16 Days for Africa to Say No to Gender Violence

This year's Campaign on Violence Against Women has found encouragement in the African Union's Protocol on the Rights of Women. While 31 countries have signed the Protocol, only five have ratified (Comoros, Rwanda, Libya, Botswana, Namibia and Lesotho). While Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda have signed the protocol, their presidents are yet to ratify it. The violation of women's rights in East Africa is largely born out of the unequal power relations between women and men. Poverty and conflict fuel ritual murder, gang rape, trafficking in women and girls and mistreatment of widows, among others.