Women Collective Kenya, originally founded as Bunge La Wamama Mashinani, a social movement of women in marginalized areas in Kenya is a platform for grassroots women to voice their experiences and struggles and to address economic, political and social issues and injustices around gender based, sexual and physical violence as well as socio-economic inequality, disinheritance, extra-judicial killings, early marriages, FGM, discriminating cultural practices, access to maternal health and decriminalization and access to safe abortion forced evictions and ecological justice among others. WCK took part in the constitution making process as conveners of the Warembo Ni Yes! Campaign.
Bunge la Wamama Mashinani or Grassroots Women’s Parliament), the precursor to Women Collective Kenya, was founded in 2008 in Mathare as result of Post-Election Violence of 2007/2008, which targeted women extensively as they were harassed, violated and sexually abused by organized criminal groupings hired by politicians, the police and the General Service Unit (GSU), a paramilitary police unit. The situation in Mathare was a microcosm of women’s plights all over the country and soon the movement spread to in all low income areas of Nairobi, with a vision of reaching out to other major cities in Kenya.
WCK have agitated for Sexual Reproductive Health Rights and exposed human rights violations against Informal and domestic workers. Our Convenor Ruth Mumbi was a petitioner in the landmark JMN case on safe abortion access. WCK initiated a radio talk show to create a platform for adolescent girls to discuss their challenges and find solutions.
Currently, WCK is looking to further expand their women constituencies and include further marginalized groups such as women living with disability and women with diverse sexual orientations and gender identities, as well as women working in the transport industry, women peasant farmers.
The focus areas WCK is working on are: Reproductive Justice, Water Justice and Climate Change and Land and Habitat rights. Also WCK is working with elderly women who were evicted in the Kariobangi informal settlement in 2020 during the Covid emergency to raise funds for a Womens Eco-Village.
