14 DAY TRIAL // The village of Umoja in Kenya was founded in 1990. It sits close to the town of Archers Post in Samburu County, some 380 kilometers (240 miles) from Nairobi.
Umoja is an all-female matriarchal village, which means women are its sole inhabitants and no men are allowed to live here. The women look after themselves and even run a primary school, a cultural center and a camping site meant for tourists in the region.
To get the money they need to keep things running smoothly in the village, the women in Umoja make jewelry which they then sell to tourists or locals in nearby villages.
The community is a safe haven for abused women
Kenya's Umoja village was founded by Rebecca Lolosoli who, in 1990, left her husband after he allowed other men to beat her up for complaining about how soldiers stationed nearby would rape women.
“I started talking about helping the rape victims and the next time my husband left on business, the men beat me severely. I left the hospital and my parents said I should rejoin my husband.”
“He said nothing about what the men had done, and so I realized I could be killed, so I left,” Rebecca Lolosoli confessed in an interview, as cited by Oddity Central.
The village of Umoja is a safe haven for women who have been abused by their husbands or other family members or who were forced to leave home to escape being forced into a marriage they did not want.
The Samburu people of north-central Kenya are a patriarchal society. Young women are often forced to marry much older men against their will and abuses are a common occurrence.
Rebecca Lolosoli founded the village of Umoja, whose name translates as “unity” in Swahili, together with 16 other victims of abuse who followed her when she left her husband.
Naturally, Samburu men who learned of the new community tried to sabotage Rebecca Lolosoli's and her peers' work. They even tried to force them out of the village by driving tourists away.
The women didn't give up and, in time, managed to raise enough money to buy the land that their village sits on. Now, nobody can force them to leave.
Men can visit, but must be on their best behavior
True, there are no men living in the village of Umoja. However, this does not mean they can't visit every now and again.
When they do come around, however, they have to be on their best behavior and obey the women in everything. If they throw a fit, they get kicked out.
“Men are forbidden to live in the village, but may visit as long as they behave and abide by them women’s rules,” Rebecca Lolosoli said.
“Our objectives are to improve the livelihoods of the women due to rampant poverty and counter the problem of women being abandoned by their families.”
