NAIROBI, Kenya — Thousands of Kenyan women vowed Wednesday to begin a week- long sex strike to protest their country’s bickering leadership, which they say threatens to revive the bloody chaos that convulsed the African country last year.
Leaders from Kenya’s largest and oldest group dedicated to women’s rights, the Women’s Development Organization, said they hope the boycott will persuade men to pressure the government to make peace.
Eleven women’s groups are participating in the strike. The groups also have called on the wives of President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga to abstain.
“We have looked at all issues which can bring people to talk, and we have seen that sex is the answer,” said Rukia Subow, chairwoman of the Women’s Development Organization. “It does not know tribe, it does not have a (political) party and it happens in the lowest households.”
The disputed election between Kibaki and Odinga led to violence that killed more than 1,000 people and left more than 600,000 homeless. The two were installed after mediation, but infighting has threatened to break apart the coalition.
