Exclusive: Godfather of Kenyan Running Tears at Rising Violence Against Female Athletes

In Kenya, running has long served as a lifeline for countless athletes. However, the escalating violence against female runners casts a dark shadow over the track.

Numbers Paint a Grim Picture

According to recent studies, Kenya has one of the highest rates of femicide in Africa, with hundreds of women and girls losing their lives each year to gender-based violence.

In 2022, at least 34% of Kenyan women said they had experienced physical violence, according to a national survey.

Femicide, the killing of women and girls because of their gender, is a grave human rights violation forged in the systems of patriarchy that inherently devalue women and treat women as property or second-class citizens.

In 2021, then-President Uhuru Kenyatta declared gender-based violence “a national crisis”.

A year later, a government report found that 41% of married women had experienced physical violence. A survey by Africa Data Hub found that between 2016 and 2023, there were more than 500 reported cases of women being killed in Kenya.

Athletes who Died of GBV

In 2021, merely five weeks after Agnes Tirop broke a 10km road-running world record in Germany, she was found killed in her home. The 25-year-old had multiple stab wounds on her neck and abdomen.

Her partner Ibrahim Rotich was arrested by police 640km (400 miles) away in Changamwe, on Kenya's coast. Three years after she was killed, the case is still in court, with Mr. Rotich out on bond. He has pleaded not guilty to a charge of murder.

Other Cases Also Run for Years

A few days after Tirop’s shocking death, another budding Kenyan athlete, Agnes Muthoni, was murdered in central Kenya. A year later, Kenyan roadrunner Damaris Mutua, was strangled in Iten.

The murder of Olympic runner Rebecca Cheptegei in September by her former partner reignited calls for stronger action against femicide in Kenya.

The 33-year-old Ugandan died days after being doused in petrol and set alight by her ex-boyfriend at her home in Trans Nzoia County in Western Kenya.

Bro Colm’s Call for Action

One mission that is especially close to the Godfather of Kenyan running Bro Colm O’Connell’s heart is transforming the lives of Kenyan girls.

He passionately believes in the power of athletics to provide opportunities, build confidence, and inspire young women to dream beyond societal constraints. It is why he is calling for urgent action to protect the very athletes he has dedicated his life to empowering.

“GBV is a long story with a long history and it’s not exclusive to any group, gender, or geographical area. Athletics gets media attention, but this is a problem across the board,” Bro Colm told SportsBoom.com.

He believes the solution lies in educating the young with an emphasis not just on academics but on character-building, respect, and healthy relationships.

This is where the foundation is laid. To change people's behavior is a huge challenge, involving everybody, teachers, parents, leaders, not forgetting all the people who have access to and are responsible for our youth, including coaches and role models,” he continued.

Bro Colm went on to note that athletics remains an incredible platform for women, a path that has lifted many from poverty and granted them independence.

The Role of Social Media in Escalating GBV

He, however, emphasized the importance of a cultural shift, pointing to social media as both a source of connection and a medium that, without proper guidance, can contribute to antisocial behavior.

According to a rapid study conducted by the Collaborative Center for Gender and Development (CCGD), in collaboration with the University of Nairobi Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE) Hub and supported by the United Nations Population Fund, UNFPA, nearly 90% of young adults enrolled in Nairobi’s tertiary institutions have witnessed technology-facilitated gender-based violence, with 39% having experienced it personally.

While online violence has an extensive reach, the study showed that female students are disproportionately impacted, with 64.4% of female students having experienced at least one type of online violence, as compared to 35.5% of male students.

“The good-old-fashioned mentoring by parents and teachers could be becoming diluted. Social media now seems to be setting the standards. Many of our youths have access to all sorts of negative information and behaviors through the media. Of course, social media is an integral part of our lives and needs to be handled responsibly.

"There may be a case for teaching and training our youths how to handle and live in our social media world rather than trying to isolate and protect them from it, knowing that eventually, they will have to face the reality of it and its responsibility. Many, and dare I say am including many adults here, are being hooked on our mobile culture,” he observed.

Though he acknowledged that his views might seem “old school” to some, Bro Colm firmly believed that it takes a village to stem the tide of violence.