Like most of the world, the people of Samburu had maintained a patriarchal society for over 500 years in northern Kenya. But that changed 3 decades ago.
30 years ago, Rebecca Lolosoli founded a village as a safe haven for 15 women, who survived sexual assault and rape by British soldiers in 1990, Outlook India reported. But today, Umoja has grown to give shelter to any and all women trying to escape genital mutilation, sexual assault and rape, domestic violence, or child marriage. The term in Swahili literally means ‘unity’.
The village quite literally has no men and has become a safe haven for women who don’t want to suffer the horrors of the worst of patriarchal practices, like genital mutilation and forced marriages.
This village has also encouraged and empowered other women in nearby districts to start their own matriarchal form of society by absolute exclusion of men.
This is actually quite cool!