AMWIK warns femicide has become a national security and public health crisis

The Association of Media Women in Kenya (AMWIK) has raised alarm over the increasing cases of gender-based violence and femicide in the country, describing the killings of women and girls as a growing national security and public health emergency that requires urgent state action.

In a statement issued on Thursday, the organisation said women are being attacked, abused and killed in spaces that should normally offer safety, including homes and communities.

“Our mothers, sisters, daughters, children and colleagues are being murdered, assaulted, abused and silenced in their homes, in their communities, and in spaces that should offer safety,” AMWIK said.

The group warned that the situation can no longer be treated as isolated domestic incidents, but as a deeper and organised pattern of violence against women.

The organisation said the country is facing a systemic crisis where women are “systematically targeted simply for being women.”

AMWIK pointed to several recent killings across the country, naming Davine Kwamboka in Migori County, Anita in Nakuru County and Naneu Muthoni Muturi in Nairobi’s Lang’ata area as part of the rising cases of femicide.

“We refuse to let the names of our sisters be reduced to passing social media trends or cold statistics,” the statement added.

The organisation further noted that more than 70 per cent of femicide cases take place within domestic settings, often involving intimate partners, former partners or individuals known to the victims.

AMWIK called on the government to immediately declare gender-based violence and femicide a national crisis, and urged Parliament to fast-track laws that recognise femicide as a distinct offence separate from general homicide.

“Every Kenyan woman killed by GBV is a state failure,” the organisation stated, while referencing constitutional protections under Articles 26, 28 and 29 on the right to life, dignity and security.

The group also pushed for the creation of a digitised national database to track repeat offenders, stronger police response systems, and increased funding for safe shelters, forensic investigations, psychosocial support and legal aid for survivors.

AMWIK further criticised how some media houses report femicide cases, saying coverage often shifts focus away from perpetrators and instead targets victims.

“Digging into a deceased woman’s private life, her past choices, or what she wore to justify or rationalise her murder is a violation of journalistic ethics and a secondary assault on the victim’s dignity,” it said.

It urged journalists, editors and digital content creators to adopt responsible reporting that focuses on offenders and systemic failures rather than the personal lives of victims.

The statement comes a day after women’s rights organisations led by the Federation of Women Lawyers Kenya issued a 40-day ultimatum to the government, demanding formal recognition of femicide as a national crisis amid rising killings of women across the country.