Troubling issue

We had visitors from Kenya coming to the college today to observe the teaching method that our
oganisation been using. So we've been preparing for the visit for the past 3 days tak per la no need for me to explain about the whole incident la kan tapi benda yang keep on troubling me was those Kenyans were really surprise to see that most of the lecturers here in KMPP are ladies...

Well i should have said "Why not?" tapi tak terkeluar la plak...and one of them siap boleh kata apa tau...

"u are taking our (men) places in the working world"
(he said it in his own way...using different words...i had to take a few minutes to analyse his meaning)

in my experiance i never ever encounter a situation where people discriminate gender...not at home, not in school, not in maktab, not in uni and certainly not here in the college...it taken me by surprise and i didn't know how to react to this kindda statement...at first i tot i was the only one who feels that we ladies are being discriminate but then during lunch break met with a few other colleagues and they expressed their feelings

well the only thing that i know about gender discrimination was during before rasullullah time....when rasullullah became a rasul, he somehow managed to "naikkan martabat wanita" and since then people in the world started to do the same thing( i dont really know about the stats and all, i am very naive in this area)

so i did a short research on women rights in kenya and to my horror the women in kenya are being treated diffrently from us here jauh terkebelakang...i am forever grateful that i am in Malaysia and we dont have to endure all the things that the Kenyan women have to face...so here are some clippings...

Abuses of Women’s Property Rights

Limited Inheritance from Husbands. Many widows in Kenya are excluded from inheriting from their husbands. When men die, widows’ in-laws often evict them from their lands and homes and take other property, such as livestock and household goods.

Harmful Customary Practices. In some areas, widows are forced to engage in risky traditional practices involving unprotected sex in order to keep their property. These practices include wife inheritance, whereby a widow is “inherited” as a wife by a male relative of her deceased husband, and ritual “cleansing,” which involves sex with a social outcast, usually without a condom.

Unequal Inheritance from Parents. Women seldom inherit from their parents on an equal basis with their brothers since women are expected to marry and be “absorbed” by their husbands’ families.
Unequal Division of Property upon Divorce or Separation. Divorced and separated women are frequently expelled by their husbands from their homes with nothing more than their clothing.

Married Women’s Lack of Control over Property. Married women can seldom stop their husbands from selling valuable family property. Men are typically the registered landowners holding title deeds, and there is no legal bar against selling family land without their wives’ consent.

Contributing Factors

Discriminatory Laws and Customs. Kenya’s constitution outlaws discrimination on the basis of sex, but condones discrimination in personal and customary laws—which are central to property rights. A number of statutes also have discriminatory elements. The Law of Succession Act provides that a widow’s inheritance rights are terminated upon remarriage; widowers’ inheritance rights do not terminate upon remarriage. The Law of Succession Act is poorly enforced and has problematic exemptions. Case law establishes that family property may be evenly divided if the woman can prove contribution, but in practice, women rarely get property upon separation or divorce. Land laws, while not discriminatory on their face, do not promote or facilitate women’s land ownership. Finally, customary laws based on gender distinctions give men greater rights than women over property.

Biased Attitudes. Many officials and traditional leaders are biased against women; some say that women are untrustworthy or do not deserve equal property rights. One senior chief said: “A woman and the cows are a man’s property,” underscoring women’s low place in Kenyan society.

Unresponsive Government and Traditional Authorities. Chiefs, elders, and police often turn away women who come to them with property problems, saying these are family matters not worthy of their attention. Government officials admit that women’s property rights are not a priority. There are no government programs specifically aimed at preventing and remedying such violations.

Ineffective Courts. Lawyers and individual women complain that Kenya’s courts are biased against women, slow, corrupt, and often staffed with ill-trained or incompetent judges and magistrates. The Family Division of the High Court, which was established to expedite family law cases, operates only in Nairobi and is thus inaccessible to many women, especially in rural areas.

Other Obstacles to Women Claiming Property Rights. Women face serious obstacles to claiming their property rights. Many Kenyan women are unaware that they have legal property rights or have no idea how to enforce them. The time and expense of pursuing property claims can be insurmountable. Women also face violence and social stigma if they attempt to claim property. Moreover, nongovernmental organizations that work on women’s property rights are harassed for doing their work.