Gender in the Constitution

Gender in the Constitution 

• Article 27 on Equality and Freedom of Discrimination states every person is equal before the Law and has equal protection and equal benefits of the law 

• Article 27(3) states  that women and men have the right  to equal treatment, including the right to equal opportunities in political , economic, cultural and social spheres 

• Article 27(3) states the State shall not discriminate directly or indirectly against any person on grounds of sex, pregnancy, marital status 

• Article 27(3): The state shall take legislative measures to implement two-thirds  of the members of elective protection and equal  benefits before the law 

• Article 40(1) states that every person has the right to acquire property rights individually or in association with others.

• Article 59(1) of the Constitution establishes the Kenya National Human Rights and Equality Commission. 92 The functions of the Commission, inter alia, are to promote gender equality and equity generally and to coordinate and facilitate gender mainstreaming in national development. 93 Article 60 (1) of the Constitution provides for elimination of gender discrimination in law, customs and practices related to land and property in land.94

• Subsequently, Article 172 (1) (2)(b) mandates the Judicial Service Commission to promote and facilitate the independence and accountability of the judiciary and the efficient, effective, and transparent administration of justice.? The Commission is mandated in the performance

• Article 60 states that land shall be held, used and managed based, among other principles elimination of gender discrimination in law customs and practices related to land 

• However, under customary law, there is a general principle that a husband should manage his wife's property, whether acquired before us during the marriage. In this case, a woman may use matrimonial property, but she cannot dispose of it without her husband's consent 

• In the human rights watch report customary law, the position of wides is particularly precarious. Of particular concern  are the customary practices of wife inheritance and ritual cleaning among the Luo and the Luhya.

• Wife inheritance is the long form of a widow and male relative of her deceased husband, originally designed as a form of social protection and to secure her access to land. Ritual cleansing occurs by way of a short-term encounter with a man paid to have sex with a widow in order to 'cleanse' her from the evil spirits that are believed to contaminate her on the death of her husband. 

• These practices take home nor have access to land unless she is inherited or cleansed. In addition to concerns that "home lends one in different directions, but the common thread is that a woman cannot stay there; these practices exploit women's property rights and personal freedoms; ritual cleansing has health risks, including the risk of HIV and AIDS infection.

  
  
  

• Women lack control over property in marriage when their husbands die. It is not uncommon, particularly in rural areas, for the husband's relatives to take the family property, including land, homes, livestock, furniture, and household items. This, however, is inconsistent with the provisions of the Constitution, which state at Article 45(3) that parties to a marriage are entitled to equal rights at the time of the marriage, during the marriage, and at the dissolution of the marriage.

• Gender discrimination in the formal labour market.Women in Kenya are well represented in the labour market. More than 88% of men and 78% of women are in the labour force (GoK, 2018b). But gender discrimination persists in the female sector because women make up only 29% of the formal labour force (UNDP, 2020). At the same time, women's earnings are on average 58% lower than men's (World Bank, 20,93). Furthermore, women and men are occupationally segmented. These differences result in a number of factors, including more investment in the human capital of sons than of dauglier employers with discriminatory preferences about whom to hire and pay more, wonder dominant role in raising children and maintaining the household, and socio-cultural factors that restrict women's ability to work outside the home and in certain sectors (for example, fishing and night work). Types of courses undertaken by women, they shun from skin women are socialised into arts, nursing, and secretaries, while men are the doctors.