The Potential for Gender-Based Violence among the Eastern Bantu Ethnic Groups of Kenya: Evidence from Oral Literature

Abstract

Oral literature is a powerful tool for human socialization. It works to perpetuate social relations between men and women, parents and children, and old and young among other dichotomies. It is used to preserve and perpetuate culture hence maintain the status quo despite social costs. When reinforced by associated beliefs, it propagates such practices as Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), spousal battering and forced marriages among others. That the foregoing practices are rampant among many Kenya communities cannot be gainsaid. While mainstream literature lays blame on drugs, character, economic and other drivers of gender-based violence, this paper provides an alternative to this conventional belief. Through the use of key informant interviews among five (5) community sages and documentary review, this article analyses selected songs, proverbs, oral narratives and sayings used by Eastern Bantu ethnic groups of Kenya and argue that their inter-generational transfer and associated beliefs institutionalize the potential for gender-based violence. From the foregoing, it is important to institute affirmative action measures that respond directly to the needs of the society and in particular to avail self-actualizing opportunities to women in equal measure with men.