Perceptions, Attitudes and Opinions of the Community towards Femicide

Zipporah Kitambulisho Okello, Magdalene Gesare & Lilian Chesikaw
Egerton University, Kenya.
Email: zipporahokello@gmail.com

Abstract: Femicide cases among female students have continued to rise despite universities and the country establishing various policies to prevent, and respond to femicide. The study explored the perceptions, attitudes and opinions of the community towards femicide in the University of Nairobi, Nairobi County. The study adopted a descriptive research design methodology using a mixed-methods approach integrating both qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis techniques. Stratified and cluster sampling were applied to get the quantitative sample size, while purposive sampling was used to sample key informants and focus group discussants. Majority of respondents were female (65.0%) while male constituted of 35.0% relatively distributed across four academic years. About 73.5% understood the meaning of femicide, and 93.4% felt it was a serious societal problem. The study established that femicide is a gradual progress shaped by unequal power relations, social norms, violent relationship dynamics. The study recommends that the university should promote healthy masculinity and positive relationship engagement; introduce anonymous reporting channels where witnesses and victims can report without fear of victimization; and the government should ensure that gender laws and regulations and enforced.