Assault on lesbians in Nairobi

Faith was leaving Madd House on the morning of 19 April with a friend (who will remain anonymous). As they were walking through the exit, a woman shouted out behind them 'ma lesbians'. Faith didn’t recognise the woman and they got into a verbal confrontation, during which the woman hit her with her bag and went off to go back upstairs. Faith and her friend followed the woman, later identified to them as Constance Sirikwa Rukia, and saw her being hidden in the changing rooms by the bouncers. Faith went to ask the bouncers why they were hiding the woman when they should be kicking her out for disturbing them. The bouncers held each of Faith’s hands and attempted to throw her out. Upon seeing that she was being held by the bouncers, the woman then hit Faith on the head with a bottle that she’d been holding and Faith fell down, bleeding heavily.

The bouncers then attempted to allow the woman to escape in a taxi but were unable to get away due to the interventions of patrons of the establishment and some taxi drivers. Faith was driven to the central police station with Constance and the two bouncers, with her friend following them behind. She remembers the woman saying in the taxi, 'You’re still a fucking lesbian and there’s nowhere you’ll take me.'

Upon arrival at the police station, the woman was taken inside and her freind was told to rush Faith to hospital as she was still bleeding heavily. They left the two bouncers talking with police officers. Faith was admitted to Nairobi hospital and had surgery yesterday morning to get stitches on her forehead.

As a matter of urgency, we demand that the Kenyan government, its agencies and all civil society and human rights defenders take cognizance of the social exclusion, intimidation, violation and abuse of the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Intersexes and Queer (LGBTIQ) community’s human rights.

We demand that:

- The Kenyan police investigate, arrest and take due process to litigate on the allegations brought forward from the 18 April incident to ensure that justice is done and all the perpetrators are held to account for their actions.
- The judicial system takes due procedure in providing legal and social redress mechanisms for all victims of violence with strict emphasis on all forms of gender-based violence, while taking into account sexual orientation and gender identity.
- The government of Kenya ensures that all Kenyan citizens, with emphasis on sexual minorities, are protected from subjective attacks and hate crimes, by adhering to national, regional and international standards around human rights, as depicted in the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Yogyakarta principles.
- The government of Kenya, as part of its responsibility, takes into serious account the increasing threats and attacks on the LGBTIQ community and pledges to promote and protect all human rights with strict measures to mitigate the increasing risk faced by sexual minorities.
- The government of Kenya takes the initiative to toughen the penalties on sexual violence and abuse to include the protection of citizens from discrimination and violation of LGBTIQ human rights.

Furthermore, we petition civil society and all human rights defenders and their networks to add their voices in condemning these inhumane acts of subjection to humiliation and violence.

For further information, please contact Alix Mukonambi and Pouline Kimani.

Signed:
- Pouline Kimani
- Minority women in action (MWA)
- The Gay and Lesbian Coalition of Kenya (GALCK)

* Please send comments to [email protected] or comment online at http://www.pambazuka.org/.