Finding Respectability - The Lived Experiences of Middle Class Divorced Women in Nairobi

Examining divorce in contemporary Kenya, this book explores how the end of marriage reshapes women’s social status and respectability in a context where marriage remains central to female adulthood, sexuality, and motherhood. Drawing on in-depth interviews, ethnographic research in Nairobi, and digital ethnography of Kenyan social media, it examines how divorced women navigate stigma, shifting identities, and moral expectations. Using Zigon’s concept of moral breakdown, the study shows how divorce creates both vulnerability and ethical possibility, enabling women to renegotiate respectable womanhood and motherhood. In doing so, it highlights the emergence of plural moralities of respectability in Kenyan society.