Umoja Village where no men are allowed
Umoja Uaso, is a village in Kenya, founded in 1990 by a group of women who were fleeing from abuse both physical and mental, inflicted upon them by their husbands, other male relatives or in some cases local men.
In their culture, women are considered property. Young girls are forced into marriages with elder men. They can be forcefully subjected to female genital mutilation.
Image source: Jean Crousillac et Jean-Marc Sainclair
In the early 1990's many of the women were raped by British Solders. In their culture, they were then considered defiled and their husbands abandoned them. Many were beaten because they spoke out against what they were subjected to.
Their culture does not allow women to own land, or other types of property such as cattle. Umoja Uaso was created outside of their normal culture, to help women and children survive the abuse and create a life for themselves that is free from abuse.
A traditional Samburu life with a few twists
The women try to live close to a traditional Samburu life but without violence. A life where all the women in the village are considered equals and everyone works together to ensure the future and growth of the village. They own the land they live on and have outreach programs to improve the lives of women in other communities.
The only men allowed to come into the village are men who grew up in the village. The women will meet men at locations outside the village and often have children from different fathers.
Men have tried to shut them down
Some of the husbands who threw these women out, have tried to get them shut down and put out of business. They started another village not far away where they made crafts to sell also. Even going so far as to try to get tourists to not buy goods from the women.
But, all for nought. The men's village eventually closed and the women have purchased the land their village was on.
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This is really cool (Not what happened to them, but how they moved forward). I think the patriarchy has crept into our cultures so deep that the men cant see how wrong they were to abandon the women in the beginning bc they were raped! Utterly disgraceful! I am happy to see this community of the empowered female spirit that is so so strong!
I agree 100%. I love seeing women strong enough to take their lives in their own hands and buck the system that gave men the right to treat them this way.
YESSSS