Police were heavily deployed in the capital ahead of the demonstration, one of several planned in the East African country where violence against women is a long-standing problem.
Several human rights organizations have called for marches to demand that the authorities take measures against femicide, while the Kenyan National Commission for Human Rights (KNCHR) declared in November that it had recorded 97 murders of women in during the previous three months.
On Tuesday, police fired tear gas canisters against an initially small group of young women gathered in Nairobi’s central business district (CBD), AFP journalists noted.
This neighborhood had been the scene of the worst police violence during the anti-government demonstrations which sowed chaos in part of Nairobi, particularly in June.
Police officers, in uniform and heavily equipped or in plain clothes, also arrested numerous people there, according to human rights groups. AFP saw at least one young woman being taken screaming into the back of a police vehicle.
“The government is part of the problem. There is no reason to send armed police against people carrying signs,” Koneli, a 38-year-old demonstrator, told AFP. full name.
The rally gained momentum in the afternoon, when several hundred women marched to parliament, booing and chanting slogans such as “Shame on you!” and “Educate your sons.”
The march was dispersed several times by tear gas.
A 22-year-old woman also told AFP that police appeared to be targeting women wearing t-shirts with anti-feminicide slogans to arrest them.
“We are not violent (…), we are here to fight for women’s rights,” another demonstrator, Akinyi, told AFP shortly before being sprayed with tear gas.
After the KNCHR released the femicide figures, President William Ruto addressed parliament, calling gender-based violence “tragic and unacceptable” and urging society to tackle the problem.
Amnesty International and the Law Society of Kenya issued a joint statement condemning the police actions on Tuesday, saying they sent a “chilling message” to peaceful protesters.
“The violent police response, including the arrest of these peaceful protesters, is a direct attack on Kenya’s democratic principles and the human rights of its citizens,” they stressed.
The Kenyan police have been widely criticized, including abroad, for their repression of anti-government demonstrations at the beginning of the year, which were initially peaceful before degenerating into violence. According to the KNCHR, at least 60 people were killed during this movement.
