Researching AIDS, Sexuality and Gender: Case Studies of Women in Kenyan Universities

2. The Situation of Women in Kenya: Framing the Context

2 The Situation of Women in Kenya: Framing the Context Introduction Experiences of senior university women, which form the backbone of this study, need to be understood within the women’s wider social, economic and political context. Individual women’s experiences are intertwined with their social-cultural and political environment. I focus this chapter on issues that affect women, in order to illustrate the roles and expectations that Kenyan society places on women. Such a background helps to clarify Kenyan women’sexperiences,whichwerethefocusofthisstudy.Patriarchy, which is deeply entrenched in the Kenyan society, helps to sustain male dominance (Chapter Five has more on patriarchy). I begin the chapter by providing some brief geographical, historical and political background of Kenya. I then trace the changes that have taken place in Kenya, from the pre-colonial and pre-Christianity period to the current period, and the changing roles of women over time. I explore how these roles dis-empower women. This is followed by a discussion on the situation of Kenyan women, especially with reference to the challenges presented by HIV and AIDS. I move on to examine how the institutions of marriageandreligion,whicharefoundedonapatriarchaltradition, contribute to women’s powerlessness and silence, especially under the current HIV/AIDS regime. Researching AIDS, Sexuality and Gender 22 A Brief Geographical and Historical Background on Kenya Kenya is in East Africa, lying astride the Equator and bordering the Indian Ocean on the east, between Somalia and Tanzania, Lake Victoria on the southwest, Uganda on the west, South Sudan on the northwest, and Ethiopia on the north. Nairobi is Kenya’s capital and the largest city in the country. As at 2010 census, Kenya’s population is estimated at 43,013,341. Of these 99% per cent are people of African origin, divided into about 42 ethnic groups of which the Bantu (Kikuyu, Luyhia, Kamba, and Gusii) and the Luo and Kalenjin speaking Nilotics are the dominant communities. The official language in the country is English, while Kiswahili is the national language (Columbia University Press, 2000). The British colonised Kenya for over 60 years and she was granted her independence on 12 December, 1963. In 1964, the country became a Republic, with Jomo Kenyatta as its first President. Kenyan Women in the Pre-colonial and Colonial Period In order to understand the position of Kenyan women in the modernpoliticalandeconomicdispensation,itisnecessarytomake clear the structures under which they operated before the colonial period and during the colonial era. House-Midamba (1990) argues that the status of Kenyan women deteriorated during the colonial rule. She notes that this deterioration was particularly noticeable because, in the pre-colonial era, “although women were to some extent subordinate to men under the African customary law, in many respects the roles of men and women were complementary in nature” (House-Midamba, 1990: 23). The pre-colonial Kenyan communities practised subsistence agriculture and some forms of trade, especially in the case of the coastal communities. Production was mainly meant to meet basic needs of food as opposed to profit. Division of labour was mainly based on gender roles (Kenyatta, 1938; Odinga, 1967). While there The Situation of Women in Kenya 23 was division of labour based on gender, studies have shown that in many African communities, women performed between 70 and 80 per cent of the total workload available (House-Midamba, 1990). In addition, there existed gender disparities with regard to access and control of land (House-Midamba, 1990). Land and domestic animals were the main sources of wealth in many communities, while women’s access to land was mainly through their husbands or sons (Elkins, 2005). Once married, women were allocated land where they could grow crops for family subsistence. Men had supervisoryrolesoverlandsincetherewasnoindividualownership as land belonged to the tribe (Elkins, 2005; House-Midamba, 1990). Although women did not ‘own’ land, they had land user rights and they also played important roles as midwives, and elders of extended families and kinship networks (this was especially for older women). Some were chiefs while others performed ritual duties and were placed in charge of ancestral shrines (HouseMidamba , 1990). Women also owned property in the form of livestock such as cattle, goats, chickens and sheep (ibid). Even though Kenyan women had certain powers in the precolonial times, the Kenyan traditional culture was predominantly patrilineal and patriarchal. In this environment, men were the predominant force (Odinga, 1967). When the colonialists took over control of the country...