Kenya: journalists suspended following their remarks to a woman victim of violence
Members of the Kenyan Red Cross near the emergency services at Kenyatta Hospital.
(illustration photo).
SIMON MAINA / AFP
Text by: RFI Follow
2 min
A Kenyan radio station has been in turmoil since last week.
Three animators were suspended and then sacked after making remarks, to say the least shocking, towards a woman, victim of gender violence.
The three men implied that a young Kenyan woman may be partly responsible for his assault.
These comments sparked an uproar in the country.
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With our correspondent in Nairobi,
Sébastien Németh
Wednesday morning, the show "Lift Off" is underway on Homeboyz Radio.
Three animators, Shafie Weru, Neville Musya and DJ Joe Mfalme evoke the case of a young woman, seriously injured, after being defenestrated from the 12th floor by a man whose advances she had just refused.
The hosts then wonder if Kenyan women are "
too easy, too accessible, too seductive
", causing an uproar especially on social networks.
Homeboyz Radio suspended the three men and forced them to follow an awareness campaign on gender issues, ethics and debates regarding sexual assault.
The hosts apologized.
“
I recognize that my callous and hurtful statements could be interpreted as encouraging a culture of violence against women,
” admitted Shaffie Weru.
“
I sincerely apologize for all the harm I have caused,
” DJ Joe Mfalme said on Friday.
But the case did not end there.
On Saturday, Africa Brewerie Limited, one of the radio's sponsors, suspended advertisements on programs related to the trio.
In the process, the three animators were dismissed.
On Monday, the Communication Authority in turn cracked down by fining the station 10,000 dollars, which will broadcast its apologies in the media and on its antennas.
The Lift Off program is suspended for six months.
Read also: Kenya: upsurge in sexual violence during confinement
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