Unfinished Freedom: Persistence of Colonial Gendered Governance and the Contemporary Feminist Efforts to Contest It

This report examines the renewed politicization of African women's bodily autonomy across Kenya, Namibia, Germany, and the United Kingdom. In each context, African women's bodies become publicly visible primarily through crisis - particularly through high levels of sexual and gender-based violence and femicide (SGBVF), as well as racial disparities in reproductive health outcomes. Anti-femicide mobilizations in Kenya and Namibia, diasporic campaigns such as #SayHerName in Germany, and sustained scrutiny of maternal mortality gaps in the United Kingdom reflect intensifying demands that violence against Black women be understood not as isolated incidents, but as indicators of structural and institutional failure.

DIGITAL RESOURCES

Author(s): African Futures Lab
Date Published: 2026
Author(s) Region of Origin: Africa
Language: English

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