The new year has been marked by deadly violence against women in Kenya. News of the murder of influencer Starlet Wahu quickly went viral throughout the country. Starlet was found dead in an Airbnb on January 3rd after the man she was meeting brutally stabbed her. Following Starlet’s death, several women came forward to report their assault at the hands of the murderer, also in Airbnbs around Nairobi. Days later, Rita Waeni, a 20-year old student was found murdered and dismembered in a short-term Nairobi rental.

According to a report by Odipodev entitled Silencing Women, there were at least 10 murders of women reported in January of this year alone.  The organisation has also helmed a living database to document all reported cases of femicide in Kenya. They have recorded over 500 cases of femicide in the country between 2016 and 2023, with the highest recorded cases occurring in 2023.  While the Kenyan government does not collect data on femicide cases, organisations like Odipodev and other rights-based collectives are tasked with filling in the gaps. Alongside the increase of murders against women, there is also an alarming uptick of assault and other forms of abuse against women. Usikimye, a feminist advocacy group has reported receiving upwards of 150 daily calls to their helpline from women experiencing rape and various forms of violence.

What is in a Word

Femicide has recently been declared a national emergency in Kenya in light of the number of women killed in January alone. As defined by the World Health Organization, femicide is “generally understood to involve intentional murder of women because they are women, but broader definitions include any killings of women and girls. Femicide is also a radical feminist concept, defined as “the misogynous murder of women by men”. It was conceptualised as a theoretical framework with the emergence of second wave feminism. It is useful for not only naming spectacular instances of violence against women, but also to call attention to patriarchal structures of power which seek to dominate women in all aspects of socio-political life.

Further, Marilyn Muthoni, a Kenyan gender justice advocate refers to VAWBM (violence against women by men) borrowing from Dr. Pumla Dineo Gqola’s analysis of gender-based violence in South Africa. This term acts to subvert the notion of GBV as a “perpetrator-less crime” seeking to contextualise violence against women as occurring within a culture of misogyny that is upheld by men.

Responses to the ongoing femicide crisis in Kenya have been helmed by feminist activists who have mobilised online and in public spaces in cities across the country. Thousands of women protested in Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu and beyond on January 27th to demand government action against GBV. The use of hashtags such as #StopKillingUs, #EndFemicideKe, and #TotalShutDownKE were used to gather momentum and sustain the urgency of the movement.

Digital Resistance

The concept of digital counterpublics is useful to understand the ways in which online platforms can facilitate feminist resistance to violence. Particularly as this resistance occurs simultaneously with rhetoric that works to justify manifestations of violence against women. Dr. Awino Okech refers to a transnational feminist digital counterpublic to describe the ways in which Twitter (now X) and other platforms have been used by activists and allies in Kenya and South Africa in the wake of specific instances of gender-based violence (GBV). The use of particular hashtags act to mobilise against femicide through the use of rage as a tool of resistance.

Alongside feminists’ responses to this crisis, opposing discourse rooted in misogyny has emerged mostly from men on X, TikTok and other social media spaces. Such discourse focuses on tropes of morality and respectability as justifying mechanisms for the killing of women and girls. Hundreds of men took to the comments of videos raising awareness on the femicide crisis to call on women to “stop promiscuity” or “stay vigilant”. One such commenter even suggested that women need to get married, rhetorically asking why married women have never been found dead in Airbnbs. By engaging in such discourse, Kenyan men are shifting the onus of gender-based violence on women who have somehow failed to guard their honour.

A Kenyan Manosphere?

Another form of rhetoric has emerged alongside these displays of victim-blaming. Kenyan comedian, Oga Obinna posted a video on TikTok claiming that the femicide crisis stems from Kenyan men grappling with depression and calls for men’s wellness and empowerment to be prioritised. This framing is reminiscent of ideals perpetuated by the wider manosphere, collectives of men online and off-line who uphold misogynistic views under the guise of men’s well-being. Helmed by far-right talking heads like Andrew Tate, the manosphere spurs dangerous rhetoric that essentially locates complex socio-political struggles within the rise of feminism and women’s empowerment. The most recent explosion of violence against Kenyan women reveals the presence of ideals in-line with the larger manosphere, with Kenyan men placing blame on women for seeking out “wealthy men” and failing to conform to respectable femininity. While the manosphere has emerged from far-right western movements, Alexandria Onuoha has coined the term “Black manosphere” to illustrate the ways this movement has been co-opted by men of colour seeking to rationalise violence against Black women along with their own subjugation. Locating the ongoing femicide in Kenya within emerging digital formations is necessary to understand the ways misogyny relies on shame and morality as disciplining tools against women. As well as the ways that gendered hierarchies continue to force women to live under the illusion of choice while simultaneously calling their humanity into question.