Opinions from Kenya

Just for kicks, I decided to follow up on yesterday's post about Kenyan women withholding sex from their husbands in order to push for political change, an initiative backed up by the country's first lady and by Kenya's own G10 (the group of 10 women's group that pushed for this action).

I've received a few emails, and a couple of comments about this and so far the women I've heard from where all in support of the Kenyan women's action. You'd think that other people in Kenya would take notice, they'd say something along the lines of: "Hmmmm maybe we should listen to these women..." Apparently that's not the kind of thing that happens in Kenya... According to a few articles and posts I've read from there today, people have completely missed the boat, for them it's all about the fact that sex is in the bedroom and not in parliament.

Here's some quotes with the links to the original sources:
"Insecurity, inflation and poverty only affect the ordinary mwananchi and now the hapless guy has been told that the only source of solace shall be denied. It’s highly unlikely that your average male politician can go for two days’ leave alone a week, without intimacy. Their wives won’t deny them and even if they did, these guys have a retinue of young girls waiting to unleash just for a song. Will they now accuse the men of viewing the women as nothing but sex objects?" (source)

Muslim Women in Kenya "said denying men sex would encourage them to be promiscuous, leading to rise in sexually transmitted diseases."
and
"The decisions we make could affect us for the rest of our lives and we don’t want to leave our children in orphanages or streets"
(source)

Click HERE for more.

After the last Kenyan elections "hundreds of Kenyan women have reported being raped during ethnic clashes that left more than 1300 people dead over the course of two months. The actual number of rapes committed likely totals over 3000..." So is it really surprising that women's bodies are once again at the center of a political battle? The difference is that this time the women aren't going to be victims...

Muchacho Enfermo

It Worked in Ancient Greece Right?

The women of Kenya have decided to withhold sex from their husband as part of a desperate plea to the government to work in a more unified manner towards the common good.

Women's groups on the ground estimate 40% of Kenyan are participating, everyone from prostitutes to the first lady who has voiced her support of the initiative. Kenya was in Chaos following the last election and this initiative aims at raising awareness and forcing the government and the opposition to work together in a more cohesive manner, with the future of the country and its people at the forefront of their actions.

The reactions from within Kenya are mixed:

"If my wife refuses to have sex with me, he says, she goes back to her mother. That is my right." Said a 23 year old man.

"People are really reacting to it, whether they are for it or not. We have been heard. That's the voice of women power." Rukia Subow, chairwoman of Kenya's oldest women's NGO,

“It might make a difference, but it's not right,” Says a female hairdresser. “According to God, according to the law, women should submit their bodies to their husbands. It's a rule.”

“They (men) have to be told something. They are so involved in themselves, especially the politicians. They're not thinking about other Kenyans.” Said a student named Olive.

This reminds my of an occidental history course I took like 10 years ago where we discussed at length how Greek women stopped the Peloponnesian Wars by withholding sex from their husbands. I remember being impressed by the whole business and not entirely unconvinced that it would probably work, although back then it was probably just the hormones talking.


If it's good enough for mythology then it must be good enough for Kenya. I raise my hat and my pint glass to these courageous women who decided to take public political matters into their own hands by making sure that their husbands must now take their "private matters" into theirs for the next week or so.

I hope there's a follow up story in some paper on this because I'm really curious to see if it actually does change something for them and for their country.

Muchacho Enfermo