According to activists, LGBTQ people and activists do not have the luxury of reporting instances of domestic violence because there is no systematic protection for them.
Kenya has seen a number of reported deaths among members of the LGBTQ community.
According to Bosire Wairimu, the founding executive director of the African Centre for Health Systems and Gender Justice, LGBTQ people find it difficult to report cases of abuse, including intimate partner violence, due to stigma and discrimination.
She claimed that since the Constitution’s Section 162(a), (c)165 makes same-sex relationships illegal, they will continue to face violence. Being an LGBTQ person or an activist, according to the Akina Mama wa Afrika organization, means living outside the legal system in a climate where one’s identity is criminalized.
When one’s fundamental rights are violated, it is challenging to obtain legal protection, let alone seek justice, according to the organization since one’s existence is made illegal by the state. According to the organization, a pattern can be seen where many LGBT people’s deaths are received with indifference since homophobia is supported by the state, culture, and religion.
According to the statement, “this is related to the widely held opinion that LGBTQ individuals are criminals and, hence, not worth safeguarding or accounting for” because of their sexual orientation.
“Justice is delayed or not delivered” when violence against LGBTQ persons is not investigated, according to the statement.
Akina Mama wa Afrika, a pan-African feminist organization, upholds the value of every African life and proclaims the sanctity of every human life. According to campaigners, Kenya shouldn’t ignore the passing of LGBTQ activists and fashion enthusiast Edwin Chiloba. Social media was buzzing when news of the horrible death of Chiloba, 25, initially surfaced.
The LGBTQ community, who were familiar with the killing, expressed outrage over it. Last Thursday, a metal box containing Chiloba’s decaying body was discovered by the side of the road. Many believed that the murder had been committed as a homophobic hate crime by someone who is intolerant of homosexuals before the murder investigation had started.
Days into the investigation, it was discovered that Jackton Odhiambo, Chiloba’s intimate partner, was the primary offender. Since then, social media has become even more frantic. Social media users dug further into the subject, with some Kenyans nearly defending Chiloba’s murder on the grounds that he was gay.
Kenyans were replying to a discussion on Twitter.
Tweet looked like this:
Was it really your fault that LGBT people believed Chiloba’s death was a hate crime? According to Laura Nani, this is not the got you moment you think it is.
According to a queer activist named Marylize Buibwa, “Chiloba’s murder isn’t any less a homosexual hate crime because if he wasn’t gay the first and second times he was attacked last year, he would have talked and reported.”
But your theory on why he couldn’t report is just as valid as mine.