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‘Here They’re Safe’: The Girls Club That Emerged When Kenya’s Schools Closed . On the first floor of a social hall in Mathare, Nairobi, a group of girls lift their hands in response to a question. Christine, 17, is picked to speak. “A relationship is when two people or more who…
NAIROBI, Kenya (RNS) — An emotional debate over whether Muslim students may wear hijab in Christian schools took a new turn last week (Jan. 24) when the Kenyan Supreme Court reversed a lower-court ruling that had allowed female students to wear Muslim headscarves to school.
The ruling comes amid a heightened push by Muslim leaders and civic groups for acceptance of head coverings in church-owned schools. Christian educators have been resisting the move, insisting that dress codes and uniforms — customarily pleated skirts or plaid dresses for girls with sweater vests — not only provide discipline and equality but are also part of church and school traditions.
“Asking the girls to remove the hijab is equivalent to asking the Catholic nuns to remove their veils,” said Juma. Since most of the girls have been wearing hijab since they were little, he said, “they will feel naked.”
Welcome to the Sekenani Girls Secondary School, located in Kenya’s Maasai Mara, a world famous game reserve known for its rolling grasslands, giraffes and safari jeeps. But not for schools.
The research found 54 per cent of Kenyan girls reported challenges with accessing menstrual hygiene management products and 22 per cent of girls of school attending age indicated they bought their own sanitary products.
Periods also remain a greatly taboo subject. In 2016, a report funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation found that only 50 per cent of Kenyan girls felt they could openly discuss menstruation at home.
Nevertheless, Kenya has been making progress on the issue. Through government, Unicef and partners’ initiatives, about 90,000 girls in 335 schools now have access to safe and hygienic toilets with menstrual hygiene (MHM) facilities.
The initiative focuses on engagement and mentorship. The mentors have been collecting and addressing concerns raised by girls in more than 70,000 notes (placed in the boxes) in 20 member schools.
The girls were asked: Are you safe at home, schools or at the bus stage? A majority 23 per cent (132) reported experiencing indecent touching. The perpetrators included fathers, uncles, teachers, matatu touts and classmates.
“It is a shadow pandemic,” says Chege. “Out of school, the girls had much free, unsupervised hours where the allure of sex for pads was irresistible. The government used to give sanitary pads to girls while in school but failed to extend the services to their homes when schools closed, leaving the girls at the mercy of ‘friends with benefits’.
