The name is absent

It is important to note that in the eyes of the British, the African female
body was an object of sexuality, abuse, and degradation. Female sexuality in the
military is a contested space because of the violence of war. Women as civilians
and as soldiers found themselves victims of sexual abuse.⁷⁶ The image of
female participants in Mau Mau was often that of being sinners and “unattached
women.”⁷⁷ Otieno is quick to point out the difficulty of the scouting involvement in
saying, “...it was an occupation full of unpredictable pitfalls with danger lurking in
every corner...one wrong move could mean death.”⁷⁸

Forest Camp Warrior

Women had two major roles in the guerilla camps in the forests. They
were caretakers of the community and soldiers and also fighters. The forest
camps consisted of men, women, and children. Some of the women in the camps
were helping to raise the children and provide support for their husbands who
were in the forests. These women cooked, cleaned, and washed clothes. Some
women were actual warriors along with the men; they killed and fought like men.
According to Macdonald, women made up 5% of the guerilla fighters.⁷⁹ They did
not worry about doing the cooking. According to Presley, “The work of killing
people.. .was the work of women and girls. Women were doing a lot of work.”⁸⁰

⁷⁶BBC On-line News, “Kenya Mau Mau Veterens to Sue UK,” http://news.bbc.co.Uk/2/hi/8043442.stm and
Ray, “The Empire’s Ghost Returns,” 18-22.

⁷⁷ Letter on Rights of African Women by L.C. Mortimer, March 28, 1958 KNA PC/Grassa/14/8 Document
17. Unattached women were viewed as a problem in Colonial Kenya because they were difficult to control.

⁷⁸ Otieno, Маи Май Daughter, 43.

⁷⁹ Macdonald, et al., Images of Women, Chapter “Kikuyu women and the politics of protest: Mau Mau” by
Tabitha Kanogo 95.

⁸⁰ Presley, Kikuyu Women, TheMauMauRebellion, 136.

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