Nairobi: The grainy mobile phone video shows a mob of Kenyan men surround a woman and grab, grasp and yank her clothes until she is naked. Several such videos have emerged recently of attacks by males who deem a woman to be provocatively dressed. The attacks have created a groundswell of anger that saw mostly women protesters flood downtown Nairobi Monday.
Rachel Machua wore what she called “a little black dress … my normal outfit” to Monday’s protest. She views the recent attacks as stemming from socio-economic conditions: Lower income men are attacking successful, well-dressed women.
The attacks are not overtly religious in nature, though this is a conservative, mostly Christian country. The women at the march described “normal” levels of sexual harassment over the years and said that peers will warn other women that “you’re gonna get undressed” for wearing a particular outfit.
About 10 percent of the approximately 1,000 people marching through the streets were men. James Wamathai, said he was marching because he believes in equal rights. Just 100 meters (yards) from the march’s meeting point, park worker Ulda Akinyi emptied trash. Akinyi looked at the demonstration with disdain, and said she has instructed her three daughters to dress conservatively for fear of attracting unwanted attention.
“I think there are so many things happening in Nairobi and Kenya all at once, a new way of living influenced by modernity which runs up against cultural stances,” she said. “But at the confluences we can’t say we want some parts of modern things – we want to be a middle income and have modern technology – and not the other things that come with it.”
Bureau Report
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