Marathoner Rebecca Cheptegei ran in the Paris Olympics last month. This week, her boyfriend doused her with gasoline and set her ablaze, police said \u2014 the third horrific killing of an Olympian in Kenya in recent years. <\/p>\n
In the past three years, two other female Olympians have been killed in Iten, Kenya, about 70 miles away from where Cheptegei died. The women were killed by their significant others, authorities said, bringing international attention to a pattern of domestic violence against female athletes who live and train in Kenya\u2019s Rift Valley region, home to some of the world\u2019s most elite runners. <\/p>\n
In October 2021, the body of Agnes Tirop, a rising star in distance running, was found inside her home with numerous stab wounds. She was in her running gear \u2014 a black sports bra and shorts \u2014 and likely going to a training session when her husband attacked her, authorities said. <\/p>\n
About six months later, marathoner Damaris Mutua\u2019s boyfriend allegedly strangled her and left a pillow over her face. He fled the country after the attack and has been a fugitive ever since, according to police. <\/p>\n
Tirop\u2019s husband was arrested in the coastal city of Mombasa as he allegedly tried to leave the country, the Kenyan Directorate of Criminal Investigations said at the time. He\u2019s free on bail and his case is ongoing. He pleaded not guilty to murder but admitted to killing Tirop in an affidavit requesting bail, according to court documents. <\/p>\n
And as yet another killing stuns the nation\u2019s running community, activists and officials are calling for more action and resources in the ongoing fight against domestic violence. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe must do more to combat gender-based violence in our society, which in recent years has reared its ugly head in elite sporting circles,\u201d Kenya\u2019s sports minister Kipchumba Murkomen said in a statement. <\/p>\n
Cheptegei ran for Uganda, but trained in Kenya. Her father told local media that she bought land in Trans Nzoia and built a house to be near the hub of long distance training. His daughter and her boyfriend were fighting over the land shortly before the attack, Joseph Cheptegei said. <\/p>\n
Her boyfriend, who was also burned, is being treated at a hospital in the city of Eldoret. <\/p>\n
The deaths of the female athletes have sparked outrage and reignited calls for more action against domestic abuse. In 2022, a group of female athletes in the region formed Tirop\u2019s Angels to educate runners about gender-based violence and engage Kenyan men and leaders on prevention efforts. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe started Tirop\u2019s Angels out of emotions, we were heartbroken,\u201d Chelimo said. \u201cWe realized that female athletes are suffering, and they\u2019re silent. They needed to know they\u2019re not alone, and they have rights, too.\u201d <\/p>\n
After Cheptegei\u2019s death, Tirop\u2019s Angels said it was devastated to mourn yet another loss in the running community. <\/p>\n
\u201cAnother talented athlete taken from us by the menace of gender-based violence,\u201d the group said in a statement Thursday. \u201cThis ongoing violence must not be ignored.\u201d <\/p>\n
All three women were working to make a mark as elite runners. <\/p>\n
Cheptegei finished 44th in the women\u2019s marathon at the Paris Olympics. Tirop had just returned from a race in Switzerland and had broken the women\u2019s 10km record in Germany a month before she was killed. Mutua, who had just placed third at a half marathon in Angola days before her death, was a bronze medalist at the 2010 Singapore Youth Olympics. <\/p>\n
Iten and its surrounding regions are revered training grounds for long-distance runners due to their crisp air and high altitude. Success in races overseas can mean brand sponsorships, stipends, performance bonuses and sometimes paid travel expenses for races \u2014 resources that allow runners to participate in international competitions. <\/p>\n
This makes domestic violence especially prevalent in running communities in the region, said Chelimo, a long-distance runner who also trains in the area. <\/p>\n
A mix of (potential) wealth, fame and a patriarchal culture \u2014 where a man is expected to be the breadwinner \u2014 leaves young, ambitious women either prey to unscrupulous men trying to get their hands on their future earnings or vulnerable to intimate partners who wish to control them, she said. <\/p>\n
Tirop was 25, Mutua was 28 and Cheptegei was 33. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe (society) don\u2019t protect these young women \u2026 we don\u2019t even give them training (to advocate for themselves) \u2026 we just expect them to run and break records. Where is the outrage? Where is the anger?\u201d said Njeri Migwi, founder of Usikimye, an organization that provides refuge to victims of sexual- and gender-based violence across Kenya. <\/p>\n
As part of its education efforts, Tirop\u2019s Angels brings in experts to help young runners live well-rounded lives and provides them with tips on financial literacy, investments and relationship red flags. <\/p>\n
But it acknowledges that a major cultural shift is needed in the region for real change to happen. The group said it\u2019s working with local schools to educate children on forms of abuse and ensure that future generations of runners learn crucial lessons at a young age. <\/p>\n
The root cause of sexual and gender-based violence in Kenya is the country\u2019s entrenched patriarchy, which is more dominant in remote rural regions, Migwi said. <\/p>\n
In Kenya, according to government data from 2022, more than one-third of women ages 15 to 49 have experienced physical violence by a husband, intimate partner or someone else. Married women are much more likely to have been victims of violence than those who have never been married (41% versus 20%), according to the survey. <\/p>\n
But domestic violence is a worldwide problem. <\/p>\n
A review of data from 2000 to 2018, covering girls and women aged 15 to 49 in 161 countries, found that 27% of ever-partnered women have experienced domestic violence. <\/p>\n
In the United States, one in four women have experienced severe violence by a domestic partner, according to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence. Advocacy groups have described the murder of US women by men they know as \u201ca silent epidemic.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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