Kenya and South Africa: what their femicide laws and data systems can teach francophone Africa

South Africa lost an estimated 2,409 women to murder in one year, about seven a day, and 60.1% were killed by an intimate partner [1]. In a single quarter of 2024, police recorded 957 women murdered [2]. In Kenya, a presidential working group found that 1,639 women were killed in gender-related circumstances between 2022 and 2024, and that 77% were killed by partners or people they knew [26]. Both countries have answered public anger with new institutions: a national strategic plan, a statutory council and a national disaster classification in South Africa; a presidential technical working group and a proposed femicide offence in Kenya. This article looks at what they built between 2021 and 2026, where it falls short, and what francophone countries can learn.

Content note: this article discusses the killing of women and girls.

Why look at Kenya and South Africa?

Most francophone African countries do not name femicide in law and do not publish an official count of women killed. RFLD’s October 2026 study on Senegal found no femicide offence in the Penal Code, no public body that counts women killed, and a new national action plan on gender-based violence that does not mention femicide at all [35].

South Africa and Kenya are not success stories. But under pressure from feminist movements, each has tried to answer three questions: who counts the dead, who leads the response, and what the law calls the crime. Their answers, and their failures, are useful.

South Africa: plans, laws, a council and a disaster

South Africa adopted its National Strategic Plan on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (NSP) in 2020 [8]. The plan grew out of demands made at the 2018 Presidential Summit on GBV and femicide. It rests on six pillars: accountability and leadership; prevention and social cohesion; justice, safety and protection; response, care, support and healing; economic power; and research and information management [7]. When it was released, the government committed R8 billion over five years [7].

The plan is supported by a long-standing service model. Thuthuzela Care Centres, launched by the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) in 1999, are one-stop facilities in hospitals and clinics where survivors of sexual violence can receive care, report, and work with prosecutors in one place. They aim to reduce secondary victimisation, speed up cases and raise conviction rates [12]. The NPA’s March 2026 list names 68 centres across all nine provinces [13].

South Africa also has strong research on femicide. The South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) has run four national femicide studies, based on mortuary and police records, since 1999. The fourth, covering April 2020 to March 2021, found a femicide rate of 10.6 per 100,000 women and an intimate partner femicide rate of 5.5, up from 4.9 in 2017 [1]. The perpetrator was not identified in about 44% of cases, and fewer than one in five intimate partner femicides ended in a conviction [1].

Kenya: outrage, counts and a working group

Kenya has no official femicide observatory. For years, the most complete picture came from journalists and data teams. Africa Data Hub, Odipo Dev and Africa Uncensored built a database from media reports and court records. It counts 1,069 women killed between 2016 and 2025, 78% of them classed as femicide [31]. Comparing court files with the press, the team found more than 40 murders from 2020 to 2024 that never made the news [31].

In January 2025, President William Ruto gazetted a Technical Working Group on Gender-Based Violence including Femicide, chaired by former Deputy Chief Justice Nancy Baraza. Its mandate was to identify trends and hotspots, review laws and policies, and recommend reforms on prevention, investigation, prosecution and survivor support [25]. The report was handed to the President in January 2026 [26][27] and published with UN Women support in February 2026 [29].

Cases and events, 2021 to 2026

2021

• April 2020 to March 2021, South Africa. The period of the fourth SAMRC national femicide study. An estimated 2,409 women were killed. Alcohol sales restrictions during COVID-19 lockdowns were linked to fewer femicides, which rose again when the restrictions ended [1].
• 20 October 2021, Benin. The National Assembly unanimously adopted Law 2021-11 on special measures to punish offences committed on the basis of sex and to protect women [36]. It was promulgated on 20 December 2021 [37].

2022

• 28 January 2022, South Africa. President Cyril Ramaphosa assented to three laws. They widened the national sex offender register, tightened bail and minimum sentences for GBV offences, let complainants in domestic cases take part in parole hearings, added “controlling” and “coercive” behaviour to the Domestic Violence Act, and allowed online applications for protection orders [9].
• 2022, South Africa. An Integrated National Femicide Prevention Strategy was drafted. In October 2024, SAMRC noted it was still awaiting Cabinet approval [1].
• 2022 to 2024, Kenya. Bodies of women were dumped at the Kware quarry in Embakasi, Nairobi. Police later linked at least 42 women to this site [23].

2023

• Kenya. The Africa Data Hub dataset counted 75 femicide cases in 2023, compared with a peak of 95 in 2018 [22][20]. These counts are press-based and are minimums.
• South Africa. In the first year after the NSP was adopted, a review found that 55% of its targets had not been met [10].

