Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA)-Kenya



Lake Elementaita


FIDA Kenya was established in 1985 after the 3rd UN Conference on Women, which was held in Nairobi.  FIDA Kenya, a non-profit, non-partisan organization, is

“committed to the creation of a society that is free from all forms of discrimination against women.  This is done through the provision of legal aid to indigent women, engagement on legal, policy and legislative reform, treat monitoring and research among other programmatic interventions.”
Go to FIDA Kenya

Last week I attended a two day Public Interest workshop presented by FIDA at Lake Elementaita in Naivasha, a couple of hours outside Nairobe. 

The attendees were attorneys who provide pro bono services to FIDA clients.  The primary focus was the new constitution, its bill of rights and the opportunities to pursue claims of public interest.

FIDA Kenya is impressive.  It members are strong, smart and committed.  And they need to be, because their challenges are daunting.  Here are examples of the kinds of issues women bring to FIDA Kenya for help.

1.         A high school girl was raped at school by two classmates.  The boys were arrested and arraigned in court; however, the school told the victim she can no longer attend class because it would be disruptive and unpleasant for the other students, and shameful and humiliating for her.

2.          2.     A woman went into a hospital to deliver her baby.   She had to have a C-section and was put under a general anesthetic.  While she was unconscious, and without her knowledge or consent, the doctor circumcised her at the instruction of her husban

        3.     Flower farms in Kenya are a very profitable and lucrative industry; for example, Kenya grows 50% of all of the red roses sold in the world.  The workers at the farms are expected to work 12 hours a day for 100 kes (about $1.19 per day).  They are exposed with no protection to toxic and abrasive chemicals and insecticides.  They work in closed unventilated greenhouses.  The women are often sexually harassed and abused.

4.         Two high school girls approached another and made sexual advances.  She objected and they tried again.  The girl reported the advances to the deputy head master and then to the head master of the school, who did nothing in response.  The girl is now in the hospital after the other two “put metal pieces into her private parts.”   (The Daily Standard reported this incident on Friday, April 8, and stated that she is still in the hospital.)

5.         Women routinely are fired when they become pregnant.

6.         Women who are forced to go to the state hospitals because of problems in delivering a baby are detained indefinitely by hospital authorities if they are unable to pay.  (See my blog entry on April 7.)

7.         Polygamy is common and accepted, especially outside Nairobi.  There are multiple issues regarding inheritance and succession rights of wives, partners, and children.

8.         Three women were arrested because they were in the process of having abortions.  They were taken to the police station and not provided any medical care.  One of them bled out and died overnight.

            The break out groups and discussions, including those on the two hour bus ride back to Nairobi, were enlightening, to say the least.  This is another group that does, in fact, make a difference.

Sunday in Nairobi

Reading one of the Nairobi papers front to back is now a morning ritual, along with my bowl of fresh fruit and two boiled eggs.  The staff in the breakfast room know me and my cup of black coffee (which they find strange without milk) is poured before I even sit down.

The Kenya papers are consumed, understandably, with the first appearance of the “Ocampo Six” at the Hague earlier this week – William Ruto, Uhuru Kenyatta, Henry Kosgey, Francis Muthaura, Hussein Ali and Joshua Sang.  They are charged with crimes against humanity related to the post election violence in Kenya in 2007 and 2008 in which 1300 people died, hundreds of women were savaged, and hundreds of thousands lost their homes.  They are accused of inciting and encouraging the tribal conflicts that resulted in beheadings, rape, torture, arson and other violence.

As I paged through the paper, with each article more serious than the last, I smiled when I got to the sports page and saw a picture of LaMarcus Aldridge and a big article on the Blazers’ win against the Lakers on Friday (yay‼).   Something I already knew about, of course, but fun just the same to see in the Nairobi newspaper.

The articles in the paper describe situations and perspectives that are very different from those at home; however, the similarities of the human concerns and interactions are surprisingly similar.  To illustrate that point, and to take a lighter moment on this incredibly beautiful Sunday morning, here are excerpts from the “Jokes” column in today’s Daily Nation describing misstatements in the media:

·         A great Captain must win the toss before anyone else.

·         The bowler’s ball went nowhere near where it was going.

·         The slow-motion replay does not show how fast Sachin was actually moving.

·         Andrew Strauss decided to chance his arm and it came off.

·         Cricket must not be used as a political bat.

·         The suspicious white powder found n Herman’s laundry has been analyzed as useful for washing.

·         Competitors for the spelling contest must syne up before Thursday.

·         The Judiciary is compiling fresh safety measures for criminals on their way to be hanged.

·         Teach a child to read, and he or her will be able to pass a litmus test.

And finally:

            Why are you so exhausted?

            The computer broke down at work, so all of had to do our own thinking.



Sunday in Nairobi



A Personal Note

Happy birthday baby.

Mercy Corps

Earlier this week, I spent two engrossing days in a Mercy Corps “Negotiation and Influence” workshop at its offices in Lavington, a Nairobi suburb.  Six of the 12 member class were project managers and workers from Somalia, and the rest were from around Nairobi. 

