Soroptimist Winnie Maru has been very busy, not only did she attend the Fifth Feminist Leadership, Movement Building and
Rights Institute in Nairobi for a week-long course designed to strengthen feminist
leadership, but on the 9th January she also starred on KTN, a Kenyan television
channel, on a show called the ‘Morning Express’. Winnie passionately debated
the importance of feminism live on television and has made a real impact. 

Winnie spoke with intelligence and conviction and made the
strong point that women and girls are not objects for men to exert their power over.
The way that a woman or girl chooses to dress or behave is not an excuse for
rape or sexual harassment, she says. Winnie further adds that
many Muslim women are raped when they are in full dress and behaving in the ‘appropriate’
way, so it has nothing to do with the way a woman or girl dresses or behaves. Rape is
not about sex she says, but it is about power and violence and there are great misconceptions around this she says that need to be
addressed. 

Winnie encourages women and girls all over the world to
speak up against gender violence, "speak up" she says if you are
violated in the streets; if a man touches your bum or your leg, "shout
about it" to let the them know it is not acceptable and to raise awareness
of the issue. To stay silent Winnie says, only gives the perpetrator more power and he
will continue. "Society must start to talk more about gender violence,
there is no shame in this" she says.

Feminism is about equal rights and equal
opportunities, exactly what Soroptimists around the world are fighting for and anyone who believes in these two things is a feminist, man
or woman. Women have fought for the vote, they have fought for their right to enjoy
their own sexuality, they have fought for their right to property. They have
fought, and they are fighting, and this will not stop until equal rights and
equal opportunities are a reality. Feminists simply want to break down
discriminatory barriers that exist in our society, so think, how on earth can feminism be a
bad thing?

Soroptimist International is the voice of women and girls
around the world. Winnie is one of our voices in Kenya and we applaud her in
her efforts to raise awareness.

 Please watch the full programme featuring Winnie on KTN.