Stories of courage and resilience from Grassroots Women Human Rights Defenders and Feminists in the face of the COVID-19 Pandemic
This is a production of the Coalition for Grassroots Human Rights defenders Kenya (CGHRDs Kenya). This publication was supported and funded by the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation, Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania.
Pushing on for dignity in the COVID-19 Pandemic; Maryanne Mutheu Kasina of Kayole Community Justice Center and Convener of the Women in the social justice centers.
I am the co-founder of Kayole Community Justice Center and Convener of the Women in the social justice centers. I fight for women’s rights and at the center level. l deal with issues of gender based violence and police violence. I have been doing this for the last three years.
What gives me the morale to continue every day is the fact that l am moved by women who raise alarms about the injustices they face. I believe that no woman is free until all women are free. Women must be liberated from the injustices they face.
Before COVID-19 got here, we had project partners who were willing to come and start working with us. For example PAWA254 had agreed to come in to do a project on journalism, public litigation and activism. This project was meant to be held here in Kayole but because of the pandemic it was done on Zoom. In my opinion it did not have the kind of impact that was expected.
COVID-19 has also affected our catering business. We have a catering business that ensures we have our bills paid. That business has been put on hold because of the pandemic. Things have become worse. Most of the women in this area have lost their jobs and they are single mothers. Most of them have ended up in sex work which is still not helping them. The ones who were doing domestic chores of washing clothes and cleaning homes no longer get the jobs like they used to. People are skeptical about contracting the disease. Married women and those staying with spouses have been experiencing rising cases of domestic violence in our area. They say it has to do with a lack of money because the men in their frustrations are venting out on their wives and partners. Children have also been hurt in the process by this pandemic because they have had to experience this same violence within their homes. They are also going on one meal a day or sometimes even no meals at all.
When schools went online, this area was highly disadvantaged. This is an informal settlement. Most of the women we help earn a dollar a day. When they get their little money they prefer to buy food as opposed to paying for internet for the child to be able to access their classes online. Most homes do not even have the computers or phones to facilitate online learning. It has been a great challenge.
When it comes to menstrual products, the girls have been going through a lot. Since their families already live on a dollar a day, pads are not an option. Pads are too expensive for their families to afford. Because we know that menstrual cycles never stop even with a pandemic, these girls are then forced to go out and look for sanitary provisions and this is where they get sexually preyed upon and exploited. Many have become pregnant in this way during this period. I am challenging the government to make sure that menstrual products are free especially for girls in the informal settlements. The challenge has been that some organizations have been circulating them in schools. But since the schools are closed, these girls find themselves missing out on them.
Kayole has a huge challenge of access to clean water. The residents here keep buying water which is also becoming an expensive affair. During this pandemic how do the families take care of themselves with no water? Even the girls experience a challenge during their menses because of lack of water. Hygiene becomes a major issue both within the homes and around the community. The government keeps insisting on washing our hands but where is the water coming from? Sanitizers are even too expensive for the communities to comprehend.
The government should implement article 43 of the Constitution of Kenya that gives us the right to our basic needs like water, education, housing and food. During the pandemic, the government allocated resources to help us but we do not know where the resources went because we are yet to receive any help. I feel the looting of resources because of the high levels of corruption leads to poverty which in turn leads to violence which makes the work of human rights defenders very difficult. I wish to see the government provide basic needs for every household so as to enable them to live a dignified life. To my colleagues in the human rights world, let’s continue fighting until everyone lives in a place that has dignity, equal rights and justice for everyone. I know it is not an easy task but let us keep pushing on.