2024

• 14 January 2024, Nairobi. The dismembered body of Rita Waeni, a 20-year-old student, was found in a rental apartment in Roysambu [21].
• January 2024, Nairobi. Starlet Wahu, 24, was found dead in a short-stay apartment in South B [21]. John Matara was charged with her murder. In May 2026, the High Court found he had a case to answer and put him on his defence. He has not been convicted [34].
• 27 January 2024, Kenya. About 20,000 people marched in Nairobi and other towns under hashtags such as #EndFemicideKE and #StopKillingWomen. A 16-point petition asked the government to declare femicide a national crisis and to create a separate femicide offence in the Penal Code. More than 270 groups signed a statement backing a femicide charge [19]. Usikimye counted 30 women murdered in January alone [19]; The Standard counted at least 14, showing how counts differ [21].
• 24 May 2024, South Africa. Ramaphosa signed the National Council on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide Act. The Council will coordinate the response and draft an action plan to implement the NSP [11]. The Act defines femicide as “the killing of a female person or a person on the basis of gender identity as a female” [11]. Amnesty International South Africa called it a positive step but warned that without resources it would have “no real impact” [10].
• Mid-2024, Nairobi. Several bodies of women wrapped in sacks were found at the Kware dumpsite [21]. The suspect, Collins Jumaisi, escaped from Gigiri police station with 12 other detainees on 20 August 2024 [23].
• April to June 2024, South Africa. Police recorded 966 women murdered, up 7.9% on the year before, and 314 children [3].
• July to September 2024, South Africa. 957 women were murdered (up 8.6%) and 1,567 survived attempted murder [2].
• September 2024, Trans Nzoia, Kenya. Ugandan Olympic marathon runner Rebecca Cheptegei was set on fire at her home in Endebess, allegedly by her former partner, Dickson Ndiema Marangach. She died on 5 September 2024. He died of his own burns days later, so there was no trial [24][21].
• October 2024, Kenya. Waris Daud, her daughter and her niece were reported missing in Eastleigh; their bodies were found in Machakos County [21].
• 30 October 2024, Kenya. The Deputy Inspector General of Police said 97 femicide cases had been reported in three months [22].
• October 2024, South Africa. SAMRC published its fourth femicide study [1].
• December 2024, Kenya. The government said at least 100 women were killed between August and November 2024. Cabinet approved a presidential working group on femicide [21].

2025

• 10 January 2025, Kenya. The Technical Working Group on GBV including femicide was gazetted [25].
• January to March 2025, South Africa. More than 10,600 rapes were reported in three months [18].
• March 2025, Kenya. According to a femicide report summarised by the Heinrich Böll Foundation, the government stopped publishing consolidated femicide data after March 2025 [30].
• 2025, Kenya. That report counted at least 220 women and girls killed in 2025, 129 of them in the first three months [30]. The Odipo Dev and Africa Data Hub database recorded 102 for the same year [31]. The gap reflects different methods; both are minimums.
• 21 November 2025, South Africa. The head of the National Disaster Management Centre classified GBV and femicide as a national disaster under section 23 of the Disaster Management Act; the notice was gazetted days later [4][6]. The same day, Women for Change led a national shutdown and 15-minute lie-down protest on the eve of the G20 summit, backed by a petition of over 1.1 million signatures [5]. The classification puts the National Executive in charge of coordination and requires organs of state to report progress, but it does not activate emergency powers [4].

2026

• January 2026, Kenya. The Baraza working group handed its report to the President. It recommends criminalising femicide, criminalising out-of-court and clan settlements, setting a six-month deadline for GBV trials, mandatory compensation, a sex offender registry, laws on technology-facilitated GBV, recognition of marital rape and CCTV in short-stay rentals [27]. It also asks the President to declare GBV and femicide a national crisis and to create a central national femicide database [28].
• 20 February 2026, South Africa. Police announced a review of their GBVF strategies [15].
• June 2026, Kenya. The Deputy President said some recommendations were being carried out administratively and that bills would go to Cabinet and Parliament [32][38].
• 16 July 2026, Kenya. The Gender Cabinet Secretary launched a 90-day drive across all 47 counties to fast-track 37 recommendations, with Nairobi and the Central region named as hotspots [33].
• September 2026, Ekurhuleni, South Africa. Police set up a task team after the bodies of several women were found in Kempton Park, Olifantsfontein, KwaThema and Clayville. Press counts range from six to nine. At least one suspect was arrested in one case [17][16].
• September 2026, South Africa. UN Women warned of data gaps: police did not publish the number of women murdered in January to March 2026 [16].

What the data show, and what they hide

South Africa’s strength is regular, sex-disaggregated police data and an independent research series. But overall murders fell 11.5% in mid-2025 [14] while the figures for women were not always published: the number of women murdered in early 2026 was left out [16]. Kenya’s count depends on journalists and NGOs, and sources disagree. Reports even differ on whether killings rose 10% [26] or tenfold [28] between 2022 and 2024. Without an official observatory, these debates cannot be settled.

