PEMA-Kenya is a membership-based organisation founded in 2008. It is a lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer (LGBTIQ)-led organisation that works with LGBTIQ individuals and communities as well as stakeholders seeking to bridge the gap that exists between the general population and gender and sexual minorities. PEMA Kenya was founded within a context of tragedy when a young gay man, shunned and stigmatised by his family because of his sexual orientation died in May 2008. There was no one to honour his memory or give him a decent burial. Stunned by such a level of loathing for gay people, a group of gay men in Mombasa came together to find a decent and dignified resting place for him. It was this support of one of their own that gave birth to the Brotherhood, which evolved into PEMA Kenya.

PEMA Kenya had its first three-year strategic planning process in 2012 resulting in a strategic plan that saw the organisation develop partnerships and networks and engage in work with institutions that have been considered perpetrators of violence towards gender and sexual minorities. PEMA Kenya’s work with the police, religious leaders, media, healthcare providers, and advocates of the High Court of Kenya has pushed the organisation to realise that there was still great need to reach out to people from all walks of life and provide them with knowledge on gender and sexual minority issues.

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex (LGBTI+) people in East Africa  face similar challenges ranging from social stigma to lack of poor networks in which they can mobilise for action and carry out advocacy for protection of their rights. They also share a common language, Swahili, which is used by their communities to further stigmatise them using derogatory names and expressions meant to trivialise their existence.

The project Strengthening LGBT Human Rights Defenders in East Africa brings together different LGBTI+ Human Rights Defenders across East Africa, engages local and national authorities to contribute to the promotion and protection of the human rights of LGBTI+ people, and particularly those of Human Rights Defenders and their Right to Defend Human Rights (RHDR). The action also works with religious leaders, doctors, lawyers, and police forces that have exclusionary and discriminatory perceptions and actions towards LGBTI+ people. The project raises awareness on issues such as Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, and Expression and Sexual Characteristics (SOGIESC), the human rights situation of LGBTI+ people in general, and specifically the LGBTI HRDs, and the levels of violence and discrimination they face on a daily basis, including dangerous practices like forced anal examination and forced genital surgery for intersex people. Moreover, the project “takes out” LGBTI+ HRDs form isolation, connecting them in networks at the national level, in their home countries but also at the regional level, given the very similar threats faced by LGBTI+ in Kenya. The cross-learning will help acquire important knowledge in the region to help make a difference in their own country.

The project also strengthens the preventive protection of LGBTI HRDs, and their organisations; by taking a preventive protection approach, encompassing physical and digital security and well-being. Moreover, since protection is enhanced when HRDs are not isolated, the action builds and strengthens LGBTI+ HRDs networks at national and regional levels, by giving a common voice to LGBTI+ peacefully defending their rights and dignity. Ultimately, the project promotes the creation and strengthening of these networks to open new spaces for policy reforms, to seize legislative and judicial opportunities, and to raise awareness about discrimination and violations of LGBTI human rights in the region.