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This peaceful demonstration marked a call to action against the brutal violence women in the country have been facing.
Kate Actress, leveraging her influence as a public figure and entertainer, emphasised the urgency and importance of this issue.
Addressing the crowd and her social media followers, she stressed her role as a mother and a woman in society, advocating for the protection of women's rights and safety.
“542 deaths since 2016 or there about, 245 of those were by husbands at home. So the argument about BnBs is not valid. If 245 have been murdered in their homes by their husbands, what are we saying?
"So it is not a moral issue, It's a human rights issue and women have a right to life. We are not begging. We are demanding and we are stating that you will stop killing women,” she said.
The march in Nyeri precedes a larger scheduled protest in Nairobi on January 27, 2024. Sharon Kemuma, Founder of the Shakem Foundation, emphasised the importance of standing up for the girl child, saying, “I speak for the girl child. So I'm here today to say no to femicide and that no one deserves to die. That women's lives matter just as much as everyone's life.”
“And so for whatever reason a woman should not die and we should stop blaming women because we cannot punish them or we cannot correct morality by killing these women. That could be your sister. That could be your aunt or your mom. So let's stand together and say no to femicide,” she added.
Njeri Mwangi, an activist, called for community action in calling out the perpetrators of femicides.
This protest is part of a broader effort to bring national attention to femicide and gender-based violence in Kenya, an issue that has seen a disturbing rise in recent years.