Passage of family laws in Kenya’s national assembly (11^th parliament - 2013 to 2017): the impact of women legislators

ABSTRACT

Women legislators prioritised and contributed to getting three family Bills passed in Kenya’s National Assembly 2013–2017. This was the first National Assembly in the country to benefit from gender quotas which increased the proportion of women in it from 7.62% in 2007 to 19.5% in 2013. This article examines the history of the family Bills and why women prioritised and supported them. It builds on global evidence that women legislators tend to focus on laws and policies addressing gender equality and social welfare issues. The research data is from a descriptive study of Kenya’s National Assembly 2013–2017 for a PhD thesis. The article establishes that women had a vested interest in and unanimously supported the family Bills, the passage of which mark a significant step towards addressing gender-based discrimination. This finding coheres with literature on women as critical actors to create policy change in line with the Critical Mass Theory. The article recommends that women legislators should initiate action to have existing laws amended so as to comprehensively address women’s rights. It further proposes that women should be represented in the most influential and strategic committees of the legislature.

KEYWORDS:

• Gender quotas
• family bills
• matrimonial property
• critical mass
• legislation

Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge the 11 women legislators and four key informants interviewed, contacts who provided links to respondents and the website of the Kenya National Assembly (www.parliament.go.ke) for open access to verbatim proceedings of parliamentary debates.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. A Bill refers to proposed legislation that is introduced to the National Assembly, debated and, if accepted by members, handed over to the country’s President for signature to make it law. A Bill may originate from a political party, committee of the legislature, individual legislator, member of the public or the executive arm of government through the Attorney-General (National Assembly of Kenya, NAK, 2017).