Promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment within Kenya’s conservancies

One of the most pervasive symptoms of gender inequality is gender-based violence (GBV). GBV is any harm, or potential of harm, directed at individuals because of their biological sex, sexual orientation, or gender identity, or their apparent ‘(non-)compliance’ with socially defined expectations of behaviour for their sex.  

While both women and men can and do experience GBV, it is most frequently perpetuated against women and girls. Data from the World Bank show that one in three women will experience physical or sexual violence at some time in their lives, although these figures are believed to be conservative. The increased level of violence against women and girls during the Covid-19 pandemic has been described by the UN as the ‘shadow pandemic’. GBV is probably the world’s most hidden and yet most widespread human rights violation. 

Exclusion zone

Despite relying on conservancy land and resources for their daily needs, women struggle to access, influence and benefit from conservancies. Women traditionally do not own land upon which conservancy membership can depend; KWCA estimates that in all of Kenya’s 160+ conservancies, women comprise under 10% of conservancy membership.

The structures and mechanisms of conservancy decision-making serve to entrench gender biases, with women making up less than 5% of conservancy managers and 5% of conservancy committees. Men make most decisions around conservancy resources and projects and these are generally in their favour, for example prioritising individual monetary dividends over community-wide benefits, which is usually women’s preference. 

Some conservancies recognise this problem and are trying to promote women’s participation in conservancy activities and decision making, for example through co-opting women onto conservancy boards and committees. However, these women report not being taken seriously and being undermined and intimidated by their male peers.  

Uncomfortable truths

Many men, and indeed some women, believe that men should be the leaders and decision makers in conservancies, and women who do stand for election are judged harshly. According to one male conservancy manager, “The community is generally hard on women who come out to vie for [leadership] positions. They will screen her performance at family level, her private life, her relationship with in-laws, and although this happens to men too it doesn’t go as deep as for women.”  

Interventions intended to promote women’s empowerment can also unintentionally result in physical and psychological abuse when they do not consider household power dynamics; in one survey over half of the women reported physical violence, verbal abuse, humiliation and intimidation by their husband due to their involvement in economic activities promoted by conservancies.   

The social norms, practices and beliefs that lead to women’s marginalisation within conservancies are both perpetuated by and contribute to GBV. According to 2014 government data, 42% of Kenyans, both men and women, believe that it is acceptable for a husband to beat his wife for various reasons including if she burns the food, goes out without telling him, or refuses to have sexual intercourse. This figure increases in rural areas, where conservancies are located, and where many believe that women are subordinate to men.