Prejudices against the LGBTIQ+ persons decreased in Kenya

KIOS’s partner organization in Kenya promotes access to services and inclusion in decision-making for sexual and gender minorities in five provinces. PEMA Kenya was founded by a group of gay men who decided to take care of a funeral of a deceased young person who had been abandoned by his own community.

PEMA Kenya works with institutions that have discriminated against and caused violence against the rainbow population. They educate the police, religious leaders, journalists, health authorities and lawyers on LGBTIQ+ issues and what human rights violations these minorities face.

Prejudices have been countered with facts and this has had a sizable impact. In Mombasa, health workers said they shared the information they learned in the project about gender diversity and rainbow rights with their colleagues at work in health centers. The LGBTIQ+ persons told the organization that it has become easier for them to seek help from health centers.

There has also been a change in the attitudes of the police. Before the city police street patrol aimed to arrest gay people every Friday. Thanks to the training, the police will no longer identify gays as targets. Lawyers also say they are more willing to serve sexual- and gender minorities as clients.

The attitudes of religious leaders were also influenced and the eviction of rainbow people from churches and mosques has decreased, according to LGBTIQ+ persons. The number of hate speeches has also decreased.