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Causes of Gender Based Violence in Kenya

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GENDER AND DEVELOPMENT
Causes of Gender Based Violence in Kenya

Author Note
This research is being submitted on Friday, April 17, 2015 for HCOB 2508 GENDER AND DEVELOPMENT course. CAUSES OF GENDER BASED VIOLENCE IN KENYA The causes of gender-based violence are many and varied depending on the types of violence. Traditional attitudes towards women around the world help perpetuate the violence. Stereotypical roles in which women are seen as subordinate to men constrain a woman’s ability to exercise choices that would enable her end the abuse. Culture has been cited as the leading cause of violence against women. Some men it seems still subscribe to outdated traditions for example battering a woman is seen as a way of discipline and is acceptable. Some of the examples of cultural based violence include:
• Child Marriage – the early marriage of girls is an accepted part of many economic and social systems. Child marriage has been described as ‘the socially legitimized institutionalization of marital rape or in other words the rape of young girls. It is the practice of marrying very young girls to older men. An example is in the Maasai community which allows older men to marry young girls. Young girls are considered as trophies or source of richness to their families.
• Female genital mutilation - is a traditional practice that involves cutting or altering the female genitalia as a rite of passage or for other socio-cultural reasons. This is commonly practiced among the Maasai community up to date and it is considered as a rite of passage. It was also practiced among the Kisii community but it is not rampant though practiced secretly. Financial insecurity has also been said to be a factor of gender based violence in Kenya. The role of a man has been established as that of a leader and a provider and in some cases where a man fails

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