Nominated senator Gloria Orwoba says she is thinking about quitting Twitter because of the cyberbullies who have harassed her since Tuesday when she was expelled from a Senate plenary for showing up in blood-stained pants.
The legislator showed up in the stained pants in an effort to increase awareness of menstruation hygiene and put a stop to “period shame”.
But on Thursday, Orwoba told Hot 96 that she had experienced abuse on Twitter.
“This thing of having a thick skin, no! We are human beings. In fact, I am contemplating leaving Twitter. That whole cyber-bullying thing I will leave to Nyamu (Nominated Senator Karen Nyamu). She knows how to deal with it,” Orwaba said.
She claimed that despite Senator Nyamu’s advice to keep on, the bullies were “getting to her.”
“I was talking to Senator Nyamu about it and she said no (to her leaving Twitter). She said the moment you get through it and cross to the other side no one can tell you anything. But it is intense and it gets to you. I won’t lie that I don’t care because it really gets to me,” she added.
The lawmaker’s dress-choice sparked controversy in the House after her colleague Tabitha Mutinda brought up the issue on the Senate floor and asked Speaker Amason Kingi for guidance on the matter.
Senator Mutinda called Orwoba’s attire “unacceptable” and “indecent,” even asserting that she was upset as a fellow woman, by the way she was dressed.
Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja, who called the senator’s action “bold and provocative,” is among others who have expressed support for the lawmaker.
The governor promised to promote menstruation hygiene across the capital.
“Senator Gloria Orwoba. That was bold and provocative. To change some things you must make people uncomfortable and you did! I’ll do my part in Nairobi for our girls,” wrote Sakaja.
She thanked Sakaja for being part of the discussion.
“Kudos to Sakaja. We need men like those who understand what is happening to be part of the conversation. I hope he allocates something in their county budget towards menstrual health,” she said, adding that men need to be educated about menstrual health.
She asserted that the reason the subject is met with animosity is that the majority of males still do not fully get what it is that women experience.
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