In the Kenyan society, culture, and laws are largely silent on the human rights violations and lived realities of intersex people, particularly children and young people. The Intersex Persons’ Ending Stigma and Secrecy project provides a framework to facilitate the recognition of the rights and civil liberties of intersex people in Kenya. Intersex Persons Society of Kenya’s engagement involves collaboration with legal, medical, cultural, religious, and civil society to identify and document the incidence and experiences of intersex children and people in Kenya.

Through radio, print and media engagement, the project feeds in the advocacy strategy with a more in-depth understanding and appreciation of the social, cultural and political attitudes in our society and how to most effectively influence social change by developing people-focused communication and intervention tools.

Additionally, this project creates social awareness and collaborates with other stakeholders nationally, regionally, and internationally to more specifically address these issues from a human rights perspective with the goal to end the stigma and secrecy surrounding children and people with intersex conditions in Kenya and promote a more just and nurturing climate for our community in Kenya.

“Human rights however simple and clear it is to some of us, it may not be as clear to everyone. For example, when the church opposed one of the bills we were supporting on registration we did not understand why it would dispute what is black and white. We believe that as long as there is dialogue, and everyone is at the table, progress can be made.” IPSK 

The main goal of the IPSK empowerment grant project was to advance the human rights protection and support of children and people with  intersex  conditions  through  public  education  and community  engagement,  enabling  our community  to  access  relevant  information,  access  appropriate  healthcare,  and  to  challenge discriminatory  and  oppressive  cultural  practices  relating  to  sex  development  variations,  and resulting  gender  variance.  Throughout the project, IPSK has been able to engage in dialogue with to influence policy as part of the Intersex Taskforce. This advocacy resulted in a great landmark in 2019 when the intersex persons were included in Kenya National Census.  

Additionally, IPSK was assigned a seat within The Intersex Persons Implementation Coordination Committee (IPICC) established by the Hon. Attorney General, whose mandate to implement the recommendations from the Intersex Taskforce led to the development of 2 bills currently before Parliament  (1) The amendments to the registration of persons senate bill 14 of 2019seeking to incorporate the intersex person as third sex registration and (2) Reproductive health Bill and Assisted reproductive Technology Bill that looks at all genders reproductive rights. 

Other milestones by IPSK included: 

• Using the media as a tool to improve the lives of the intersex community in the country. The ability of intersex persons to stand out and be counted was a huge win; this was as a culmination of the continuous use of media to encourage them to take a space. 

• Advocacy and engagement efforts by duty bearers through round table meetings on matters of intersex persons.  The meetings was to deliberate on the inclusion of intersex in the census and Kenya Institute of curriculum Developments (KICD) meetings.  
• Maximising on digital media. By using the website as a tool for referral of intersex persons the team has managed to have 13 referrals of intersex persons 3 scholars who wanted to partner with us.