Over the last decade, Mercy Corps. has emerged as a leading international humanitarian and development organization.  It has operations in nearly 40 countries, including 11 countries in Africa, and a staff of almost 4000 people.  Its mission is “to alleviate suffering, poverty and oppression by helping people build secure productive and just communities.”   In Kenya, it is working to reconcile communities torn by the post election violence in 2007 and 2008.  Link to Mercy Corps Kenya 

      
A major catalyst for me to spend this 8 weeks in Kenya were my brief but personal discussions with Neal Keny-Guyer, the CEO of Mercy Corps, and with my law partner Barnes Ellis, who works pro bono for Mercy Corps as its legal counsel.  (Mercy Corps is headquartered in Portland where I live and work.)  

Neal recently wrote an article about why we should care about “failed states,” such as Haiti, which are far away and offer little hope.  His single question sums it up:

          “How can we give up on them, if they refuse
            to give up on themselves?”

Indeed.  No one in the workshop I attended is going to give up on anything.

We worked through variations of very useful models to resolve conflict and negotiate acceptable agreements among diverse stakeholders. 

Instructor Joe



Instructor Maurice

The course included multiple interactive exercises that focused on the issues facing the Mercy Corps managers and workers every day, such as convincing local leaders to join and support community peace projects.  (My side discussions with the Somalians are what let to my last two blogs about gender based violence and Madison High School’s Rose Princess.)

As I watched and listened to my classmates, their hope and concern were contagious.  They will make a difference.

You Think?

I am in the middle of a 2 day workshop for public interest lawyers in Naivasha, in the Rift Valley.   We are looking at economic, social and cultural rights as they are affected by Kenya’s new constitution.

Our sub-group just spent the last hour talking about whether or not the following common situation raises legitimate constitutional issues of public concern:

A woman giving birth at home runs into complications and is rushed to the nearest state hospital (often by motorcycle) where she gives birth.  When she is not able to pay the bill, the hospital security guards do not allow her to leave the hospital.  Apparently she is held indefinitely until somebody pays, or some other resolution is reached.

Madison High School in Somalia News

I've spent the last two days in a conflicts management workshop with Mercy Corps managers and workers from Somalia and Nairobi.  I will post about that a bit later, but I wanted to share an odd connection that popped up today.

This afternoon the young men from Somalia showed me a website with local political cartoons:  Go to Somalia Political Cartoons   We had a discussion about the second cartoon down that shows all the flags on “Somalya."  They patiently explained to me how the satire pokes at how Somalia is being continuously divided into new and varied regions.  Note, though, the advertisement along the right hand side.

It is for Portland's Madison High School 2011 Rose Festival princess:  Uma Abdullahi.

Gender Based Violence

The turmoil and ethnic violence following the 2007 elections in Kenya included wide based GBV (“Gender Based Violence”).  During the height of the conflict and in the aftermath, hundreds of women were raped and defiled; many of those involved gang rapes.  This was especially prevalent in the camps for internally displaced persons (“IDPs”) – there were 500,000 IDPs by the time the worst was over.

This information recently was published by the United States as part of its request for applications for funding relating to its new Women’s Peace Campaign in Kenya:

“The 2003 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey (KDHS), a representative survey of 9,000 Kenya households, found that

·         49% of Kenyan women had experienced violence since age 15 with Nairobi (51%), Nyanza (60%), and Western (73%) provinces having the highest rates. 

·         One in four women reported that they had experienced violence in the previous 12 months.

·          83% of women reported that they had experienced physical violence in their childhood.

·         46% reported that they had been sexually abused in childhood.

·         25% of 12-24 year olds reported that the first time they had sex it was forced. 

·         Over 60% of these women and children stated that they did not report the violence to anyone.

”The 2008 version of the KDHS was slightly less comprehensive, but contained similar findings: 39 percent of women (married, divorced, or separated) reported that they had been physically or sexually assaulted by their husbands.

“The Kenya Gender Data Sheet of 2005 reported that more than 2 out of 3 women surveyed agreed that a husband is justified in beating his wife for at least one reason.”

GBV is a significant concern in many African countries.  In recent discussions with NGO workers from Somalia, Somaliland (officially still a region of Somalia) and Ethiopia, the description of GBV in Somalia is particularly disheartening. 

Right now there is no Somalia infra-structure to deal with GBV issues.  There are very large camps and areas that have huge populations of IDPs.  There are no procedures, funds or personnel to address the most basic concerns of prevention and protection.  There literally is nowhere for a woman to go if she is not protected by those around her.

In Kenya, there currently are extensive resources and efforts focused on GBV and other gender related concerns, such as female circumcision, from grass roots to the highest levels of government by a wide variety of NGOs, CBOs (charity based organizations), religious groups and governments.  Although I’m convinced that more coordination and cooperation among all of these efforts would provide exponentially greater results, change is clearly more than just in the air.