The United Nations Women Kenya has encouraged Kenyan men to embrace positive masculinity and shun toxicity to curb gender-based violence.
According to the women leaders, who acknowledged the legislative efforts to end GBV, more needs to be done by Kenyan men, including avoiding the traditional patriarchal norms that promote violence.
''Despite legislative efforts, deeply rooted patriarchal norms and unequal power structures continue to perpetuate violence, discrimination, and systemic gender inequalities. GBV continues to manifest in many forms, including domestic violence, sexual harassment, and economic disempowerment, limiting the full participation of women and girls in society," the statement by UN Women, Kenya branch, read in part.
Some of these deeply rooted patriarchal norms cited by the women leaders include cases where men are expected to be dominant and women to be submissive, reinforcing power imbalances that can lead to violence.
Women being financially dependent on men, cultural practices like female genital mutilation (FGM), early marriages, and extreme cases of communities supporting women being beaten for 'discipline' are among other norms highlighted.
All these, according to UN Women, are major contributors by Kenyan men to the heightened cases of GBV in the country.
UN Women is now calling on men and boys to reject these harmful norms that equate manhood with dominance, aggression, and control.
Instead, they are promoting positive masculinity, which stresses empathy, accountability, respect, and partnership.
“Positive masculinity is a powerful tool in our collective journey towards gender justice. Positive masculinity encourages men to become allies to foster healthier relationships,” said Ms Antonia N’gabala Sodonon, the Representative for UN Women in Kenya.
In conjunction with the Kenyan government, youth advocates, and gender experts, UN Women has agreed that the Regional Forum on Positive Masculinity and the Fight Against GBV will inform ratification and implementation of the African Union (AU) Convention on Ending Violence against Women and Girls (EVAWG) to embrace positive masculinity.
To ensure this new perspective is taken, UN Women, the State Department for Gender and Affirmative Action, and other stakeholders on Gender and Equality and Women's Empowerment (GEWE) have facilitated the first draft of the National Male Engagement and Inclusion Strategy.
The move comes at a time when cases of femicide in Kenya are on the increase.
