Gender equality in the new constitutional dispensation of Kenya

Abstract

Gender equality means a social order in which men and women share the same opportunities and the same constraints in the economic, social and political realms of life. There is little doubt that women have historically been accorded less than favourable treatment in these spheres compared with men. This difference has stemmed from mere sexual or biological distinction between male and female; a distinction that has been used as the basis for ascription of roles and entitlements to these sexes. In a patriarchal society the sex-based assignment of roles has projected the spectre of inferiority even unworthiness, over women while casting the characteristic of superiority on to men. While this role-assignment sprung from the inherently patriarchal nature of the Kenyan society, it found good nurturing ground in institutions, such as, and especially the law.