Kenyan women set up "to hell with men" village

Tired of abuse and suppression a group of women in Kenya have joined forces to establish a female only village in Kenya, where the motto seems to be "to hell with men."

The village, based 350 kilometers west of the capital of Nairobi, was started by a group of 14 women who decided to escape the dominance of men and live according to their own rules, Germany's Deutsche Presse Agentur (DPA) reported on Wednesday.

Called Umoja, or unity in Swahili, the village has become a safe-haven for women escaping arranged marriages, female genital mutilation (FGM) or rape and abuse.

Wandering the desert

Nagusi Lokimo wandered the desert for 90 days without food or water after she ran away from her village in the early 1990s.

"I was brutally raped by three British soldiers from the United Nations," she said. "I wanted to get rid of my fears."

Lokimo told her husband about the rape but he showed no compassion and beat her up instead.

"I thought he would understand, but he yelled in my face and said 'you whore, you disgraced my family.'"

After she ran away, Lokimo met several women who went through similar traumas. They moved between farms and tried to sell vegetables, but no one wanted to buy from them as they were looked upon as indecent.

The women then tried hard to talk to the Kenyan authorities to allow them to establish a women-only village. After strenuous negotiations, they finally managed to obtain the permit.

I was brutally raped by three British soldiers from the United Nations

Nagusi Lokimo

Fight for your rights

Rebecca Lolosoli is the only woman in the village that speaks fluent English. She always receives visitors and organizes publicity campaigns to promote the village outside the country.

Lolosoli's efforts have not gone to waste as the Kenyan government has started to issue laws criminalizing violence against women.

"We have to fight for our rights," she said. "Otherwise, nothing will change."

Despite the fact that women in the village live on their own, men from neighboring villages continue to harass them and throw stones at them.

"Get out of here. You are cursed," they yell at them, prompting the women to build a barbed wire fence around the village to protect themselves.

We have to fight for our rights otherwise nothing will change

Rebecca Lolosoli

"Go to hell"

Women in the village make a living by making jewelry and selling them to tourists.

Netikon Leojuba is the latest addition to the manless village.

She ran away and became a resident of Umoja because she said she was miserable after her father forced her to marry an elderly man.

"Women in the village gave me shelter and embraced me," she said. "For the first time in my life, I am not ashamed of being a woman."

When asked if she misses men, Leojuba replied "let all men go to hell."



(Translated from Arabic by Sonia Farid)

For the first time in my life, I am not ashamed of being a woman

Netikon Leojuba