Some Transgender rights organizations in Kenya have developed new safety measures to shield people of the adult population from the threat of femicide, which has become more prevalent in the country in recent years.
Employing qualified surveillance response teams, crisis toll-free numbers for quick action, and training queer women on security as they go about their daily lives in racist societies are some of the tactics employed.
The Transgender rights organizations ‘ decision to develop their security measures is motivated by rigidity by security organizations, who they accuse of “personal discrimination, discrimination, and abuse” of the plaintiffs based on their sexual preference whenever they seek assistance.
Sexual same-sex physical activity is prohibited in Kenya under Sections 162 and 165 of the Penal Code, and gay rights organizations that the Washington Blade spoke to claimed the government take advantage of this criminalization.
Elly Doe, the executive producer of KISLEB, a Kisumu-based organization that fights for the rights of gay, bisexual, and gay women, stated that” we have contracted two surveillance response primary people in our business to respond to violations of LBQ womxn in Kenya.”
Doe, whose group also fights against femicide, stated that KISLEB is a member of a particular security situation room established to look into ways to combat rising insecurity in the LGBTQ community.
An LGBTQ right group called The Initiative for Equality and Non-Discrimination, which was also contacted by the Blade, stated that it has been running campaigning initiatives that include creating safer places conferences to discuss femicide and violence against women, both online and in person.
For example, one of the forums held in Mombasa last September explored how organizations and communities can collaborate to combat violence against disadvantaged women, provide effective support for survivors, and launch awareness and mentorship campaigns. Lesbian, lesbian, gay, and transgender people, women in politics, athletics, media, women living with disabilities, and sexual workers were among the participants.
Melody Njuki, the group’s communications officer, expressed her concern about the rise in femicide, tyranny, and violence against women, including gay people, that go unchecked is caused by a number of social aspects, including financial isolation, including economic isolation.
” The integrative issues faced by disadvantaged communities and functionally silenced women, especially sex workers and LBQT+ individuals, add richness to the challenges faced by patients of femicide due to discrimination, shame, and systemic imbalances,” Njuki said.
In a global city demonstration against rising femicide and violence against women, both INEND and KISLEB joined other LGBTQ rights organizations, liberals, and tens of human rights organizations in Kenya last month.
The harsh killing of 16 people in the nation since the start of the year led to the Jan. 27 protests, which were organized in response to the brutal killing of 16 people in the nation. In honor of this week’s femicide patients, whose number had increased to more than 30, hundreds of women, including those who identify as gay, donned black clothes and lit lamps and red roses during a Valentine’s Day celebration.
Doe expressed concern about her group’s involvement in the opposition because “KISLEB as an institution that champions the rights of the LBQ womxn may not sit back and watch as women are willfully violated and killed… but in recent years the amount has been rising fast and so many culprits go unpunished.” Participating in the demonstration was a way for us to show our support for different women’s rights businesses in a statement condemning femicide.
Doe expressed concern about a rise in bigoted threats made to queer women, especially on social media and in residential areas, and called for police to be educated on LGBTQ issues in order to deal with this issue without bias.
” We have also seen the rise in the murders of the Gay neighborhood,” she said, citing transgender activist Erica Chandra in Nairobi and nonbinary gay Sheila Lumumba in April 2022.
After giving the defendant Billington Mwathi a 30-year prison sentence, INEND, along with the National Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, and Galck+, which participated in Lumumba’s crime case last December, were disappointed with the jury. The three LGBTQ rights organizations criticized the phrase as “lenient” and claimed that it did not go against the law because the suspect murdered Lumumba before raping her.
Because Lumumba’s shooting was an attack on the LGBTQ community’s dignity and safety, the organizations claimed they wanted Mwathi to get a life sentence.
However, INEND attributes the rise in femicide to victim-blaming on the part of the public and some rulers, which causes a disconnect between the protection of the victims ‘ rights and its subsequent erosion, as seen in the LGBTQ community.
According to Njuki,” the path to murder begins with the demonization of the most marginalized, next continues to consume its way up the hierarchy of masculine systems.”
She revealed that INEND was organizing a group activity known as “#EndFemicideKe” to educate policymakers about the urgent need to impose strict laws on the dying of women. But, Njuki applauded the Kenya Magistrates and Judges Association commentators for their cooperation with INEND and determination to demonstrate a greater understanding of human rights, especially the security of LGBTQ rights.
She cited the Supreme Court’s decision that gave the National Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission the right to file as a non-governmental organization in support of the promotion of freedom of association as well as the release of a criminal guidebook last year to help judges better defend gay people’s rights.