What the law says, and the gaps

Neither country has a separate crime of femicide. South Africa defined femicide in the 2024 Council Act, which helps coordination and data, but killings are still prosecuted as murder [11]. Kenya’s working group asks for femicide to be made a distinct crime through the Sexual Offences Act [27]. Activists in both countries agree on a deeper problem: implementation. South Africa’s NSP missed 55% of its first-year targets [10]. Months after the disaster classification, commentators said no substantive action had followed [17]. In Kenya, the working group’s report waited weeks for a Cabinet paper, and civil society issued deadlines to push it [28].

Both countries are bound by the Maputo Protocol (2003), which requires states to prevent, punish and eradicate violence against women. In June 2026 Kenya said it was moving to ratify the 2025 African Union Convention on Ending Violence Against Women and Girls [32].

Lessons for Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire and Benin

1. Count first, and make it official. South Africa’s SAMRC studies show what a government-funded, independent count can do: they reveal trends, perpetrators and conviction gaps [1]. Senegal has only press counts [35]. A national femicide observatory, attached to statistics or health institutes, should publish data every year.
2. Publish police data by sex and relationship. South Africa’s quarterly figures on women murdered drive public debate [2][3]. Their omission in 2026 shows why publication must be a legal duty, not a choice [16].
3. Name femicide in law. A legal definition, as in South Africa’s 2024 Act, makes counting possible [11]. Kenya’s proposal goes further, with a distinct offence [27]. Francophone penal codes can add femicide as an aggravated offence. Benin’s Law 2021-11 already creates special measures against offences committed on the basis of sex [36]; a femicide provision would build on it.
4. Give one body clear responsibility and a budget. South Africa’s Council and Kenya’s working group gave the response a home. But plans without money stall [10][5].
5. Bring services together. Thuthuzela’s one-stop model links health care, police and prosecutors [12]. Francophone countries could adapt it in regional hospitals.
6. Ban “settlements”. Kenya’s working group found that family and clan settlements push survivors to withdraw complaints [27]. The same happens in many francophone communities.
7. Do not trade rights for harsh symbols. Critics note that proposals like chemical castration have no basis in human rights law [28]. Fast trials and survivor compensation work better.

What RFLD asks for

1. Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire and Benin should define femicide in law and create an aggravated offence of femicide.
2. Each country should set up an official femicide observatory that publishes annual, sex-disaggregated data on women killed, the relationship to the perpetrator and case outcomes.
3. Police and gendarmerie should publish quarterly data on women murdered, as South Africa does.
4. Governments should adopt costed national plans on GBV that name femicide, with a coordinating body and a ring-fenced budget.
5. Ministries of health and justice should pilot one-stop centres inspired by Thuthuzela in at least one hospital per region.
6. Laws should criminalise pressure to withdraw complaints and informal settlements in GBV cases.
7. All states should ratify the AU Convention on Ending Violence Against Women and Girls and lift reservations to the Maputo Protocol.
8. Kenya and South Africa should fund and fully implement their own commitments, including resuming publication of femicide data.

RFLD tools you can use today

• Compare laws in Women’s Rights Laws by Country, including South Africa, Kenya, Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire and Benin.
• Read RFLD’s Femicide in Senegal 2021–2026 study.
• Track state commitments with the Maputo Barometer 2026 and Lifting the Reservations country briefs.
• Draft bills with the West Africa legislative platform and the Legal Framework for the Rights of Women and Girls in West Africa.
• Prepare shadow reports with the CEDAW and UPR review calendar.
• Support survivors with the Survivor Support Toolkit and Domestic violence in Africa: rights, laws and help.
• Read the Gender Equality and Women’s Rights in Benin report.
• Train with the Francophone Academy and join the 16 Days of Activism 2026 campaign.

Closing

South Africa and Kenya show that public anger can move governments to build councils, plans and taskforces. They also show that institutions without data, money and follow-through do not stop killings. They can name femicide in law, count every woman killed, and fund the services that keep women alive. RFLD stands ready to help.

