| NAIROBI, Kenya, October 13, 2026/ -- By Deborah Nyokabi (https://apo-opa.co/3VGBlWY), Associate Manager, Economic Justice and Family Law, Equality Now (www.EqualityNow.org). For 42 years, Kenya has committed to ensuring women’s equality in marriage and family life. In 1984, the country ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), and Article 2(6) of the Constitution (https://apo-opa.co/4s1SBBL) makes the treaty part of Kenyan law. Yet in reality, this promise remains unrealised. Women in Kenya can still lose their homes when their husbands die, struggle to claim property they helped build, and face barriers to leaving marriages marked by violence.Kenya’s record on women’s rights is currently under scrutiny as the CEDAW Committee reviews the country’s implementation of the Convention during the Committee’s 93rd session (https://apo-opa.co/4rZQHBI) at the United Nations in Geneva. The Global Campaign for Equality in Family Law (https://apo-opa.co/4rZQIpg), Equality Now (https://apo-opa.co/4rZQIFM) and Kenyan partners, including Come Together Widows and Orphans Organization (CTWOO), (https://apo-opa.co/4ySklM8) have submitted a shadow report (https://apo-opa.co/4dDNBNT) providing a civil society account of what happens on the ground in Kenya in relation to Article 16 of the CEDAW Convention. What CEDAW Article 16 means for women in Kenya Article 16 of CEDAW (https://apo-opa.co/4yX8uMs) protects equality inside the family. This includes equal rights when spouses marry, during marriage and when it ends, with equal say over parenting, property and decisions about children. It protects the right to belong in a family, to be safe in it and to prosper in it, from marriage through widowhood. The Committee’s guidance on violence against women (https://apo-opa.co/3TYw3FE) extends that protection to safety at home. That commitment is tested at every stage of family life. When a couple registers a marriage, when unpaid care counts towards family wealth, when a woman seeks a divorce, when a widow tries to keep her home and when a woman needs protection from violence. These are not separate failures but different ways in which equality can exist on paper and be denied in practice.Kenya has made real progress. Article 27 of the Constitution guarantees equality, and Article 45(3) (https://apo-opa.co/4s1SBBL) applies that guarantee to spouses at every stage of marriage. The Marriage Act of 2014 (https://apo-opa.co/4e3spRC) brought many marriage laws into one statute, and the Matrimonial Property Act of 2013 (https://apo-opa.co/4dCyi8e) recognised non-financial contribution to family wealth, reforms that the Federation of Women Lawyers in Kenya and other women’s organisations helped advance (https://apo-opa.co/4dCn181) through strategic litigation, legislative proposals and community education. Marriage registration and women’s property rights in Kenya Equality in family life starts with being able to prove a marriage exists. The Marriage Act requires registration, yet it costs Kenya shillings 3,900 (https://apo-opa.co/4hWIeKW), and both spouses must appear before the registrar. Only 19.3 per cent of married women aged 15 to 49 (https://apo-opa.co/4hY0pjF) had registered their marriage in the 2022 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey, while the shadow report finds no fee waiver for poor households and no county registration drives to help make it easier for couples to register their marriages locally. For a family living on the World Bank’s international poverty line of US$3 a day (https://apo-opa.co/4jQOfvh), the fee equals ten days of income. Many families pass land down the husband’s line, so a wife who cannot prove her marriage can struggle to claim the family home and land after a divorce or a death, and courts have been inconsistent about the consequences of non-registration (https://apo-opa.co/4rYjk28). Free registration for poor households and mobile registration teams in every county would remove the barrier.Kenya recognises unpaid contribution in property division, but no formula says how to value it, and in 2023 the Supreme Court held (https://apo-opa.co/3VMs3bM) that Article 45(3) does not give spouses an automatic half share. Women must still establish their contribution to matrimonial property over the years, including non-monetary contributions such as childcare and housework. A presumption of equal sharing, supported by judicial guidelines on valuing unpaid work, would help turn the constitutional promise of equal rights into equal outcomes. Divorce, access to justice and women’s safety The question is not only whether Kenya has laws protecting women’s rights, but whether women can use them. Fees, distance from courts and lengthy proceedings stand between many women and justice, and Kenya’s divorce law is largely fault-based (https://apo-opa.co/4dvd0cI), so a petitioner must prove a ground such as adultery, cruelty or desertion.In 2022, the Court of Appeal ruled (https://apo-opa.co/4rZQL4q) that the three-year wait to seek a divorce in a civil marriage is unconstitutional when a divorce is justified sooner, yet Parliament has not amended the Marriage Act. Chiefs, elders and clergy can also pressure women to reconcile, even where violence is present, but mediation cannot replace a court for a woman who fears for her safety. Widows’ rights in Kenya: more than a succession issue Kenyan law treats widowhood mainly as a succession issue, yet being widowed also determines who keeps property, dignity and safety. CTWOO’s August 2025 widowhood survey found that approximately one third of respondents faced eviction from their home or land after a spouse died and around a third were excluded from inheritance decisions. CTWOO recorded 139 cases involving widows in May 2026 alone (https://apo-opa.co/4s2i6TK). The Law of Succession Act ends a widow’s life interest in her husband’s estate if she remarries, a rule that does not apply to widowers. The High Court declared it unconstitutional in the Ripples International case (https://apo-opa.co/4s3T3zC) in September 2022, but the provision remains in the text of the statute. The Widowed Persons Protection Bill, 2026, (https://apo-opa.co/4s2i6TK) tabled in Parliament in May and drafted with input from CTWOO and Equality Now, would bring protections now scattered across succession, family and criminal law into one framework. Muslim women and equal protection under Kenya’s Constitution Here, the Constitution’s guarantee of equality meets a constitutional limitation. Article 24(4) allows that guarantee to be qualified (https://apo-opa.co/4hHIhLZ) “to