The history of women and gender in Kenya

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Women Campaign For Constitutional Changes
By Judith Achieng', IPS, 27 November 1998. Women's groups in Kenya will press for the recognition of women's rights in the constitution. The Coalition of Violence Against Women (COVAW) will push for the repeal of sections of marriage, inheritance and ownership of property laws that discriminate on the basis of sex, and for the repeal of laws which condone harmful practices against women and girls such as FGM.
Women Body Calls For Law Relaxation
From PANA, 18 March 1999. The Federation of Kenya Women Lawyers is pushing for the relaxation of laws on prostitution and abortion in Kenya for lack of gender balance, among other reasons.
Abortion Debate Turns Nasty
By Judith Achieng', IPS, 29 September 1999. The abortion debate between the church and rights groups in Kenya has turned nasty, with the government of President Daniel arap Moi watching from a distance.
Literacy Programmes Bridging The Gender Gap
By Juma Kwayera, All Africa News Agency, 28 January 2000. The Samburu male conservatives for ages stifled the voice of women in their communities. In the Sereo-lipi division of this predominantly nomadic-pastoralist northern Kenya frontier district, women have teamed up to advance the cause of girl-child education.
Kenya's Women Major Political Lobby Group Cracks Ranks
By Tervil Okoko, PANA, 27 July 2000. Hope by Kenyan woman for a better her political lot suffered a setback when the women's major lobby group broke up into two factions. The Kenya Women's Political Caucus was formed in 1997 after a motion in parliament was soundly defeated by a male-dominated House.
Domestic Violence Law a Step Forward
The Nation (Nairobi), Editorial, 3 November 2000. The long road that rights campaigners have travelled to move family and home conflicts from the private domain to the legal realm. The new Bill combines retribution and deterrence in its attempt to end violence in the home, and for the first time offers a specific definition of domestic violence.
Year Of Landmark Gains For Women
By Jacinta Sekoh-Ochieng, The Nation (Nairobi), 28 December 2000. 2000 marked a watershed in gender activism, with major political breakthroughs for women and a major split in the ranks of leaders of the movement. The Equality Bill nearly scuttled all the gains made as Muslim women took to the streets in protest at its anti-Islamic provisions.
Widows Want Commercial Wife Inheritance Abolished
Panafrican News Agency, 29 December 2000. About 30 widows attending a seminar in Kisumu have called for the abolition of the age-old custom of wife inheritance, particularly commercial inheritance, because it exposes them to contacting HIV/AIDS and degrades the dignity of women and plunges them into poverty.
Empowering Village Women in Promoting Health Care
African Church Information Service, 2 July 2001. The IMR (infant mortality rate) and under-five mortality rates are on an increase, as access to basic health care remains inadequate. Whilst women are generally the first to offer care at the household level, their role and potential is undermined at the health facility level and household level. Often women are not party to decisions in organisation and delivery of health care services.