Thousands of people gathered in Kenyan cities and towns to protest the recent killings of more than a dozen women.
Saturday's anti-femicide demonstration was the largest ever held in the country against sexual and gender-based violence.
In the capital Nairobi, demonstrators wore T-shirts emblazoned with the names of women killed this month. Traffic was brought to a standstill by the crowd, which was mostly made up of women.
“Stop killing us!” protesters shouted, waving placards with messages such as “There is no justice in killing women.”
A crowd in Nairobi was hostile to an attempt at a speech by female member of parliament Esther Passaris. Protesters taunted Passaris, shouting “Where have you been?”, accusing her of keeping her silent during a recent spate of murders. and “Go home!”
“Countries are not judged by how well they treat the wealthy, but by how well they treat the weak and vulnerable,” said Eric Teuri, president of the Law Society of Kenya and one of the demonstrators.
Kenyan media have reported the killings of at least 14 women since the beginning of the year, said Patricia Andago, a data journalist with media and research firm Odipo Deb who also attended the protests.
Odipo Dev reported this week that news accounts showed that at least 500 women were killed in acts of murder from January 2016 to December 2023. Many more incidents go unreported, Andago said.
Two incidents that rocked Kenya this month included the murders of two women in Airbnb accommodations. The second victim was a female college student who was reportedly kidnapped for ransom and her head was decapitated.
Tewri said she believed gender-based violence cases take too long to be heard in Kenyan courts, leading perpetrators to commit crimes against women.
“As we speak, there is a shortage of about 100 judges. There is a shortage of 200 magistrates and judges, and that is a result of inadequate resource provision, which means that the wheels of justice are turning slowly. “means,” he said.