Rebecca Cheptegei: A Marathon Cut Short by Gender-Based Violence

Rebecca Cheptegei, a 33-year-old Ugandan Olympic marathon runner, tragically lost her life after suffering severe burns in an attack by her former boyfriend.

In September 2024, she was doused with petrol and set on fire outside her home in Kenya following a dispute. Cheptegei, who had recently competed in the 2024 Paris Olympics, sustained burns covering over 80% of her body. Despite receiving treatment at a Kenyan hospital, she succumbed to her injuries due to organ failure. Her story, a brutal example of gender-based violence, shook both the athletics community and the wider public. Yet, like Rebecca, many women across the world endure violence that leaves them physically and emotionally scarred. 

It is deeply troubling that it takes such horrifying incidents for global attention to focus on the issue of burn-related gender-based violence. Women and girls are being subjected to intentional burns—a devastating form of violence that remains underreported and understudied, as stated by the World Health Organisation.

The Global Surgery Umbrella is joining the UN Women '16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence' to build awareness about the importance of global surgery in ensuring the well-being of women and girls, who face serious brutalities through burn gender-based violence.