FIDA Executive Director Ms Jane Onyango (second right) with members of Albinism Foundation of East Africa

The Federation of Women Lawyers in Kenya (FIDA) is embarking on a process that could see Bills touching on women issues passed in parliament, the Executive Director Ms Jane Onyango has said. Ms Onyango said the organisation is in the process of drafting the Domestic Violence Family Protection Bill to ensure that the government sets up safe homes for battered women and ensure that the homes and fully supported by the Government.

Ms Onyango spoke on Friday at FIDA offices in Nairobi when she received a delegation of members of Albinism Foundation of East Africa and Hon. Shaymaa Kwegyir, nominated Member of Parliament in Tanzania. The FIDA executive director said it was important for parliament to reintroduce Affirmative Action Bill and the Marriage Bill for debate. The Marriage Bill, she said proposes that marriages that are conducted under customary law be recognised by the Constitution adding that women married to a polygamous man should all be recognised by law and be provided with marriage certificates.

The Matrimonial Property Act which was introduced in Kenya by the colonial government in 1897, she said is archaic and “does not serve the interests of Kenyans in the present day.” The constitutional review process set to commence later this year, she said should create opportunity for women to amend some laws that have continuously violate women’s rights. FIDA, she said is in the process of training parliamentarians on gender and human rights issues. This exercise Ms Onyango says is important to sensitize parliamentarians on the need for introducing to parliament Bills that are gender sensitive.

Her organisation, she said is involved in conflict resolution and transitional justice, and that FIDA Kenya is disseminating the Truth and Reconciliation Bill developed after the post –election violence that was sparked of by the disputed December 2007 presidential elections that saw nearly 300,000 persons displaced from their homes.

FIDA Kenya is also preparing women to appear and testify before the Waki Commission that will be investigating the post-election violence. “The women, she said will be able to speak about issues that affected them during the violence including physical abuse, sexual abuse among many other issues,” she said.

The organisation is involved in public interest litigation for women with low income levels and receives averagely 50 women seeking legal aid at their offices in Nairobi while the Mombasa and Kisumu offices handle 30 clients per day. It has also embarked on a programme that trains women to represent themselves in the judicial courts.

Ms. Onyango said her organisation is providing legal aid and counseling to women who were displaced during the violence. It is also working in collaboration with the Kenya Police to ensure that the violators are brought to book. Ms. Onyango said most of the women abused in the displaced persons camps have been reluctant to speak out for fear of victimization. “Most of the abusers were service providers in those camps and so the women have been afraid to come out and speak,” she said

Speaking at the meeting, the visiting Tanzanian legislator Hon. Shaymaa Kwegyir said women in Tanzania who have children suffering from a condition of albinism continue to be discriminated against or have been chased away from home for “bearing strange creatures.”

Traditions and superstitions in the society, she said tend to point to infidelity as being the cause, “some communities kill the child and blame it on infidelity on the side of the mother,’” said the MP who suffers from the condition herself.

The condition is characterised by lack of melanin pigment in the skin, hair and eyes. It is associated with white hair, milky white skin and translucent irises. The nominated Member of Parliament said many children suffering from this condition in her country are abandoned and are usually maintained and brought up in children’s homes.

She said women who bear such children are usually not able to meet the several demands of such children which include hats, sunscreens and special lotion for skin maintenance. The Albinism Foundation of East Africa, she said is partnering with FIDA to create advocacy on the rights of such children and the challenges that women go through to raise children suffering from the condition.

Hon. Kwegyir asked the Fida boss to look into the possibility of coming up with a legislation that will address those issues. Children with albinism, she said can attend normal schools. However they may require assistance with large type text, high contrast written material, computers with large character display and copies of the teachers’ notes for close up reading.

In Kenya nearly 90 per cent of children with albinism attend schools for visually impaired at primary school level.