'Are we doing alright? Realities of violence, mental health, and access to healthcare related to sexual orientation and gender identity and expression in Kenya: Research report based on a community-led study in nine countries'

A. Müller, K. Daskilewicz

This report presents research findings on the mental health and well-being of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people in Kenya. It also presents findings on LGBTI people's experiences of violence, and experiences in accessing healthcare. It is part of a series of reports based on research in nine countries of Southern and East Africa: in Botswana, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, South Africa, eSwatini, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The research was done collaboratively by a consortium of non-governmental organisations (NGOs), academic researchers from the University of Cape Town, and COC Netherlands who funded the project and provided logistical support. Across those nine countries, we used a standardised questionnaire to survey 3,796 people, and ask about physical and sexual violence, depression, anxiety, suicidality and substance use, as well as experiences of discrimination when accessing healthcare. The findings give us a sense of the precarious state of LGBTI peoples mental health and well-being in East and Southern Africa, and the high levels of violence that LGBTI people experience: compared to what we know from the general population, LGBTI people have higher levels of mental health concerns, have experienced more violence, and have faced barriers to healthcare that are directly linked to their sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression. Our findings show that in the nine countries of this study, as elsewhere in the world, discrimination, stigma and marginalisation related to sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression place LGBTI people at higher risk for mental health concerns and violence.