The Same Old Story

Female candidates in Kenya endure physical, psychological abuse

Excerpt:

Political violence is nothing new in Kenya but the recent violence has been almost exclusively directed at women.

So far 255 cases of assault have been reported without a single arrest being made.

The case of Alice Onduto, who was shot outside her sister's house earlier this month, is the most extreme example but as Linet Miriti, the director of Unifem's regional office in East Africa, explains the attacks have taken varying forms.

"Many of the attacks that are targeted at women go beyond just physical attacks into sexual attacks and this is both physical and psychological.

"Lots of women are being attacked psychologically where they get text messages that degrade them sexually, where they get text messages that target their femininity and womanhood. And we've also had cases of physical sexual assaults against women," she says.

My thoughts:

What is there to say, really? Shall we gasp in horror while turning a blind eye to our own misogyny?