Rebecca Cheptegei is the third female Kenyan athlete to be killed by her partner in the past three years. In 2021 Agnes Tirop, record-breaking runner was stabbed to death by her husband. Six months later Damaris Muthee Mutua was strangled by her boyfriend who is still wanted for her murder.
Femicide in Kenya is an epidemic with 725 women dying in gender-related killings in 2022.
The government’s response? Silence.
Femicide and other gender-based violence is systematically ingrained into Kenyan governance and society. The government’s continued silence allows a free pass for perpetrators, many of whom never see the inside of a jail cell.
Cheptegei had reported her ex-partner Peter Ndiema to the police at least three times this year due to threats and abuse. Apart from telling Ndiema to stay away from Cheptegei, the police did nothing.
High achieving women like Rebecca Cheptegei are vulnerable to GBV, manifesting as economic violence where men do not fulfil their role of providing for the family.
Violence is a means through which men try to establish power and dominance over women, enforcing gender roles.
Uskimye is a charity aimed at preventing GBV in Kenya, it provides women with advice, physical safety and counselling. It was created in BLANK and is needed now more than ever. After the attack of Cheptegei Uskimye said in a statement posted to facebook:
“All these athletes have risen to the top of their careers and have been cut down by their husbands. The centre of their rows have been finances. There’s no justification for violence and we need the government to speak and campaign against violence in women athletesm.
“We are outraged by this unjustifiable barbarity and join our voices to those asking for accountability.”
Activists having been urging the government to declare a national emergency to tackle
GBV. Statistics on GBV in Kenya vary significantly, masking the true extent of the problem.
While Kenya has a comprehensive set of frameworks and commitments to tackle GBV, the implementation has been poor. One such commitment was the implementation of government funded safe housing in all 36 counties for abuse survivors.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, instances of GBV in Kenya skyrocketed and government inaction amplified the problem. Survivors were unable to receive timely medical support, mental health care and accommodation.