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Intersex rights in Kenya

Intersex rights in Kenya Kenya
Kenya (orthographic projection).svg
Protection of physical integrity and bodily autonomy No
Reparations No
Protection from discrimination No
Access to identification documents Yes
Rights by country

Intersex people in Kenya face significant human rights violations, starting from birth. There are few protections from mutilation and non-consensual cosmetic medical interventions and no legislative protection from discrimination. Intersex persons may have difficulties in obtaining birth certificates and others forms of documentation.

Traditionally, children who are identified as having an intersex condition at birth were killed. This is beginning to change, according to midwives and birth attendants' organizations. Surviving intersex children may have difficulties in obtaining birth certificates and other forms of identification.

Reports suggest that the birth of an intersex infant can be regarded as a curse or bad omen, resulting in infanticide. Seline Okiki, chairperson of the organization of birth attendants, Ten Beloved Sisters, has described how babies born intersex are traditionally killed following birth.

In 2015, it was reported that an intersex adolescent from Malindi, Muhadh Ishmael, was mutilated and later died in hospital. He had previously been described as a curse on his family.

Intersex people are considered to suffer significant stigma. A Kenyan news report suggests high rates of early school leaving, with the organisation Gama Africa reporting that 60% of 132 known intersex people had dropped out of school "because of the harassment and treatment they received from their peers and their teachers". Anecdotal reports point to high levels of suicidality amongst intersex people.

In the 2010 case of Richard Muasya v. the Hon. Attorney General, Muasya had been convicted of robbery with violence. The case examined whether or not he had suffered discrimination as a result of being born intersex. He was found to have been subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment while in prison.

Intersex people in Kenya do not currently have protections from discrimination, but the rights of intersex people are currently a matter of discussion, led by nominated MP Isaac Mwaura. In part, this followed a landmark court case decided in 2014, of a child who could not commence school without a birth certificate.

In 2014, in the case of Baby ‘A’ (Suing through her Mother E.A) & another v Attorney General & 6 others [2014], a Kenyan court ordered the Kenyan government to issue a birth certificate to a five-year-old child born in 2009 with ambiguous genitalia. In Kenya a birth certificate is necessary for attending school, getting a national identity document, and voting. The child's lawyer, John Chigiti, stated that this was a "first step toward recognizing intersex people".

In an earlier, 2010, High Court case, Richard Muasya v. the Hon. Attorney General, the Court had determined that an intersex person was responsible for registering his own birth, following a failure to do so at the time of his birth.


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