Pictures of the Year International

First: LGBTQIA Refugees in Kenyan Safe H…

First: LGBTQIA Refugees in Kenyan Safe Houses

A narrative picture story that explores an important social, economic, or political issue.

Caption

Slide 3 of 11

September 30, 2023

NAIROBI, KENYA, 30 SEPTEMBER 2023: Trans women Olivia and Pretty are seen on the weekend in a local hotel swimming pool close to their safe house, this is one of the very few places where they can risk being themselves when no-one is watching. Olivia is sick and living in a refugee camp and Pretty plays an almost maternal role in their relationship. They are seen comforting each other in a rare moment of public spontaneity. This kind of display of affection would draw negative attention in almost all of Kenya and the police would likely be called. Both of these trans women have refugee status but the perception of homosexuality would almost certainly lead to arrest and extortion. Olivia is a trans woman who fled harsh anti LGBT laws in Uganda and has lived for the last three years in vulnerable conditions in Kakouma refugee camp in the north of Kenya. She is photographed in a safe house for trans women in Nairobi, where she is visiting Pretty. Olivia is in Nairobi because she is sick and cannot be treated for her condition in Kakouma. Pretty is a make-up artist and fellow refugee. Pretty has been waiting five years for her resettlement status from the UN agencies.

Brent Stirton

LGBTQIA Refugees in Kenyan Safe Houses

Uganda officially criminalized same sex conduct for those convicted of “aggravated homosexuality,” in May 2023. The Anti-Homosexuality Act of 2023 violates multiple fundamental rights guaranteed under Uganda’s constitution and breaks commitments made by the government as a signatory to a number of international human rights agreements. Uganda’s penal code already punishes same-sex conduct with life imprisonment but the new law creates new crimes such as the vaguely worded “promotion of homosexuality” and introduces the death penalty for several acts considered as “aggravated homosexuality.” It also increases the prison sentence for attempted same-sex conduct to 10 years. Anyone advocating for the rights of LGBT people, including representatives of human rights organizations or those providing financial support to organizations that do so, could face up to 20 years’ imprisonment for the “promotion of homosexuality.”As a result of these harsh measures, many LGBT people have been forced to flee Uganda and many are now in fragile safe houses in Kenya, attempting to put shattered lives back together with minimum resources. Kenya is not an LGBT friendly country, and it is necessary for LGBT people to live out of the spotlight for their own safety. This is a series of photographs that attempts to show some of what that looks like and how people who choose to live true to their nature and seek love within same-sex relationships are persecuted for something the rest of the world takes entirely for granted.