Print Media Coverage of Femicide in Kenya: A Content Analysis of Daily Nation and the Star Newspapers

Kenya has witnessed rising cases of femicides in the recent years including the murder of prominent female personalities. There have been various street protests by human rights groups and women demanding justice for the femicide victims. Consequently, both the international and national media have highlighted gruesome femicide stories from Kenya. This study aimed to assess the print coverage of femicide in Kenya, with an objective of exploring the prominence given to the coverage of femicide in The Star and Daily Nation newspaper articles. The key word femicide was used to search related articles in the two dailies. The study adopted a quantitative content analysis and purposively selected all the articles on femicide published by Daily Nation and The Star newspapers between January 2024 and March 2025. A code sheet schema was developed and used to collect data, and the findings were analyzed and presented based on the objectives of the study. The findings indicate that both dailies had extensive coverage of femicide. The dailies reported the highest number of femicides in 2024 where most women were either hacked, strangled or stabbed to death. The findings further indicate that majority of the perpetrators of femicide were intimate partners known to the victim. This study contributes to the debate on ending gender-based violence and promoting gender equality in Kenya. The study concludes that print media continues to serve as a powerful tool for awareness creation, accountability in follow-ups and advocating for change in addressing femicide related crimes.