CLS 435:

GENDER AND THE LAW

September - December,
2023
DAY 1 – WEDNESDAY, 13TH
SEPTEMBER, 2023
CLS 435 – GENDER AND THE
LAW
 PRELIMINARIES

 Brief Individual
Introduction
 Name Tags?
 Attendance
Register?
 Class Rep
 Email Contacts

CLS 435 - Njeri Kangethe,

Lecturer/Advocate of the High Court of
Kenya
 CLS 435 – GENDER AND THE LAW
 COURSE REQUIREMENTS/RULES OF ENGAGEMENT

 Regular Attendance and Class Participation - This is a

highly participatory Course where students are encouraged to
share own perspectives and experiences, and to work
individually and collectively in small workshops. Therefore,
attendance to every session is mandatory. Students are
expected to make own notes!!

 However, students who have medical, family or other

emergencies over the course of the trimester are strongly
advised to register these with the relevant CUEA authorities
as soon as practicable, and to inform the Lecturer.
 Whereas students will not be penalised for turning in late
assignments or missing class because they observe a
religious holiday that falls on due date or while classes are in
session, it will be appreciated if they inform the Lecturer of
their intention to miss class or turn in an assignment late.

CLS 435 - Njeri Kangethe, Lecturer/Adv

ocate of the High Court of Kenya
 CLS 435 – GENDER AND THE LAW
 COURSE REQUIREMENTS/RULES OF
ENGAGEMENT
 Academic Honesty - Students enrolled in this Course are
expected to exercise a high degree of honesty and integrity in
class attendance and participation; assignments and
examinations.

 Cell phones and electronic gadgets - Students are

required to turn off cell phones and other electronic devices and
have them stored out of sight during class. Texting in class is
definitely not allowed.

CLS 435 - Njeri Kangethe, Lecturer/Adv

ocate of the High Court of Kenya
 CLS 435 – GENDER AND THE
LAW
 COURSE ASSESSMENT

 Grading will be in accordance with the CUEA

Grading Policy.

 Out of a total of 100%

 70% being end of trimester exam/project

 and 30% Continuous Assessment Tests

made up as follows:-
 8 – Class attendance + participation

[CAT I]
 7 – Group Work [CAT II]

 15 – Written CAT [CAT III]

CLS 435 - Njeri Kangethe, Lecturer/Adv

ocate of the High Court of Kenya
 CLS 435 – GENDER AND THE LAW

 COURSE OVERVIEW
The Gender and the Law Course will introduce the
student to:-
 The Definition of Gender, Sex and Law in the
context of the Gender and the Law Discourse
 The gender discourse and the interplay between
gender and the law
 The main theme of gender and the law, that is,
discriminations and imbalances that are inherent
in this interplay

CLS 435 - Njeri Kangethe, Lecturer/Adv

ocate of the High Court of Kenya
 CLS 435 – GENDER AND THE LAW
 COURSE OVERVIEW
 Legal, policy, administrative and structural
interventions that have been put in place
to mitigate these inequities
 Hands-on- practical approach to lobbying
and advocacy using a variety of strategies
including law reform, to achieve social
justice for disadvantaged groups/classes in
the context of gender and the law.

CLS 435 - Njeri Kangethe, Lecturer/Adv

ocate of the High Court of Kenya
 CLS 435 – GENDER AND THE
LAW
 COURSE OBJECTIVES
 This Course is designed to
enable the Student to:-
 Appreciate the conceptual framework
within which gender and the law interface
 Appreciate the tensions and the nexus
between gender and the law, and
discriminations and imbalances inherent
therein

CLS 435 - Njeri Kangethe, Lecturer/Adv

ocate of the High Court of Kenya
 CLS 435 – GENDER AND THE
LAW
 COURSE OBJECTIVES
 Appreciate the legal, constitutional and jurisprudential
loopholes that open doorways to discriminations based
on gender
 Appreciate legal, policy, administrative and structural
interventions that have been put in place to mitigate
gender based discriminations and imbalances, including
but not limited to an overview of the
international/regional instruments that give legitimacy to
women’s rights and their enjoyment
 Acquire a hands-on practical approach to lobbying and
advocacy using a variety of strategies including law
reform, to achieve social justice for disadvantaged
groups or classes in the context of gender

