Nairobi – At one of the police stations in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, families are seated on an old wooden bench, awaiting their turn with the officer on duty. Some of them are holding fading photographs of their lost sisters and daughters. They look tired and sad, with some holding back their tears. This is a familiar scene in Kenya, where a woman is killed every two days by a husband, a relative, or a stranger, and justice is but a distant dream.
According to Femicide Count Kenya, 160 women were murdered in 2024.In the month of January 2024 alone,39 cases were reported, which meant an average of one woman was killed every day. However, human rights groups believe that the number could be much higher, as many death cases go unreported or misclassified.
For Irene Wanja, these figures are not just statistics. They are a painful reality. Her 25-year-old daughter Jane was killed under mysterious circumstances, and her body dumped in a river. Jane was full of life, her chocolate complexion, funny smile, goofy at times, and dreamt of becoming a nurse. Now, her future has been reduced to a police file collecting dust.
“She was murdered in cold blood. I have never been able to recover,” Wanja says, gripping a worn out picture of her daughter. “No arrests have been made. How many more mothers have to mourn their daughters before something changes?”
Kenya has existing laws meant to protect women. The sexual offenses and the Protection Against Domestic Violence Act, but the implementation is weak. The lack of forensics resources, underfunded gender-based violence units and corruption play a huge role.
Beatrice Njeri, a lawyer who represents victims’ families, has seen it all. “Sometimes suspects walk free because of ‘insufficient evidence,’” she says. “The police don’t prioritise these cases. They tell grieving families to be patient, but justice delayed is justice denied.”
In most cases victims’ families face another hurdle, notably the cost of legal representation. They cannot afford lawyers, and public prosecutors often juggle too many cases to focus on individual victims.
Survivors of gender-based violence are frequently pressured into silence, either by family members who fear societal backlash by abusers who threaten them to keep silent.
With the legal system failing them, Kenyan women are turning to grassroots organizations for protection. One such refuge is run by Wangu Kanja, a survivor of sexual and physical violence. Her foundation offers emergency shelter, and counseling to survivors.
The shelter is hidden in a quiet Nairobi neighborhood, its location, a secret for the safety of the women it protects. Inside, bunk beds line the walls, offering temporary refuge to those who have nowhere else to go. Volunteers work tirelessly, providing food, medical aid, and emotional support.
“We receive distress calls every day,” Kanja says. “But we don’t have enough resources to help everyone. Women at risk should have a government funded safe haven, but that doesn’t exist in Kenya.” Some women, she adds, have no choice but to return to their abusers.
Compared to it neighbors, Kenya has the highest rate of femicide cases in the region at 160 deaths in 2024. In 2023, Uganda reported 127 femicide cases, while Tanzania recorded 102.
Human rights groups caution that the lower numbers in these countries do not necessarily indicate better safety for women.
In Uganda, many cases go unreported, especially in rural areas where community-based resolution often discourages legal action. In Tanzania, cultural norms sometimes lead to murders being labeled as "domestic disputes" rather than crimes, further skewing the statistics.
“In Uganda and Tanzania, community-based dispute resolution still plays a role,” says Njeri. “In Kenya, victims often rely solely on the police, who don’t always act.”. In Nairobi’s informal settlements, domestic violence rates are particularly high, with limited access to resources for survivors.
For Wanja, justice is an arrest. “I want to see my daughter’s killer behind bars,” she says.
For Njeri, it’s about reform. “We need forensic labs, specialized gender-based violence courts, and police training.”
For Kanja, it’s about safety. “Justice means no woman has to live in fear.”
Yet, for many Kenyan women, justice remains a distant hope.