In 2018, LBQ Education on Health and Advocacy (LEHA Kenya) conducted conversation spaces as safe spaces for Lesbian, Bi-sexual and Queer (LBQ) women to speak out against various violations they face which include but are not limited to sexual violence, intimate partner violence, and physical abuse. Through Project Nuru, LEHA Kenya improves the adoption of healthy behaviours and access to and utilisation of Sexual Health Rights LBQ friendly Minimum Package of Services.

Structures and systems are in place to ensure effective prevention of violence and response and strengthen social, economic, legal and cultural structures and systems to support the reduction of LBQ vulnerability to violence. By targeting LBQ persons through different interventions with the aim of preventing cases of violence from happening (positive norms change), the project continues to build the capacity of health works and LBQ peer educations to ensure the provision of stigma and discrimination-free services.

 In 2018, LEHA conducted conversation spaces that provide safe   spaces for  LBQ women  to  speak out  on various  violations  that they  face, which included but not limited to, sexual violence, intimate partner violence and physical abuse. During the  implementation of  the  project, LEHA held advocacy meetings aiming to reduce stigma for LBQ women which has seen resulted to majority of them not accessing basic services.  

During the project period, LEHA met several women such as Nanjala who stayed with abusive guardians and beat them regularly due to their sexual orientation. Nanjala didn’t have an income which made it hard for her to seek alternative residence Nanjala’s first instance of reporting was   December 2019. She was then taken through comprehensive counselling which included trauma counselling ways to identify red flags before violence can happen as well as how to take care of her mental wellness.  

In  June 2020, the violence occurred again but with the help of paralegals who have been trained by the National Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (NGLHRC) the team was able to involve NGLHRC who the supported Nanjala with relocation. They have an income generating activities together with their partner which caters for their basic need and they are safe now. 

 Nanjala’s story is one among the many that the LEHA team handled. With the advocacy forums conducted, this ensured that the LBQ community is well aware of their rights and are   more   willing   to access   SRH   services   without   fear   of   stigma   and discrimination. The  peer  education  sessions  created  a  safe  space  for  more  of  the  rural  LBQ persons  to  access  to  information  mostly  on  COVID-19,  sexual  orientation, gender  identity  and  expression  and  sex  characteristics,  violence,  hygiene  and human  rights  thus  increasing  biomedical  and  psychosocial  services  access  in more  interior  regions  of  Kiambu  County  in  the  drop  in  center  as  well  as  the community outreaches. 

Additionally, LEHA was  included  in  the  key  population  technical  working  group that  focuses  on  addressing  advocacy  issues  for  the  key  population  in  Kiambu county.  This  group  consist s of  key  population  partners and the  County  health management  team  who  are  key  drivers  in  the  health  issues  for  Key  populations who include  Sex workers,  Men  Having  Sex  with  Men  (MSM)  People  who  Inject Drugs  (PWID)  and  LBQ  women.  

Before  the  pandemic,  the  LEHA  constituents were  facing  great challenges  with  their  mental  health  due  to  the  stigma  and discrimination; this  was  made  worse  by  the  pandemic  since  it  brought  about effects  which  were  more  psychologically  challenging.  Psychosocial  support groups to groups of individuals and mental health clinics in the outreaches have kept the psychosocial support ongoing thus mental health well catered for. As  a  result  of  all  these  interventions,  health  education  on  violence  prevention and  reporting  has  created  more  awareness thus more  cases  being  documented especially with the rise of violence during the pandemic.