KENYA – For hundreds of years in the culture of the Samburu people, men have ruled their clans and villages.

A man’s worth is determined by how many cows he owns and the number of wives and children he has. Although the women are valued, they don’t own anything, which leaves them without leverage in determining their own destinies. Their preordained role in Samburu society is secondary, reduced to collecting water, gathering firewood, preparing meals, and raising children. The women are sometimes subject to spousal violence or rape with no recourse available.

In a 1990 incident, 14 Samburu women from one village were raped by British soldiers out on miliary exercises. Local law enforcement turned a deaf ear to the crime. The victims were shunned in their community and deemed unworthy of marriage or children.

One Samburu woman, Rebecca Lolosoli, was appalled by the injustice and proceeded educating the 14 women about their rights. Previously warned by her tribesmen not to speak out against the patriarchal system, she was brutally beaten for trying to help the victims.

Soon thereafter, Lolosoli left her husband to form a new village with the 14 women on a piece of land granted to them by the Kenyan government on the outskirts of Archers Post near the entrance to Samburu National Reserve.

Emphasizing gender equality, the name of the settlement is “Umoja,” which means “unity” in Swahili. Word quickly spread about Umoja, whose women sought sanctuary from sexual abuse, violence, female circumcision, or arranged marriages at a young age to men often decades older than themselves in exchange for a dowry of cattle and goats.

Lolosoli received death threats. Disgruntled husbands would sometimes show up demanding their wife (property) back. If the interlopers refused to leave, they were beaten with sticks until they did and were reported to authorities for trespassing. In actions similar to restraining orders, in some cases offenders were banned from making further contact with their “property.”

The village eventually grew to a population of 70 women and 200 children. No men were permitted to stay there and sons were required to leave when they turned 18.

The women own their land, manage their finances, and maintain livestock. Extra income is earned by selling beadwork, or from tours of the village given to tourists. A school was built in 2014 to provide education for the children—both boys and girls—of the community.

The number of inhabitants has fluctuated over the years. Many of the women maintain relationships with men outside of the village and some have left to get married to someone of their choosing to start a new life.

As of 2023, men are allowed to stay at Umoja and family units have formed. As long as they respect women, the men are welcome.

Eldest males sit on the inside of the council circle and women on the outside as tradition dictates. But make no mistake, the female voices are heard and their ideas considered. The women of Umoja Village have attained status that didn’t exist 30 years ago and now have more control over their lives. Incrementally, among other Samburu villages, as my safari guide who drove me to Umoja put it, “Society is changing.”

Sources for this article include https://www.wilsonquarterly.com/quarterly/_/no-country-for-men-umoja-an-all-female-village-in-northern-kenya.

To read more about the Samburu and their culture, go to www.davegibsonimages.com, under Articles, “The Samburu,” June 13, 2019.