Stabbing, strangulation, blunt force: Over 1,000 Kenyan women lost to femicide in a decade

At least 1,069 women were killed through femicide in Kenya between 2016 and 2025, according to a new report by the data analytics and research firm Odipo Dev.

The study paints a stark picture of sustained and deeply personal violence against women, showing that most victims were killed by people they knew and trusted, often within intimate or family relationships.

The study, titled Counting the Cost, shows that at least 102 women were killed in 2025 alone, based on compiled media reports and court records.

Researchers caution that the figures likely capture only part of the true scale due to underreporting and documentation gaps, but say the data still reveals consistent and troubling patterns over the decade.

It finds a stable trend across the ten-year period in which most victims were murdered by intimate partners or close family members, underscoring that femicide is rarely random and is usually rooted in domestic or relationship-based violence.

“Across these 10 years, one pattern has remained consistent: most murdered women were killed by men closest to them, whether intimate partners or other family members,” the report states.

Age analysis shows young women remain the most at risk. Women aged between 18 and 35 accounted for nearly two-thirds of femicide cases recorded in 2025, rising to just under 65 per cent — the highest share recorded since 2021.

The most common victim age clusters around the mid-twenties, reinforcing warnings that early adulthood is a particularly dangerous period for women facing abusive partners.

By contrast, victims aged 36–53 declined compared to earlier years, while cases involving children and older women remained consistently lower. Researchers say this age skew sharply separates femicide from other forms of homicide.

“This pattern differs sharply from non–gender-related murders, where deaths are more evenly distributed across age groups. The data underscores that femicide is not randomly spread across the life course: it is a form of violence that overwhelmingly targets young women, with age itself acting as a key risk factor rather than a neutral characteristic,” the report notes.

The anatomy of violence

The report shows that most women were killed through direct physical force, most commonly by stabbing. Analysts say these point to close-contact, face-to-face attacks, often linked to emotionally charged domestic confrontations rather than opportunistic assaults by strangers.

Strangulation and blunt force trauma also appear frequently in recorded cases. These methods often suggest prolonged assaults and escalating violence within abusive relationships.

“These methods often signal a prolonged escalation of harm, where there was time to intervene but the violence was allowed to continue. Strangulation, in particular, is a well-documented ‘red flag’ in patterns of domestic abuse that often precedes a fatal outcome,” the study adds.

Researchers say such patterns indicate missed intervention points where earlier reporting, protection orders, or community response might have prevented deaths.

Unmasking the perpetrators

The data further shows that offenders aged 18–35 account for the largest share of convictions by a wide margin, far outnumbering other age groups combined.

This mirrors the age concentration among victims and suggests cycles of violent behaviour among younger adult men. Men aged 36–53 rank a distant second, while cases involving older perpetrators or minors are comparatively rare, though not absent.

Where the killings happen

Location data highlights two troubling trends. The home remains the primary site of femicide, but killings in public spaces have also increased steadily over the decade, signalling reduced safety for women beyond private settings.

“By 2025, more than 70% of femicides with known locations still occurred in the home, confirming the persistence of domestic danger. At the same time, killings in public spaces increased to roughly a quarter of cases, up from much lower shares earlier in the decade,” the report states.

Researchers say this shift shows that while domestic violence remains central, threats are expanding into streets and shared public environments.

Judicial and systemic gaps

Tracking justice outcomes, the study indicates that femicide cases take an average of four years to conclude in court — a period marked by repeated hearings, emotional strain, and prolonged uncertainty for families.

“The chart reflects more than legal timelines. It reveals a system under strain, where backlogs, procedural delays, and limited resources allow accountability to slip further away with each passing year,” the report says.

In 2025, 93 per cent of at least 84 concluded cases resulted in convictions, suggesting courts often rule decisively once trials finish. Still, acquittals — though fewer — carry heavy emotional weight for families seeking closure after long waits.

The study calls for tougher prison penalties for perpetrators, arguing that stronger sentencing could help deter repeat and escalating violence.

The femicide database behind the report is updated annually and built through collaboration between Africa Uncensored, Africa Data Hub, and Odipo Dev.

 Researchers say the project aims to create the most comprehensive public record of femicide in Kenya — documenting not just deaths, but the patterns and systemic failures that allow the violence to persist.