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Focus on International Women's Day

After Susan Wagatangu's parents died in central Kenya, her brothers inherited all the family land. Under Kikuyu custom, a woman loses the right to inherit her father's assets once she is married, the assumption being that she would be given land where she gets married. However, this did not work out for Wagatangu. When her husband died, her brothers-in-law forced her out of her marital home and took all her livestock. She now lives in a slum in the capital, Nairobi. "Nairobi has advantages," the 53-year-old widow says. "If I don't have food, I can scavenge in the garbage dump." In the west of the country, Emily Owino, another widow, is contemplating her next step in seeking justice. Her in-laws grabbed her farm equipment, livestock, household goods, and clothing, after her husband died. The in-laws also forced her to be "cleansed" by having sex with a social outcast - in her case, a herdsman - in accordance with Luo custom. She sought help from the local elder and chief, who has yet to take action. Owino is now homeless, no longer able to afford school fees for her children, who have since become dropouts. DOUBLE STANDARDS Wagatangu and Owino's voices are just two of the many of those of Kenyan women crying out for justice, as echoed in a new report released this week. The report, by the New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW), examines the devastating impact of property rights violations in Kenya, where the constitution condones gender discrimination in property matters. The report, entitled "Double standards: Women's Property Rights Violations in Kenya", sharply defines the links between such violations and poverty and HIV/AIDS. The abuses have been found not only to perpetuate women's unequal status and to obviate development efforts but also to undermine the fight against HIV/AIDS, according to the report. "In Kenya and other sub-Saharan African countries, women are exposed to poverty, homelessness, violence and disease - including HIV/AIDS - when their property rights are abused," LaShawn Jefferson, the executive director of HRW's women's rights division and author of the report, said while launching the report in Nairobi. "Women's property rights violations are not only discriminatory, they may also prove deadly," she added. HIV/AIDS Apart from being excluded from inheriting property, widows are stripped of other rights by in-laws. In some communities, in order to keep their property, widows are forced to engage in risky sexual acts that can expose them to AIDS, such as "wife inheritance", whereby widows are "inherited" by male in-laws, and ritual "cleansing", whereby women are forced to have sex with men of low social standing. "These violations and their impact are magnified by Kenya's high HIV/AIDS prevalence. HIV-positive women, already harmed by stigma and discrimination, are gravely threatened by property rights violations," the report said. This sad human rights picture forms the backdrop against which Kenyan women will be marking the International Women's Day, an event celebrated each year on 8 March. Kenyan women, however, see a reason to celebrate, despite their grim status in the country, following a change of government early in the year. The new National Rainbow Coalition (Narc) government, which won the December election with a landslide majority, has promised to enact a new constitution by June, which would address, among other things, the existing disparities in gender issues. If implemented, the proposed draft constitution, which was drafted last year by a team of experts, would drastically improve women's status in Kenya, including prohibition of discriminatory customs and guaranteeing their property and inheritance rights. CHANGE The Narc government has so far shown signs that it is much more sensitive to the needs of women than its predecessor Kenya African National Union (KANU) government, which opposed several attempts by women legislators to propose legislation guaranteeing women's rights as enshrined in international conventions. Women are particularly happy with their improved levels of representation in parliament and other public service leadership bodies, with a record number of 17 women members of parliament, as compared to a maximum of eight in previous parliaments. This number is, however, still too small in proportion to the total number of 222 of seats. At least three cabinet ministers in President Mwai Kibaki's government are women, while several others have been appointed to other public service posts. According to Adelina Mwau, a gender activist who was nominated to parliament, the Narc government has "demystified" the myths that have kept women out of the centre of power and decision making by bringing women into every sphere of the country's life. "We have seen more women brought to positions of decision making. "We have a lot to celebrate. After 40 years [since independence], we are seeing more women in positions of leadership. But this is only the beginning of the struggle," Mwau told IRIN. According to Mwau, the "struggle" must begin in parliament which is still largely a "boys' club". "It is not going to be easy. You want to see some seriousness among MPs on gender-based issues. But this seriousness is not there yet," she said. Phoebe Asiyo, who heads the Kenyan Women Political Caucus, in a public statement she issued in the media to mark International Women's Day, commended the Narc government's efforts to bring women to the fore in decision making. "The jingoists of patriarchal domination are on the defensive, some are running scared, and we must keep them there," Asiyo said. The theme in Kenya of this year's International Women's Day is "Women's human rights and access to information and technology - working in solidarity". To celebrate the day, Kenyan women's groups have planned a public rally to be attended Najib Balala, the minister in charge of the newly formed gender and sports ministry.

This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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