‘Numbers don’t lie’: The team ‘Counting Dead Women’ in Kenya

For years, whenever Kathomi Gatwiri complained that violence against women in her home country of Kenya was out of control, she got used to hearing the same response: prove it. 

So at the beginning of 2019, the academic and one of her best friends from college, Audrey Mugeni, decided they would do exactly that. They set up Facebook and Twitter pages called “Counting Dead Woman – Kenya” and dedicated themselves to a grim project: creating an online archive.

Since then, the pair have dutifully recorded every woman’s murder that has been reported in Kenyan media.

Lucy, set on fire by her husband for returning home