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The Heinrich Böll Foundation, in partnership with USIKIMYE and Creatives Garage, organized an awareness-raising event on femicide and gender-based violence in Mombasa County.
The event, dubbed MASKAN Mombasa Edition, is a continuation of the art exhibitions that have already taken place in Nairobi, Kisumu and Nakuru. Through the creative platform, participants had the opportunity to reflect on the impact of gender-based violence on society, while being sensitized on ways to prevent such incidents.
According to the organizers, the main goal of the event is to “bring the conversation about gender rights to the grassroots, in places where the voices of victims are often not heard.”
The exhibitions included artworks, photographs and drawings with themes of grief, memory and commemoration all aimed at honoring the lives of women who lost their lives to gender-based violence.
According to figures from civil society organisations, around 500 women were killed in Kenya between 2016 and 2024 due to incidents related to gender-based violence.
In 2024 alone, human rights organisations reported more than 150 cases of femicide, with most of the victims being young people aged between 18 and 35.
Njeri Migwi, founder of the organisation USIKIMYE, said the campaign aims to make further progress by reaching every county in the country.
We plan to do this campaign for a day, traveling from one county to another. We will involve local artists and young talents to use art as a means of educating and raising awareness against gender-based violence,” said Njeri.
She added that the biggest challenge they face is the hasty burial of victims of gender-based violence (femicide), which makes it difficult for organizations to obtain evidence and process such cases.
On her part, Ms. Violet Mutiga, Executive Director of Sauti ya Wanawake, said another challenge is the lack of psychosocial support for victims of violence.
“Often when we receive cases, we find that children or mothers who have been abused do not receive psychological or social support,” said Violet.
He added that some cases go unreported due to a lack of understanding of what to do after sexual violence.
The participants called on the government and civil society to increase resources to support victims, including establishing support centers in every county and strengthening law enforcement against perpetrators of sexual violence.
