I would have dared to say that Rebecca Cheptegei, the Ugandan athlete who just died in Kenya, a victim of gender-based violence, She was an empowered womanif such a statement can be made on a continent where women are the losers par excellence.
Rebecca, I’ll take the liberty of addressing her informally because it’s the only way to put a human face on the drama, was struggling between life and death since her partner, her boyfriend, decided to douse her with gasoline and set her on fire. After a few dramatic hours fighting to survive, Rebecca lost the most important race of her lifeHe was 33 years old and 80% of his body was charred.
The high-profile case of this Olympic athlete, who attended the Games for the first time this summer in Paris, is the tip of the iceberg of a scourge that has reached chilling levels in Africa.
A woman is killed by her partner or close relative in Kenya every two days, according to data from the National Criminal Investigation Centre (NCRC) published in January. In addition, the precarious statistics compiled in the country indicate that 28% of women between 15 and 49 have suffered physical, sexual or emotional violence at the hands of her partner.
If ‘I killed her because she was mine’ is the premise that hides behind the sexist violence that men exercise against women In developed countries, ‘I killed her because she was worthless’ might be the axiom to apply in underdeveloped countries.
It is worth remembering that in Africa girls are genitally mutilated from an early age; that their parents and siblings decide when, how and with whom they should marry; that many are used as sexual slaves in war conflicts and kidnapped by armed groups.
That agonizing sound still resonates in our ears #BringBackOurGirls which 10 years ago was led by Michelle Obama herself to claim the group jihadist Boko Haram the return of the 279 minors kidnapped in Chibok (Nigeria).
A decade after that, Gender-based violence is advancing rapidly throughout the worldas do the number of those who deny the existence of this scourge. I am aware that many will argue that the black continent contains peculiarities that are difficult to understand and explain, which respond to ancestral traditions rooted deep in their idiosyncrasySlavery and colonialism also responded to similar patterns.
Let us remember that violence against women and girls is one of the worst and we must fight it vigorously. Thinking that Rebecca was far away from us is a mistake. To merely lament his atrocious death is a dereliction of responsibility.
Women (and men who want to join us in this fight) are forced to report sexist behaviour. To raise our voices against any hint of patriarchal attitude. And, above all, to prevent the deaths, Rebecca’s death, from going unpunished.
