Dozens of women who are running for office in Kenya are facing abuse and harassment during the month of August right before elections. Sociocultural barriers in Kenya are the reason for this abuse.

Liz Njue faced abuse while campaigning for president. She is only one of many women facing abuse and harassment in Kenya lately. Her hair was pulled and her shirt was torn while campaigning. Women are also receiving threatening phone calls and text messages. Njue says that “people are saying we want more women to get these political seats. But how are they going to get them if they are humiliated.” 

Women who are exposed to the public in ways such as running for office have been targeted, and many suspect political opponents are the ones behind it. However, none of the major political parties have commented on the issue. These attacks have been deterring women from wanting to run for office.

Umra Omar, who lives in Lamu, a small island town in Kenya, is running for office in hopes to advocate for better healthcare. However, she has a long road ahead of her as there is a mandated gender quota that has failed every year since it has been passed. Women in Kenya are hoping that this is the election that finally breaks the barrier.

About half of all voters in Kenya are females, the country continuously has the least number of elected females in all of East Africa. Opposition leader Martha Karua ran for Kenyan President in 2013 and was in sixth place far behind five other men, receiving less than 1% of the vote. This has been the closest any female has been for 25 years, since the first female ran for president. When CNN asked Karua about the election she responded, “I think that Kenya is ready for women at all levels.”

The number of women running for office in Kenya has grown over the years, however, only 23% of seats in Parliament were held by women in the past year. Forty-seven out of 349 seats in Parliament are held by women. Policy advocate Marilyn Kamaru stated that, “We’re seeing more and more women running, which tells us it has never been a problem about women wanting to participate in politics.” The only problem is the continuous exclusion of women in politics, as well as the harassment of those who attempt to run for office.

The financial barrier to compete in expensive campaigns is also an obstacle for many women trying to run for office. Many of the campaigns can run into hundreds of thousands of dollars, and on top of the abuse many women face, this can also steer them away from wanting to hold a political seat. 

“It chills the environment for women, it makes women think again, hold back and consider running for lower positions or abandoning their campaigns altogether,” Kamaru told CNN news. The sociocultural barriers make it harder for women from more rural areas to run as well. Some parts of Kenya do not let women have their own voters’ cards; they would need permission from a man in order to be able to cast a vote.

The abuse and harassment, as well as some other barriers, make it difficult for women to run for political office and have a say in their country’s politics. There is hope that the end to this can start this year, and women are able to have more equality running for office in the next few years, especially as various feminist movements are becoming more prominent throughout the world.