just statistics. These women had dreams and aspirations, robbed of experiencing the entirety of existence. One such woman was Rebecca Cheptegei, a 31-year-old Ugandan Olympic runner whose life was barbarically terminated in a gruesome act of violence.[5]

Rebecca was not just an athlete; her heart pulsed with the rhythm of life. That should be enough to warrant her safety. Yet, even her public status and achievements could not protect her from the vicious threat of gender-based violence that hunts women. 

On August 31, 2024, Rebecca's life prematurely ended in an appalling act of violence that epitomises the very essence of femicide. Dickson Ndiema, her ex-partner, doused her with gasoline and set her on fire. Rebecca suffered severe burns over 40 percent of her body and tragically succumbed to her injuries on September 9 at a hospital in Kenya. Dickson Ndiema killed Rebecca. 

We desperately wish we could say such horrors are unheard of; we ache to be stunned by the brutality of the killer’s actions, but that’s all it is—an aching wish. Disbelief, now, is but a distant dream. Rebecca's story is not unique. It is replicated hundreds of thousands of times across the continent, each instance a testament to the systemic violence that is in our communities. This problem is deeply rooted in our cultural norms, economic hardships, and legal systems that often fail to protect women. In many countries, laws against domestic violence are non-existent or poorly enforced. Even where such laws exist, cultural stigma and fear of reprisal prevent many women from seeking justice. Join us as we unpack the origins and cultural norms that perpetuate the killing of women in part two of this piece. 

In loving memory of Rebecca, and the countless women whose stories mirror hers—lives stolen, yet never forgotten.

Sources

[1] Merriam Webster Dictionary. Accessed 10th September 2024. Link https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/femicide

[2] Gender related killings of Women and Girls (Femicide/ Feminicide). Global estimates of female intimate partner/family-related homicides in 2022. Accessed 10th September 2024. Link https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/2023-11/gender-related-killings-of-women-and-girls-femicide-feminicide-global-estimates-2022-en.pdf

[3] Decrease in femicide in South Africa: three national studies across 18 years, 2022. Accessed on 12th September 2024, Link https://www.samrc.ac.za/sites/default/files/attachments/2022-09/DecreaseFemicideSouthAfricaResearchBrief.pdf

[4] Nigeria Demographic and Health survey, 2018. Accessed on 12th September 2024 Link https://www.dhsprogram.com/pubs/pdf/FR359/FR359.pdf

[5] Man Accused of Killing Ugandan Olympic Runner in Gasoline Attack Dies. New YorK Times. Published 10th September 2024. Accessed on 12th September 2024 Link https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/10/world/africa/rebecca-cheptegei-boyfriend-dead-attack.html

[6] Image. Accessed on 13th September 2024 Link https://abcnews.go.com/International/thousands-join-protests-femicide-kenya-after-rise-killings/story?id=106731619

~ Alinda Mutabazi, President & Founder, and Maryam Joe-Kyari Gadzama, Chief Editor 24/25 Committee