{"id":2446,"date":"2021-11-01T22:23:17","date_gmt":"2021-11-01T22:23:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/?p=2446"},"modified":"2021-11-01T22:23:17","modified_gmt":"2021-11-01T22:23:17","slug":"kenyan-women-organize-for-safety-and-respect-on-public-transport","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/?p=2446","title":{"rendered":"Kenyan Women Organize For Safety And Respect On Public Transport"},"content":{"rendered":"

NAIROBI, Kenya \u2014\u00a0While studying at the\u00a0United States International University<\/a>\u00a0in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi in 2008, Naomi Mwaura witnessed something that changed her life.<\/p>\n

As Mwaura and three of her friends traveled near their campus on a\u00a0matatu<\/a> \u2014 privately owned minibusses that provide public transport \u2014 they watched a crew assault a young woman over what they described as \u201cimproper\u201d dressing.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy friends and I were perturbed and realized it could easily have been one of us and wondered how we can avert such situations in the future,\u201d she told Zenger.<\/p>\n

Kenya\u2019s matatus are famous for their unruly behavior \u2014 disobeying traffic rules at will, and often bringing the city roads to a standstill. Their crews also often harass passengers, especially women, for perceived failures to dress appropriately.<\/p>\n

As a male-dominated sector, the few women who venture into the business often complain of harassment from male colleagues, and even from police officers.<\/p>\n

After the 2008 incident, Mwaura and her friends partnered with\u00a0Ujamaa Africa,<\/a>\u00a0a Nairobi-based organization advocating for women\u2019s empowerment, to help equip women with self-defense tactics.<\/p>\n

In 2013, that became the\u00a0Flone Initiative<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The organization encourages women to take up decision-making positions in the transport industry and to professionalize the industry. They run training programs that equip the crew with skills that include customer service and navigating an intense work schedule from 4 a.m. to 10 p.m.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is an industry that is close to my heart, having seen my uncle run a successful matatu business, which employed many of my relatives as touts and drivers,\u201d Mwaura said. \u201cMy perception of the industry was different until I joined campus and realized everyone looked down on matatu staff, but I\u2019m optimistic we can redeem this image.\u201d<\/p>\n

Besides unruly male crews, women who venture into the industry often have to deal with police who do not officially book some cases and at times even assault them.<\/p>\n

Naomi Ngugi, a former conductor with\u00a0Umoinner Sacco<\/a>, one of the biggest matatu groups plying the Eastlands part of Nairobi, still remembers the assault she endured at the hands of police in March 2020 enforcing the\u00a0Covid-19 containment measures<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was a slight delay in closing down that particular evening, but I had to wait for my day\u2019s dues since it was the only money I was relying on to feed my child,\u201d she told Zenger. \u201cI was just about to leave for home around 9.15 p.m. when two police officers approached and started hitting me from the back.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey then lifted me and threw me at the back of their patrol car.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her crime was being out after 9 p.m., the official curfew time.<\/p>\n

\u201cI begged for mercy in vain. Two other police officers were at the back of the vehicle continued hitting me with batons on my back. I explained to them that I was a conductor and had a valid public service vehicle operator\u2019s badge, but that fell on deaf ears. Eventually, they let me off after taking my day\u2019s earnings of Sh1,200 [ about $10]. I hurriedly walked home, hoping not to bump into other police officers.\u201d<\/p>\n

The pain and trauma of the experience registered when she got home. She barely ate for three days, and her hands felt numb.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was traumatized and decided to quit the industry. I never renewed my badge again. That was the last time I worked as a matatu tout.\u201d<\/p>\n

Harassment in the transport industry extends to female commuters too.<\/p>\n

Anita Mweni, a clothes seller in Nairobi, said she and her friends could not wear short dresses, fearing harassment by touts.<\/p>\n

\u201cLast year, my friends and I watched in shock as touts stripped a woman at a matatu stage near my home claiming she was indecently dressed,\u201d Mweni told Zenger. \u201cTo avoid such incidences, you either have your boyfriend accompany you when you have to wear something short, or you take a cab.\u201d<\/p>\n

In September 2014, thousands of people demonstrated on the streets of Nairobi in support of a young woman who was assaulted and stripped naked at a matatu terminus for \u201cindecent\u201d dressing.<\/p>\n

The incident led to a campaign dubbed\u00a0#MyDressMyChoice.<\/a><\/p>\n

After the incident, similar videos of different women being assaulted due to their dressing choices emerged. But many more go unreported.<\/p>\n

The Flone Initiative\u2019s first-ever job in 2013 was a training session for matatu crew in Nyeri town \u2014 about 90 miles north of Nairobi \u2014 after a young woman was stripped naked at a bus terminus. \u00a0The organization then developed a curriculum in 2014, and the training took shape after that.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur talks address gender issues in a non-confrontational way so that we do not lose the men,\u201d Mwaumi said. \u201cTo break the ice, we ask non-intrusive questions like, \u2018What type of violence have you experienced, and how did it make you feel? What type of violence have you inflicted on others?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Flone Initiative has trained 25 women and 800 male operators in Githurai 44, Githurai 45, Kayole areas of Nairobi, and Nakuru town, 93 miles west of the capital.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe usually go to problematic areas and talk to the men who strip women, for instance. We have professionals who do training. The feedback is encouraging. Some\u00a0matatu saccos<\/a>\u00a0[savings and credit cooperative societies] we trained have developed a grievance system, which receives customer complaints,\u201d Mwaumi said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey had also hired more women.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, many matatu owners do not want an empowered workforce and feel threatened when their staff is more conscious of their rights.<\/p>\n

Flone Initiative has partnered with various organizations like the\u00a0National Gender and Equality Commission<\/a>\u00a0to counsel matatu staff who have gone through traumatic experiences on the road. She said they now plan to extend their reach beyond Kenya.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were all set to venture into the East African region last year, were it not for Covid-19 pandemic. However, our short-term goal is to start a school in Kenya to train those in the transport industry.\u201d<\/p>\n

Source: Zenger News<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NAIROBI, Kenya \u2014\u00a0While studying at the\u00a0United States International University\u00a0in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi in 2008, Naomi Mwaura<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2447,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"elementor_theme","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[42,25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2446","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-africa-express","category-zenger-zone"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2446","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2446"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2446\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2448,"href":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2446\/revisions\/2448"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2447"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2446"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2446"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2446"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}