References

1. South African Medical Research Council, “Femicide in South Africa: research brief (4th national femicide study)”, October 2024. samrc.ac.za
2. Sowetan, “Rise in women’s murders – Mchunu as he releases second-quarter crime statistics”, 25 November 2024. sowetan.co.za
3. Lyse Comins, Mail & Guardian, “Police crime statistics: spike in murders of women and children”, 30 August 2024. mg.co.za
4. SAnews, “CoGTA welcomes classification of GBVF as a national disaster”, 21 November 2025. sanews.gov.za
5. The New Humanitarian, “South Africa finally declares GBV a national disaster”, 2 December 2025. thenewhumanitarian.org
6. Acts Online, “GBVF declared a national disaster under Disaster Management Act”, 24 November 2025. acts.co.za
7. Health-e News, “National GBV plan a ‘victory’ say activists”, 19 June 2020. health-e.org.za
8. The Presidency of South Africa, “National Strategic Plan on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide”, undated. presidency.gov.za
9. South African Government, “President Cyril Ramaphosa assents to laws that strengthen fight against gender-based violence”, 28 January 2022. gov.za
10. Amnesty International South Africa, “South Africa: Signing of the National Council of Gender-Based Violence and Femicide Bill a positive step but implementation is key”, 24 May 2024. amnesty.org.za
11. Power Law Africa, “South Africa: President signs Act to establish a National Council on GBV”, 3 June 2024. powerlaw.africa
12. National Prosecuting Authority, “Thuthuzela Care Centres”, undated. npa.gov.za
13. National Prosecuting Authority, “List of Thuthuzela Care Centres in South Africa, 30 March 2026”. npa.gov.za
14. Daily Maverick, “Decline in murders brings little consolation for victims’ families”, 6 December 2025. dailymaverick.co.za
15. Cape Argus (IOL), “Cachalia outlines fresh strategies to combat gender-based violence”, 21 February 2026. iol.co.za
16. La Voce di New York, “Data gaps cloud Southern Africa’s femicide scale: UN Women”, 19 September 2026. lavocedinewyork.com
17. Vukile Dlwati, EWN, “Ekurhuleni murders: GBV envelopes SA women in panic, fear”, 16 September 2026. ewn.co.za
18. ProtectionWeb, “Q4 crime statistics: SA sees drop in murder rates but faces persistent challenges in sexual offences and economic crime”, 23 May 2025. protectionweb.co.za
19. Jacky Habib, NPR via KPBS, “Kenyans demand justice and a new kind of law for the brutal murders of women”, 16 February 2024. kpbs.org
20. The Star (Kenya), “Femicide crisis: what numbers say”, 29 January 2024. the-star.co.ke
21. Sharon Wanga, The Standard, “2024: A year marked by femicide in Kenya”, 26 December 2024. standardmedia.co.ke
22. Citizen Digital, “97 women killed in the last three months – Police”, 30 October 2024. citizen.digital
23. Citizen Digital, “Kware murders suspect Collins Jumaisi escapes police custody alongside 12 others”, 20 August 2024. citizen.digital
24. Citizen Digital, “Athlete Rebecca Cheptegei’s ex-lover Dickson Ndiema dies in hospital”, 10 September 2024. citizen.digital
25. The Star (Kenya), “Ruto gazettes 35-member team to curb femicide”, 10 January 2025. the-star.co.ke
26. David Njaaga, The Standard, “Report: Kenya lacks standalone femicide law despite 10 pc rise in killings”, 26 January 2026. standardmedia.co.ke
27. Citizen Digital, “CCTV in lodgings, chemical castration: Inside proposals by GBV Taskforce”, 28 January 2026. citizen.digital
28. Amnesty International Kenya, “Kenya Cabinet needs to fast track GBV working group recommendations”, 9 February 2026. amnestykenya.org
29. UN Women Africa, “Report of the Technical Working Group on Gender-Based Violence (GBV) Including Femicide”, February 2026. africa.unwomen.org
30. Faiba Kombo, Heinrich Böll Stiftung Nairobi, “She did not die by accident: mapping femicide in Kenya 2025”, 27 January 2026. ke.boell.org
31. Odipo Dev, “Counting the cost: a decade of femicide in Kenya”, 12 February 2026. odipodev.com
32. Dawan Africa, “Ruto orders fast-tracking of anti-femicide laws”, 11 June 2026. dawan.africa
33. Capital FM, “Government targets GBV hotspots in new 90-day anti-femicide drive”, 16 July 2026. capitalfm.africa
34. Nairobi Law Monthly, “Court pushes John Matara into defence in Starlet Wahu murder”, 25 May 2026. nairobilawmonthly.com
35. RFLD, “Femicide in Senegal: the women and girls killed between 2021 and 2026, and what must change”, 29 October 2026. rflgd.org
36. Cochimau S. Houngbadji, Bénin Web TV, “Bénin : adoption de la loi répressive contre les infractions à raison du genre”, 21 October 2021. beninwebtv.bj
37. Government of Benin, “Décès tragique à Cotonou : la présidente de l’INF adresse un message au peuple béninois”, 12 July 2022. gouv.bj
38. Capital FM, “Govt fast-tracking measures to combat gender-based violence and femicide, says DP Kindiki”, June 2026. capitalfm.co.ke