Gender Equality vs ‘Morality’: The Erosion of Gender Agendas in Kenya

Abstract

This article seeks to interpret the recent erosion of gender equality agendas in Kenya through a lens of anti‑gender pushback, or patriarchal backlash. Since 2013, Kenyan governments have increasingly been appealing to citizens’ emotions through apparently ‘sound’ discourse, citing simple de‑contextualised narratives that resonate with many people, such as ‘family values’ and ‘Kenyan moral codes’. Gender equality – and policies and praxis to advance this – is increasingly framed as ‘non-African’, with laws, policies, and practices focused upon gender justice depicted as destructive of the ‘African family’, underscored by a particular framing of religion and morality. By including a broader understanding of the diverse manifestations of backlash within the Kenyan context, this article focuses on how notions of morality are mobilised by a range of implicated actors – government, politicians, media, and repressive religious forces – to undermine policies, laws, and discourse that seek to further gender justice in Kenya.