Post by Olha Vasheniuk

A month ago, our team went to Kenya to learn about domestic workers and the realities they face. Around 60% of them experience some form of gender-based violence (GBV). Domestic workers are people who clean homes, cook, care for children, or support households. The majority also lack legal protection, which makes reporting abuse to the police much harder. This is where the Dhobi Women Network comes in — a grassroots community created to protect female workers’ rights. Women come together to advocate, support one another, and commemorate those who were murdered or lost their lives due to GBV. Over 1,000 trees were planted in a memorial garden in Mathare, Nairobi, to commemorate female domestic workers. It became a powerful place of memory and support for the local community. During our visit, we spoke with the founders of the Dhobi Women Network and worked together on advocacy materials: a short documentary, a booklet, and countless exchanges that allowed us to get to know the women and for them to get to know us. Very grateful to KU Leuven, the Global Minds Program, Prof. David Mwambari, our curator Lotte Buschmann, the Dhobi Women Network, and my wonderful team for this experience! This field trip was part of our course on Memory Politics and Peacebuilding.