CLS 435 - Njeri Kangethe, Lecturer/Adv

ocate of the High Court of Kenya
 CLS 435 – GENDER AND THE LAW
 REQUIRED TEXTS – BOOKS
 Agosin, M. Women, Gender and
Human Rights: A Global
Perspective, Rutgers University Press,
USA 2001
 Bartlett, K.T.,Gender, Law and Policy:
Theory, Doctrine and Commentary,
Kluwer, USA, 2010
 Bentzon A.W., et al Pursuing
Grounded Theory in Law: South-
North Experiences in Developing
Women’s Law, Mond Books, Harare,
Zimbabwe, 1998
 Burn, S.M Women Across Cultures: A
Global Perspective, McGraw Hill Inc.,
NY USA (2011)
CLS 435 - Njeri Kangethe, Lecturer/Adv
ocate of the High Court of Kenya
CLS 435 – GENDER AND THE
LAW
 REQUIRED TEXTS – BOOKS
 Kameri-Mbote, P.A Gender, Conflict and Regional
Security, Heinrich Boll Foundation, Nairobi, Kenya, 2004
 Kibwana K. et al Law and the Quest for GTong, R.
Feminist Thought: A More Comprehensive
Introduction 3rd Ed, Westview Press, CA, USA (2009)
 Maathai, W.,Unbowed: One Woman’s Story, William
Heinemann, London, UK (2007)
 Njoya, T.M, Selfhood: The Divinity of the Clitoris,
MWEM, Nairobi, Kenya, 2021

CLS 435 - Njeri Kangethe, Lecturer/Adv

ocate of the High Court of Kenya
 CLS 435 – GENDER AND THE LAW
 REQUIRED TEXTS – BOOKS
 Engels, F The Origin of the Family, Private Property
and the State, University Press of the Pacific, Honolulu,
Hawaii, USA (2001)
 Maclean S., Legal Issues in Human Reproduction
Gower, Brookfield, USA, 1989
 Sajo A., et al High Technology and Law: A Critical
Approach, Institute of Political and Legal Sciences,
Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary,
1989
 Davis, A. Y.,Women, Race & Class, Random House
Inc., NY, USA (1981)
 Nnaemeka O., Female Circumcision and the Politics
of Knowledge, Praeger Publishers, Westport, CT, USA
(2005)
 Dickens, M., One Pair of Hands, Chicago Review Press,
Chicago, Il, USA (2005)
CLS 435 - Njeri Kangethe, Lecturer/Adv
ocate of the High Court of Kenya
 CLS 435 – GENDER AND THE LAW
 REQUIRED TEXT – SELECTED ARTICLES

 Cultural Attitudes and Equality of the Sexes: Forever

Incompatible?, Ciarunji Chesaina, Cap 25, pgs 203 – 211, in Social and
Religious Concerns of East Africa: A Wajibu Anthology, Wanjohi, G.J, et
al, The Council for Research in Values and Philosophy, Washington DC,
USA, 2005
 Patriarchy and the Legal Developments in Kenya, Nelly Kamangu,
The Law Society of Kenya Journal, Vol 3 2006 1, Lawafrica, Nairobi,
Kenya, 2006
 S M Otieno Revisited: A View through Legal Pluralist Lenses,
Winnie Kamau, The Law Society Journal, Vol 5 2009 1, Lawafrica,
Nairobi, Kenya, 2009
 Do They Exist? Women’s Reproductive Rights in Kenya,, Elizabeth
Muli, The Law Society of Kenya Journal, Vol IV 2008, 1, Lawafrica,
Nairobi, Kenya, 2008

