By Ishbel Matheson BBC Nairobi

Women in Kenya are vulnerable to poverty, HIV infection and violence because of discriminatory property inheritance practices, says a report from the New York-based Human Rights Watch.

Some men still view women as property like cattle

The United States based NGO says that after the death of their husbands, women are often evicted or made penniless, or forced to engage in traditional sexual cleansing rituals risking HIV infection, in order to stay in the property.

The rights group is calling on the new Kenyan Government to end discrimination by enshrining women's rights in the new constitution.

It is also calling for a countrywide education campaign to bring to an end traditional practices which perpetuate inequality.

Like animals

The report says the impact of property rights violations is devastating.

In many parts of Kenya, women are seen as less than second class citizens.

One traditional chief told Human Rights Watch that he regarded women as property, just like his animals.

After the death of their husbands, or after divorce or separation, women can and frequently are evicted from the family home.

Widows can end up in urban slums

If they want to stay tradition dictates that they have to engage in demeaning and risky sexual practices, such as cleansing where they are forced to have sex with a man of lower social standing.

Sexual assault

Women who resist face violence or even rape. Those who escape often end up penniless, living in Nairobi's burgeoning slums.

The report found that although Kenyan law did indeed provide for women to inherit property, in practice few knew about their rights.

Even fewer women could afford to contest the cases in court.