The murder of Rebecca Cheptegei highlights the dangers of femicide in Kenya

The murder of Olympic runner Rebecca Cheptegei by her former partner has reignited calls for tougher measures against femicide in Kenya.

The 33-year-old Ugandan died a few days after her ex-boyfriend doused her house in Trans Nzoia County in western Kenya with petrol and set it on fire.

This is not an isolated case. Kenya has one of the highest rates of violence against women in Africa.

According to media reports, more than ten women in the country were victims of femicide in January alone. defined by the UN as the killing of women because of their gender.

Jane (not her real name) told the BBC she had been in hiding for most of the year.

She says she is unable to return to work due to life-changing injuries inflicted by her ex-partner in a brutal stabbing.

“He wanted to kill me. He stabbed me and left me there as if I was dead. If it hadn't been for the neighbors, I would have been dead,” Jane remembers.

She says she endured decades of increasing abuse before leaving. Her breaking point, she says, was when he began to treat the children aggressively.

“It was hell living with him. I don't know how I lasted all those years,” Jane adds.

Her estranged husband continues to harass her.

“I live in fear. He says he wants to kill me. I can't sleep at night. I'm now taking medication to improve my mental health. I'm not the perpetrator, but I live as if I were in prison.”

A Report of the World Health Organization (WHO) 2018 reported that 38% of women in Kenya between the ages of 15 and 49 have experienced violence from a domestic partner.

Groups that provide support to survivors of gender-based violence report that the number of cases is increasing year after year.

“On average, we receive up to 50 calls and sometimes 20 visitors a day,” Njeri Migwi told the BBC.

She is the head of Usikimye – Swahili for “do not be silent”.

In 2021, then-President Uhuru Kenyatta declared gender-based violence a “national crisis.”

One year later a government report found that 41% of married women had experienced physical violence.

A Survey by Africa Data Hub found that more than 500 cases of women being killed in Kenya were reported between 2016 and 2023.

“In 75 percent of cases, the killings were committed by a person who knew the murdered woman – a partner, relative or friend,” the report said.

Sunita Caminha, UN Women's specialist on ending violence against women and girls in East and Southern Africa, says that in a world marked by widespread gender discrimination and inequality, women and girls from all backgrounds have been victims of femicide.

In the latest UN report on violence against women and girls, Africa is the largest country with 20,000 women murdered.

Long-distance runner Joan Chelimo says Cheptegei's killing traumatized her.

“I can’t sleep when I think about someone being burned alive,” she adds.

Cheptegei's former partner also later died from the burns he sustained during the attack on her.

Ms. Chelimo is co-founder of Tirop's Angels, an organization created after the murder of athlete Agnes Tirop.

She says Cheptegei reported the abuse she suffered to the police, but “nothing happened.”

“So the perpetrators are not held accountable,” adds Ms Chelimo.

Police have denied claims that Cheptegei said her life was in danger.

Although Kenya has passed laws to combat gender-based violence, critics say there are few concrete measures to tackle the scourge.

Judy Gitau, Africa regional director for the campaign group Equality Now, says: “Unfortunately, governments often believe that once a law is passed, it's over. They don't understand that laws are not self-enforced or self-enforced.”

Jane says her reports of abuse have been dismissed over the years.

“Often the police claim it's a domestic dispute. In fact, one policewoman I spoke to said, 'We can't arrest him until he does something.' I asked her, 'Do you want him to kill me?'

“The next day he stabbed me,” Jane remembers.

In 2004, police gender desks were established in Kenya to make it easier for women to report cases of gender-based violence and to speed up investigations.

However, only half of all police stations have such devices. The police say this is due to a lack of resources.

In Trans Nzoia, where Cheptegei lived, there are five police stations, but none of them has a gender department – ​​the only one is in the county council, says Kennedy Apindi, head of the county's criminal investigation department.

“So the reporting of these cases is a problem. They are reported late or only when you hear about them in the media and then the police intervene,” he adds.

Cheptegei was the third female athlete in Kenya to die allegedly at the hands of her partner in the last three years.

In 2021, just five weeks after Agnes Tirop broke a world record in the 10km road race in Germany, she was found dead in her home.

The 25-year-old had numerous stab wounds to her neck and stomach.

Her partner Ibrahim Rotich was arrested by police in Changamwe, 640 kilometers away on the Kenyan coast.

Three years after her murder, the case is still before the courts and Mr. Rotich is free on bail. He has pleaded not guilty to the murder charge.

Other procedures also drag on for years.

Ms Gitau is a member of a justice committee that reviews timelines for gender-based violence cases. She finds the delays unacceptable.

“Gender-based violence must be prioritized [gender-based violence]”, she says.

Just six months after Tirop's murder, Kenyan-born Bahraini runner Damaris Muthee Mutua was found dead in her home in Iten, a running center in Kenya's Rift Valley.

A police autopsy revealed that the 28-year-old had been strangled.

No one was convicted for her killing.

Police said they were searching for her boyfriend in connection with the death.

Like Cheptegei, both athletes reported arguments with their partners over money and property before they died.

In many East African communities, gender-based violence is rooted in patriarchal beliefs that place women in a subordinate role, limit their independence, and normalize violence as a form of control.

Ms Gitau calls for more shelters for survivors.

“Deep down, women are still seen in a certain light because of our attitudes and the norms we represent as a country,” she says.

Ms Chelimo takes a similar view, saying the significant sums that female athletes earn or could earn make them vulnerable.

“They violate traditional gender norms… Female athletes today are becoming more independent, more financially independent, and the opposite sex is very upset about this,” adds Ms Chelimo.

The government says it is conducting awareness-raising programmes while reviewing legislation to combat gender-based violence.

“We don't want this to happen to another woman, whether it's an athlete, a village woman or a young girl. We need to make sure that the gender police do their job,” Rachel Kamweru of Kenya's government gender department told the BBC.

Jane says her life is in the hands of the government and she hopes it will do more to protect women like her from their ex-partners.

“As long as he is free, I will not have peace,” she says.