CLS 435 - Njeri Kangethe, Lecturer/Adv

ocate of the High Court of Kenya
 CLS 435 – GENDER AND THE LAW
 REQUIRED TEXT – STATUTES

 The Constitution of Kenya 2010

 The National Gender and Equality Act, 2011
 The Sexual Offences Act No. 3 of 2006
 The Sexual Offences Act [Zimbabwe] Cap 9:21, Act 8 of
2001
 Marriage Act,2014
 Matrimonial Property Act, 2013
 The Law of Succession Act Cap 160
 The Kadhis Court Act Cap 11
 Children Act No 29 of 2022
 Land Act 2012
 Land Registration Act 2012

CLS 435 - Njeri Kangethe, Lecturer/Adv

ocate of the High Court of Kenya
 CLS 435 – GENDER AND THE LAW
 REGIONAL/INTERNATIONAL
INSTRUMENTS
 International Instruments
 The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR, 1948)
 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPs, 1966)
 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCRs,
1966)
 Convention of the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women
(CEDAW, 1980)
 Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women (DEVAW, 1993)
 Convention on the Political Rights of Women (CPRW, 1952)
 Convention on the Nationality of Married Women (CNMW, 1957)
 Convention on the Consent to Marriage, Minimum Age for Marriage and
Registration of Marriage (1962)

CLS 435 - Njeri Kangethe, Lecturer/Adv

ocate of the High Court of Kenya
 CLS 435 – GENDER AND THE LAW
 REGIONAL/INTERNATIONAL
INSTRUMENTS
 REGIONAL/INTERNATIONAL INSTRUMENTS
 International Instruments
 ILO Convention No.41 – Employment of Women During the Nights (1934)
 ILO Convention No. 45 – Employment of Women on Underground Work in
Mines of All Kinds (1935)
 ILO Convention No. 89 - Night Work of Women Employed in Industry
(1948)
 ILO Convention 100 – Equal Remuneration for Men and Women Works for
Work of Equal Value (1953)
 ILO Convention No. 111 – Discrimination in Respect of Employment and
Occupation (1960)
 ILO Convention No. 103 – Maternity Protection (1952)

CLS 435 - Njeri Kangethe, Lecturer/Adv

ocate of the High Court of Kenya
 CLS 435 – GENDER AND THE LAW
 REGIONAL/INTERNATIONAL
INSTRUMENTS
 Regional Instruments
 African (Banjul) Charter on Human
and People’s Rights (ACHPRs, 1981)
 Protocol to the African Charter on
Human and People’s Rights on the
Rights of Women in Africa (Maputo
Protocol, 2003)
CLS 435 - Njeri Kangethe, Lecturer/Adv
ocate of the High Court of Kenya
 CLS 435 – GENDER AND THE
LAW
 COURSE OUTLINE
 Introduction to Gender and the Law
 Intersections between Gender and the
Law: An Overview
 Gender Discrimination in Context
 Status of Women
 Law, Gender and Reproductive Rights
 Emerging Social, Ethical, Moral and Legal
Issues on Reproductive Rights
 Gender, Law Reform and Social Justice
Strategies

CLS 435 - Njeri Kangethe, Lecturer/Adv

ocate of the High Court of Kenya
 CLS 435 – GENDER AND THE
LAW
 Suggested Readings for next class:-

 The Challenges and Prospects for the African Women’s

Movements in the 21st Century, Patricia McFadden, Women
in Action Issue 1, 1997

 Patriarchy and the Political Economy of the Biblical

Culture, Ezra Chitando, Created in God’s Image: From
Hegemony to Partnership, World Council of Churches, Geneva,
Switzerland, 2010

 A Story of Power and Leadership, Aruna Gnanadason,

Created in God’s Image: From Hegemony to Partnership, World
Council of Churches, Geneva, Switzerland, 2010

CLS 435 - Njeri Kangethe, Lecturer/Adv

ocate of the High Court of Kenya