TAG: Kenya

Dispatches: Kenyan President Stepping Forward on LGBT Rights?

Neela Ghoshal Senior Researcher, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Rights Program NeelaGhoshal Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta made his strongest statement to date in support of basic rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people, in an October 18 interview with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria. For the first time, he publicly condemned violence and “witch hunts” against […]

This Abortion Rights Billboard Got Taken Down Before Obama Could See It

Reproductive health advocates say they were told Kenyan officials insisted on the removal of the billboard criticizing Obama’s position on a controversial abortion rule. posted on Jul. 24, 2015, at 12:33 p.m. Jina Moore BuzzFeed News World Correspondent A billboard protesting Obama’s strict interpretation of the anti-abortion Helms Amendment was taken down on July 10, […]

Sex workers unite to defy stigma

The day the military raided Amina Danait’s* village in Muguru na Nyori will forever remain etched in her mind. Soldiers had been deployed to search for alleged illegally held guns in her village in Northern Kenya. But they also found girls like Amina and, as she recounts, they raped them. “The soldiers paraded the men outside […]

Court nullifies section outlawing reckless spread of HIV

By Kamau Muthoni Kenya: The High Court has declared unconstitutional a section of the HIV and Aids Prevention and Control Act that sought to criminalise reckless spreading of the disease. A three-judge bench comprising justices Mumbi Ngugi, Isaac Lenaola and George Odunga ruled Section 24, introduced by the State and criminalising the reckless spreading of […]

Kenyan women living with HIV file petition against forced sterelization

Women Living with HIV & their Lawyers Issuing a Press Statement after Filing their Case Picture By: KELIN/Regina Mwanza 1.0 BACKGROUND Kenya Legal and Ethical Issues Network on HIV (KELIN) and Africa Gender and Media Initiative Trust (GEM) together with five women living with HIV have filed two petitions dated 9 December, 2014 […]

A Historic Win For Our Grantee Transgender Education and Advocacy (TEA)

Press Release 24th July 2014 For Immediate Release Transgender Group in Kenya wins Historic Court Battle Nairobi, Kenya, 24 July, 2014. – In a historic court battle lasting three years, Urgent Action Fund–Africa (UAF–Africa) grantee, Transgender Education and Advocacy (TEA) has been handed a landmark victory in Kenya’s high court. After being denied the right […]

Of Cultures Destroyed by Western Sexual Exploitation and Violent Religious Prudery

“The Gikuyu of Kenya, who had very rigid codes of sexual convention, thought the public displays of affection among Europeans were unspeakably vulgar. Ironically, however, early 20th century missionaries punished these conservative people for their timeless tradition of encouraging adolescents to be sexually responsible by experimenting with romantic relationships through a cuddling ritual.”