A PRACTITIONER’S GUIDE TO INCREASING WOMEN’S ACCESS TO ELECTORAL JUSTICE
however, civil society organizations continue to document incidents of women being denied services, not taken
seriously when reporting violence, or even being victimized by law enforcement officers, all of which interfere with
their ability to access justice. For example, an OHCHR report documenting violence during the 2017 elections noted
that in a number of cases the perpetrators were members of the police. 145 The same report noted that the cases
remained uninvestigated in the run-up to the 2022 elections. Human Rights Watch has “documented government
failure during both periods to prevent election-related sexual violence, effectively investigate cases, hold perpetrators
accountable, and ensure survivors have access to … timely medical and psychosocial care.” 146
In advance of the August 2022 elections, the IEBC, which was ordered by a 2017 court ruling in Katiba Institute vs.
Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to enforce the two-thirds gender rule, reminded political
parties of the rule for the submission of party nomination lists and warned them that it would reject lists that did not
comply with the rule. In April 2022, the IEBC received nomination lists and noted that several parties had not complied.
In early May, the IEBC extended the deadline for submission to allow parties time to revise their lists to comply with
the gender rule. Still, it rejected several party nomination lists. However, in mid-May, a ruling for Adrian Kamotho
Njenga vs. Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission in effect suspended the implementation of the twothirds rule in the nomination of candidates for the August 9 general election. One of the reasons provided by the court
was that the IEBC had not held public consultations on this rule prior to its adoption, in contradiction with the
constitutional provision.
This ruling, and the results of the 2022 elections with respect to women’s representation, while disappointing for the
realization of the spirit and letter of the 2010 Constitution, does provide some direction for how electoral bodies might
continue to drive improvement. The IEBC, judges, and activists have significant roles to play in advocating for the
enactment of legislation and regulations to ensure gender requirements in the Constitution are understood and
enforced in line with the 2017, 2020, and 2022 court rulings.
Data Collection Methodology
With this context in mind, and a long history of elections-related programming in the country and strong relationships
with institutions such as the IEBC and the judiciary, IFES conducted field research in Kenya from February 7–10,
2022. IFES interviewed Kenyan electoral stakeholders on the margins of workshops with the PPDT and the Judicial
Committee on Elections (JCE) in Mombasa, Kenya in preparation for the 2022 elections. The IFES Kenya country
team facilitated interviews with 10 stakeholders, the majority of which were conducted via individual interviews and
in person in Mombasa. IFES held one small group interview with representatives from three leading women’s rights
civil society organizations in Nairobi and two virtual interviews from the United States following the field visit.
Interviewees represented civil society, the judiciary, the PPDT, the IEBC, and academia.
The primary challenge associated with data collection in this case study was IFES’s limited time in Kenya during a
busy pre-election period and the fact that in-person discussions were limited to Mombasa and Nairobi. In addition,
while interviewing participants on the margins of a set of workshops was helpful because of the concentration of
United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner. (n.d.). Strengthening prevention of and
response to sexual and gender-based violence in Kenya.
146 Human Rights Watch. (2021).
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