Kenyan men boycot sex to protest whippings, beatings and castrations by women

Nderitu Njoka says he preaches the gospel of man. (courtesy of Global Men Empowerment Network.)

In a Nairobi office cluttered with trophies and small statues of rhinos, the bald man leaned forward in his chair to discuss why he wants men to boycott sex with their wives. Such a thing would not be easy, Nderitu Njoka said, according video of his interview. But it’s important.Men all over the country, he said, are trapped in a system of gender violence. Whippings, beatings and castrations: These are just a few of the many problems he said the male gender faces today under tyrannical female domination. That’s why his group, the Global Men Empowerment Network, of which he is the director, has announced a boycott of sex — until at least Sunday. It was originally only intended to be a one-day ban on Tuesday. But after he said 3,000 men contacted him begging to make it last longer, he extended it an additional five days. It was the least he could do.
“We cannot mix water and prayers,” he told All Africa. “When we talk about prayers, we cannot engage in sex so that God can listen to us. We are praying for our families … some women should stop sabotaging our cause.” Men are scared to speak out, he said. “No one talks about the challenges that men are going through and that’s our main objective.”
The boycott’s rules: no sex. No eating. No shaking hands with women. And, if a man is caught in an unforeseen situation in which he must shake hands with a woman, he is to do so with his left. Otherwise, that man is simply to wave.
Njoka has become a divisive figure. Women hate him. Men love him. One woman told the Nairobian that the boycott was “the dumbest thing I’ve heard of.” But it found resonance with numerous men, comment sections show, and he was supported by several compatriots when he arrived at a local hospital to support a fallen man whose genitals had reportedly been cut off by his wife.
“Njoka should get the necessary support from men,” one man commented.  “We are fought left and right; indeed, women have more rights than men. Men die earlier than women. Why is that? … I support the only person who supports men.”
Another man agreed. Preach, he told Njoka, preach. “The sad thing is that those who dismiss Njoka are the same men who are brutally maimed by their wives and keep silent in the name of being manly.”
Men abusing women — that’s a problem. And in the United States, domestic violence is a cross-gender concern. But for Kenya at least, searches produced no official reports showing men were often abused by the wives.
What’s more, the numbers supporting Njoka are a little hazy. Njoka told All Africa approximately 1.2 million Kenyan men are physically abused by their wives “with 350 having their manhood chopped off.” But then he told the Daily Nation only 110 men had been castrated by their wives in 2014, with a total of 300 men assaulted. Njoka, however, isn’t getting caught up in the details.
“Domestic abuse and violence against men by women in Kenya is shooting up daily with in 100 domestic violence cases approximately 54 [of them] involve violence by women against men,” an organization press release said. Njoka said this isn’t just wrong. It’s an abuse of human rights. “Speaking as the chairman of a men’s organization [represented] all over the world, I urge the government to act on this matter so as to help fight these human rights violations in both genders.”
Indeed, Njoka has ventured into the international domain before, dispatching numerous letters to the United Nations, claiming wife abuse is an “international disaster.” He has also come to the support of rapper Jay Z, offering both counsel and legal assistance after sister-in-law Solange Knowles punched him in an elevator.
“Jay Z should not feel alone in this,” he declared in May. “We are together. … We are ready and willing to assist Jay Z with any legal representation or counseling.”




source:Washington Post