Sociocultural Barriers to the Education of Kenyan Girls: Gender Stereotyping and Sexual Violence in Secondary Schools

Abstract

Gender-based disparities in education are among the most troubling issues affecting women’s lives in African countries today. Women’s education is inextricably linked to economic development, national unity, and social progress and is considered a basic human right, yet the educational attainment of women continues to lag behind that of men throughout most African countries. Addressing the issue of the gender gap in education, researchers have often utilized cross-national data and have been concerned primarily with increasing African girls’ enrollments in primary and secondary schools, thereby increasing girls’ access to some of the benefits to education.