the extent strictly necessary” for Muslim law in the Kadhis’ courts, covering marriage, divorce and inheritance, and the Law of Succession Act does not apply (https://apo-opa.co/4rY6kcR) to the estates of deceased Muslims. In practice, Muslim daughters can receive half their brothers’ inheritance share, while Muslim wives have fewer routes to divorce than their husbands. Kenya’s Supreme Court has found (https://apo-opa.co/4yLpq8J) that any departure from equality under Article 24(4) must be strictly necessary and proportionate. Equality Now and its partners therefore call for Article 24(4) to be repealed so that the constitutional equality guarantee applies equally to all women. Gender-based violence, reproductive rights and the risk of rollback The Africa Data Hub (https://apo-opa.co/4s2Mg9d) has documented the killings of at least 1,069 women in Kenya between 2016 and 2025. Section 43(5) of the Sexual Offences Act excludes lawfully married people from the section that defines unlawful sexual acts, creating a marital rape exemption. Usikimye’s accountability audit (https://apo-opa.co/4s6m8dU) also notes that Kenyan law does not define femicide. Harmful practices persist, including child marriage, where data remain scarce, and female genital mutilation (FGM). A review of 68 prosecutions under the Prohibition of Female Genital Mutilation Act by the American Bar Association Center for Human Rights (https://apo-opa.co/4dDNC4p) found that 76 of the 137 identifiable accused people were survivors themselves, including 11 girls under 18, and only eight were cutters. The Act also has a gap. In 2021, the High Court found in Kamau v Attorney General (https://apo-opa.co/4hJQqj3), a case in which Equality Now was an interested party, that the Act leaves out Type IV practices such as pricking and piercing, and directed the Attorney General to propose amendments. Article 16 also covers decisions about the number and spacing of children. Article 26(4) of the Constitution allows abortion in defined circumstances, yet the Penal Code criminalises it. In April 2026, the Court of Appeal held that abortion is not a fundamental right and acknowledged the absence of a clear regulatory framework. Kenya’s reservation to the abortion provision of the Maputo Protocol, Africa’s treaty on women’s rights, also contradicts the Constitution (https://apo-opa.co/3Vys0Ar). The shadow report finds that, since the Committee’s last review in 2017, most of CEDAW’s recommendations remain unimplemented, while the Linda Jamii constitutional amendment proposal (https://apo-opa.co/3TEfEGl) and the National Policy on Family Promotion and Protection (https://apo-opa.co/4s1kM3T) have raised concerns aboutrolling back protections for women (https://apo-opa.co/4dDvt6V), as Equality Now has documented. The pushback has also included the Family Protection Bill of 2023 (https://apo-opa.co/4jTKe9m), which seeks to criminalise same-sex conduct, and calls for Kenya to adopt the regressive Draft African Charter on Family, Sovereignty and Values (https://apo-opa.co/4dDvt6V). Yet Article 45 recognises the family as the natural and fundamental unit of society while giving spouses equal rights. Protecting the family and protecting the equality of each member are therefore part of the same constitutional duty. Commitments Kenya should make after the CEDAW review Align the law. Kenya should amend provisions that conflict with the Constitution, CEDAW and the Maputo Protocol. The Widowed Persons Protection Bill 2026 should be enacted, and a stand-alone law on femicide introduced. The Protection Against Domestic Violence Act needs to be fully operationalised, and the Sexual Offences Act must be amended to remove the exemption for marital rape.Article 24(4) in Kenya’s Constitution that exempts Muslim women from constitutional protection also needs to be reformed. The government should also lift reservations on Article 14(2)(c) of the Maputo Protocol, which protects women’s access to medical abortion in specified circumstances, and align the country’s laws and policies with the Constitution’s protections for women’s reproductive health and rights.Implement existing decisions. Court rulings on widows’ inheritance, divorce and FGM, and the recommendations of the government’s Technical Working Group on gender-based violence should change the statute book and practice, so that women are not forced to litigate the same rights repeatedly. Make rights accessible and protect the gains. Fee waivers, marriage registration drives, legal aid and community education would lower the financial, geographic and procedural barriers, because discrimination rooted in culture and religion outlasts a new law. Kenya should also keep its constitutional and treaty guarantees intact against rollback. Equality in marriage and family life benefits every family in Kenya Equality in marriage is not only a women’s issue; sons, fathers, grandparents and children all bear the cost when a family loses its home, its land or its safety.Kenya has the Constitution, the court rulings and a Bill before Parliament to build on. Today’s review offers a chance to turn 42 years of legal promises into equality that families can feel at home. About: Equality Now is a worldwide human rights organisation dedicated to securing the legal and systemic change needed to end discrimination against all women and girls. Since its inception in 1992, it has played a role in reforming 140 discriminatory laws globally, positively impacting the lives of hundreds of millions of women and girls, their communities and nations, both now and for generations to come. Working with partners at national, regional and global levels, Equality Now draws on deep legal expertise and a diverse range of social, political and cultural perspectives to continue to lead the way in steering, shaping and driving the change needed to achieve enduring gender equality, to the benefit of all. For more information about child marriage in the United States, please review our factsheet and reporting toolkit.For more details about Equality Now, go to www.EqualityNow.org; LinkedIn Equality Now Africa (https://apo-opa.co/4jjlCH2). Deborah Nyokabi (https://apo-opa.co/4dCyiVM) is Associate Manager, Economic Justice and Family Law, at Equality Now, a global human rights organisation dedicated to ending discrimination against all women and girls. She is based in Nairobi, Kenya. For media enquiries contact: Millicent Kwambai Associate Communications Manager Equality Now mkwambai@equalitynow.org T. +254 706 142 804 (available on WhatsApp) |