Women human rights defenders tell of mental health struggles

When it comes to mental health, people rarely think about women human rights defenders (WHRDs), yet they are the first responders when communities and families are in distress over rights violations such as eviction or sexual abuse.

World Health Organisation defines mental health as “a state of well-being whereby individuals recognise and realise their abilities, are able to cope with the normal stresses of life, work productively and fruitfully, and make a contribution to their communities.”

According to the Ministry of Health, about  25 per cent of outpatients and up to 40 per cent of in-patients in Kenya’s health facilities suffer from mental conditions, which include depression, substance abuse, stress and anxiety disorders.

We seek to find out the mental health challenges Kenya’s WHRD face.

Suffering ignored

Ms Mary Komen, is a WHRD from Sengwer, an indigenous community that inhabits Embobut Forest, Elgeyo Marakwet. Since 2009, they have fought for their land rights amid frequent evictions by the government. She advocates her community’s human rights.

Members of her community too know her as the go-to-person whenever a woman or girl has been sexually violated. But this work has left her with a health burden.

She says she suffers from anxiety and panic attacks caused by consistent threats to her life.

“Whenever I see a call from an unknown number, I get nervous. Sometimes, I don’t pick because of fear, yet it would be just a friend calling,” she says.

She recalls an incident from 2020 in which unknown people would call her demanding to know her whereabouts. Strangers would also visit her home claiming to be her brothers. Around this time, she had led aggressive campaigns against a European Union-funded climate project in the forest.

“We were opposing it because we were not involved from the onset,” she says.

The intimidation forced her to go into hiding for a month. At first, she spent her days and nights in the forest before the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions came to her aid and supported her to find a decent refuge.

Many times, she has considered exiting the stage, but it has been difficult. People have for years known her as a strong defender of their rights and giving up is a chance they are unwilling to accept.

Every time she tells herself she is done with the work, a community member appears with a call for help, she says. “Sometimes I ask myself: ‘Should I go to the police to declare that I have retired from this work?’”

Getting help a challenge

Ms Christine Wandera, a Nairobi-based human rights defender, reckoned that how to get help for those in need is a challenge that often mentally disturbs.

“Consider a case of a survivor who has been battered and they need your help, yet you do not know how to help them or even have money to get them to a safe place. It affects your mental health as you go thinking: ‘How do I help this person? Where do I hide them?’” she says.

“There are cases where you attempt to rescue a woman and the husband comes after you with  a machete. It is traumatising.”

Then comes sexual harassment from either a survivor or a colleague. This, Ms Wandera says, is “very traumatising”.

She has found a way to keep check of her mental health and that of her colleagues. They meet regularly to play interesting games like duck-duck-goose, a kindergarten game.

Mr Kamau Ngugi, the executive director at Defenders Coalition, a national organisation that represents more than 3,400 human rights defenders in Kenya, says WHRDs suffer trauma from their heavy duties.

“They carry a burden for the whole society. Everyone who has an issue offloads on them because they are considered as the brave ones in society.”

He says some WHRDs “are deeply engaged with cases of violations that they begin to develop mental health disorders like anger issues…they start having nightmares”.

Awareness

He calls for sensitisation of communities so that people are aware of the mental health issues WHRDs face and offer them the necessary support.

The organization, however, provides psychosocial support to WHRDs in need. Mr Ngugi says they have hired counsellors to address their mental health conditions and introduced group therapy, where they share their experiences. Through these sessions, they can identify extreme cases that need immediate attention.

Since 2019, the coalition has also run an annual Climb for Justice campaign, which breathes life into WHRDs’ work and relieve their burden.

During the eight-day adventure involving climbing a selected mountain, the WHRDs fund-raise and raise awareness of the impact of their work.

Death threats

In Kenya, WHRDs also face death threats. For the past year, two of them have been killed and another two attacked. In January 2022, Elizabeth Ibrahim, a women’s rights advocate, peace champion and environmental and land rights defender from Isiolo County, was killed allegedly by her neighbour over a land dispute.

In the previous year in July, Joannah Stutchbury, another human rights defender and environmentalist from Kiambu County, had been brutally murdered for standing up against environmental injustice in Kiambu Forest. 

A month later, two women environmental activists from the Owino Ohuru area of the coastal region were also targeted for attack when pursuing justice for residents and victims of environmental pollution in Owino Ohuru slums, Mombasa.

“Considering these serious threats to the women human rights defenders, it is important that they have solid support groups to provide them an opportunity to debrief,” Mr Ngugi recommends.

Meanwhile, the WHRDs call on the government to prioritise their mental health and establish facilities where they can access free psychosocial support.

In the Kenya Health Policy (2014–30),the government commits to a mental health system that is “affordable, equitable, accessible, sustainable and of good quality”.

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