Umoja – Where men now fear to tread in Kenya | Newstime Africa

Umoja – Where men now fear to tread in Kenya | Newstime Africa: "UMOJA, Kenya, Hannah Rubenstein (IPS ) – No man, except for those raised here as children, lives in Umoja village in Kenya; one has not for two decades. It is a village only of and for women, women who have been abused, raped, and forced from their homes. In the culture of northern Kenya’s Samburu district there is a saying: “Men are the head of a body, and women are the neck.” The neck may support the head, but the head is always dominant, towering
above. But in this remote village, located in the grasslands of Samburu district, this mantra does not ring true.
In Umoja, as one female resident says, “We are our own heads.”

Umoja, which means “unity” in Swahili, holds a unique status in the country: it is a village populated
solely by women. For more than two decades, no men have been permitted to reside here. The rule is one of the requirements of a community that has fought against overwhelming odds to
become a place of refuge for women. It is a sanctuary where men – who have been the cause of so
many problems for these women – are simply not welcome."

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