Wanjala Wafula of The Coexist Initiative – We need to talk to men and boys about gender-based violence, masculinities, and negative social stereotypes.
Milena Rampoldi and Denise Nanni, ProMosaik. In the following an interview with
Wanjala Wafula, journalist, and CEO/founder of the Coexist Initiative working
in Nairobi to struggle against violence of all kinds for a tolerant,
cooperative coexistence in society. As we have shown many time, to protect
women and to struggle against gender-based violence we need men and boys as
partners. And exactly this is the point of departure Wanjala shows us. And if
we work against violence, we automatically oppose to child marriage, to FGM, to
religious radicalism, and to all kind of negative behaviours avoiding peaceful
coexistence in society. Would like to thank Wanjala for his important words.
was the coexist initiative founded?
years ago. I was in journalism at the time: I held editor positions at some of
Kenya’s top newspapers including the Nation and the Standard. But, I changed my
career path because of a personal very painful experience.
I’m a twin, one of twelve children. We are six sets of twins: six boys and six
girls. One of my sisters had a set of triplets too! My twin sister was a
trained nurse. One day, she came home to my village to visit my mother who was
ailing. But along the way she was gang raped by five men, strangled, and
killed. The village decided that according to our culture, a woman was only
worth fourteen goats and that the perpetrators should pay this as a form of
punishment. So, the men paid the goats as a fine for raping and killing her. I
refused to accept the village’s ruling about the brutal attack and murder of my
sister. I engaged the police and asked for an investigation and today the
perpetrators are serving life sentences.
That’s when I abandoned journalism and realized that the world needed a
different conversation with men and boys. We need to talk to men and boys about
gender-based violence, masculinities, and negative social stereotypes. I wanted
to engage men, not as perpetrators, but as partners, because there are many
good men around the world. However, the good men have kept quiet and allowed
the bad men to represent the whole gender.
So, twelve years ago I started a comprehensive program that would engage all
stakeholders— men, women, boys, and girls—not just for gender justice, but also
for peace and conflict mitigation,
programs running in refugee camps, conflict zones, prisons, universities,
marginalized communities, and rural populations all over Kenya.
And our model is working very well with substantial impacts. We have partners
all across East Africa and our work has been recognized through several awards.
For example, were awarded by the African Union as an organization leading in
peace building, conflict mitigation, and justice. In 2014 we won the global
award on intercultural dialogue sponsored by the European Union for our work on
girls’ education and women’s rights in development. In 2015 we received the
UNHCR commendation for designing interventions that are best practice in the
world. We were subsequently the 2015 Avon Global Communications Award winners
and also 2016 Global Intercultural Innovation Awardee.
is the current situation in Kenya related to FGM and child marriage?
practices in Kenya saddens me. We have collectively failed to realize the
rights of many girls to a life of their choosing. In the past two years, 40% of
girls in Kenya were married before their eighteenth birthday; 61% in one County
alone. At this rate, Kenya will see 35,000 more girls married off within the
next year. That’s 35,000 girls who will suffer violations of their right to
health, education and non-discrimination.
2011 but it’s still prevalent in some areas. Nationally, the prevalence has
dropped from 38% in 1998 to 21% in 2014, according to the latest Kenya
demographic health survey published last year. However, public ceremonies
celebrating the illegal season of female genital cutting have been allowed to
take place unchallenged by the authorities in some areas. There is no national
programme to teach pupils about the long-term health implications.
passed in 2001, prohibited the marriage of anyone under 18, and even stated
that “no person shall subject a child to early marriage or other traditional
practices that are likely to negatively affect the child’s life, health, social
welfare, or dignity”. The problem is not the law, but rather the lack of
political will to enforce it.
monitor and prosecute child marriage or FGM cases, no services that provide
shelter to runaway brides. Children’s rights sit at the very bottom of the
government’s list of priorities, if at all, even though rising tensions between
ethnic groups have prompted many abductions for marriage and rendered the
situation all the more alarming.
is conflict, men use the bodies of women and girls as their battlefield and
that it elicits so little outrage from state officials.
what ways do you address these two issues?
is to engage the community as a whole. Social transformation will not happen
without community engagement. That’s why much of our work at Coexist Initiative
is focused on raising awareness of the harmful impact of harmful traditional practices through
media and entertainment.
residents and service providers with key child marriage prevention messages.
For example, we’ve been working on “Our Voices Our Cry”, a book that gathers
the stories of children who have been sexually exploited, and we are currently
pushing for its inclusion into the school curriculum. This way, by bringing the
dialogue about harmful traditional practices into public consciousness and our
schools, we hope to address the discrimination that is at its heart.
closely with the Maasai and Kaya tribal elders to prevent harmful traditional
practices like child marriage and FGM. I have found that working with spiritual
leaders and community elders can dramatically enhance the reach of our message.
Because they are seen as the custodians of culture, they impart their
traditions and beliefs onto younger generations. Traditional leaders have the
authority needed to decrease the acceptance of these practices, and their
voices are particularly important when it comes to reaching out to boys and
men.
time when he learns the “rules of manhood”. This traditionally happens during
the male circumcision ceremony, when boys are exposed to highly gendered
messages about what it means to be a man. Working with spiritual leaders has
proven paramount in opening a new space for dialogue, in teaching boys’
different lessons about manhood: boys become men by seeing and supporting women
as human beings.
practices that subordinate women and girls and subject them to violence, we can
get to the root of child marriage. The support of community elders’ is a vital
part of that process.
do you think it is important to involve men in the debate about gender
equality? And how has civil society been responsive so far?
referring to men and women as well as boys and girls. However, gender biases
and inequalities predominantly and critically affect women. They are drivers of
unequal access to education for girl children, sexual and reproductive health
problems, including Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) and HIV &
AIDS.
is informed by the fact that masculine perceptions show traditional stereotyped
mindsets, which shape the identity and behavior of men and young boys, thereby
perpetuating gender inequalities rather than breaking patriarchal norms.
you cooperate with local authorities and institutions? If yes, how?
county governments and locally based NGOs. This is through partnership in
implementing projects that we have common focus areas, resources mobilization
and for policy implementation and advocacy. The authorities in county
government enhance the referral mechanisms in cases of seeking justice,
enforcing legislation and also act as drivers of advocacy in elimination of
harmful traditional practices.
