A Multi-Methodological Exploration of Persecution Experiences and Related Injuries of Sexually Minoritized Asylum Seekers and Refugees in Nairobi, Kenya
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Methods
2.1. Study Design
2.2. Sampling and Recruitment
2.3. Participants
2.4. Data Collection
2.5. Data Analysis
3. Results
3.1. Anti-Homosexuality Act
“… I think the bill [Anti-Homosexuality Act] was already signed. So, it was trending everywhere. It was the talk of the church and the mosque in the testimony and something some people used in campaigns. So, this bill, however much it was nullified later, it had already harmed people. Because some people had in their minds that gay people are supposed to be killed”.(Participant 17, 24 years)
“… Let us say one of the things that led to my fleeing the country was their signing of the bill. It led the communities to be more homophobic towards us. They [unknown community members] would randomly kill gay people if they found us on the streets. We were taken to be like chickens to be killed anyhow [without regard for life]. After signing the bill, we tried to live in hiding. However, strangers beat my partner and friend. I managed to escape… but that is the last time I remember seeing my partner and my friend.”
3.2. Death Punishment
“I had to run from home. I knew they were coming and what would happen to me. Because where I come from, death is the only punishment when they know you are gay or belong to any LGBT group! If not peeling your skin off… and what was to be done to me to punish me, and when they punish me, it was to be death. The government was aware of that and gave powers to kill whoever is gay or lesbian or any queer person.”(Participant 12, 22 years old)
“When I used to see [gay] people being killed for expressing their orientation, expressing themselves who they are, their truth of who they are. Someone because of love is crucified or even killed, do not even know, like a snake. Because after a snake is killed, it is thrown in the bush, and no one cares. That is how someone was killed or when they found out he is gay.”
3.3. Physical Violence
“I lived in the camp for like for one year and something. There [Kakuma], we were harassed, and people were abusing us, that we are LGBTI [Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Intersex]. At times even they were like, they wanted just to kill us. So, I decided to leave and come to Nairobi. So UNHCR agreed to transfer my data to Nairobi.”
“I went to the police. What happened there, heeeeeei! I told the police officer what had happened. They told me, hmm, I left Uganda to do those things [same-gender attraction] here [Kenya]. You people, you are the ones destroying our children here in Nairobi. Every police officer came to see me and abused me. I was ashamed. I said I would never go back to where I will report anything to the police concerning this. I felt terrible!”
“…Sometime back, the police came to our house… They wanted to know why we were more than five or six people in the same house. We were arrested and stayed at Kikuyu police station for four days as they were doing their investigations. Until the United Nations High Commission for refugees learned that we were in cells, they were the ones who came and bailed us out, and then we were brought back home.”Participant 6 (41 years old)
3.4. Sexual Violence
“So, the man raped me! Raped me! I will never forget when I think of these things in my life. It has become so difficult to understand… The man raped me for the first time. He raped me when he was alone. And then from that day, he told me that thing we had done was gonna be continuous, and I should not go anywhere outside the tent… Others also started raping me. They started coming out like three people or two who were drunk, and they raped me—all of them. I was there from when I was 14 years [old] until 15 years [old]. I spent one good year passing through those things there, yet I was looking for a way to take myself out of the country.”(Participant 8, 21 years old)
“At first, I did not know why they were calling me there, and because I was new, I did not know anything about being in prison... two guys entered the room with me. They were four; one remained on the door. I entered with two. Then we found another one inside. When I entered, he grabbed my hand. Another one grabbed my legs. Then they pushed me to the floor. Then, one guy came on me then said, I need to have sex with you, and I was like, no. They then said, we already know you are gay; we will kill you. That is what he mentioned. And then he started, of course, raping me, and I felt so bad. It was a terrible experience for me. Furthermore, when the second one came, he released as he was trying to penetrate me, then the rest of the two said no-no for us; we will not do that, let him go.”
3.5. Discrimination
“… He did not pay me the right amount. He used to delay and all that. So, after three months of working without payment, I went to the police to report… So, the police were like, do you have a work permit? I said no, but we had agreed. I had a copy of what we had agreed on, and we agreed he would pay me this, and he said he was OK with that. How do you say it is OK with it? Like whom gives you, who gave you the right to work? You are a refugee; you are not supposed to work. That was a bummer! They did not give me my money, and the police did nothing about it.”(Participant 16, 24 years)
“Like my partner, you will get a job in Westlands [a neighborhood in Nairobi]. You know there is a minimum wage where you are supposed to earn a wage. Where you are supposed to earn five hundred, they will be delighted and willing to take you to earn two hundred Kenya shillings daily. Desperate or not desperate, you have no choice. While your colleagues earn five hundred, you earn two hundred shillings, working twice as hard as those. This amounts to exploitation, so eventually, people are run down.”(Participant 2, 35 years)
3.6. Injuries
“I was in one of the parks. It is called Mama Ngina. Just knowing your nationality, someone boxed [beat] me hard. The way I was kicked injured my private parts [groin]. I had to have surgery. I later wrote UNHCR asking for medication. They said I should buy the medicine because I am in an urban area. I explained to them that I did not even have money to cater for my medication… even to buy painkillers, to go to government hospital sometime, they ask for I.D., once you fluke, you get the painkillers, which are not enough.”
“About twelve people saw my boyfriend and me kissing and hit me with a stone on my head. Later, the police took us to the hospital. So, they stitched the wound, and all this part [left front] of my head is a bit paralyzed from that time till now. Whenever I touch it, I do not feel anything around the scar. It also reminds me that I was with my boyfriend and beaten because of being gay. Sometimes I try to forget everything, but this scar reminds me of what happened. I feel so bad. I feel bad because there was a possibility that it could have affected my brain, and I could have died. I am also terrified because I feel like the next thing that will happen to me is that I will be dead! So, I am always scared of that.”(Participant 6, 41 years)
4. Discussion
4.1. Physical Violence
4.2. Sexual Violence
4.3. Discrimination
4.4. Injuries
5. Limitations and Strengths
6. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Misedah-Robinson, L.; Schick, V.; McCurdy, S.A.; Wilkerson, J.M.; Wambua, S.; Ross, M.W. A Multi-Methodological Exploration of Persecution Experiences and Related Injuries of Sexually Minoritized Asylum Seekers and Refugees in Nairobi, Kenya. Sexes 2022, 3, 546-563. https://doi.org/10.3390/sexes3040040
Misedah-Robinson L, Schick V, McCurdy SA, Wilkerson JM, Wambua S, Ross MW. A Multi-Methodological Exploration of Persecution Experiences and Related Injuries of Sexually Minoritized Asylum Seekers and Refugees in Nairobi, Kenya. Sexes. 2022; 3(4):546-563. https://doi.org/10.3390/sexes3040040
Chicago/Turabian StyleMisedah-Robinson, Lourence, Vanessa Schick, Sheryl A. McCurdy, Johnny Michael Wilkerson, Solomon Wambua, and Michael W. Ross. 2022. "A Multi-Methodological Exploration of Persecution Experiences and Related Injuries of Sexually Minoritized Asylum Seekers and Refugees in Nairobi, Kenya" Sexes 3, no. 4: 546-563. https://doi.org/10.3390/sexes3040040