‘I am impressed with the number of participants that have come back to me and confessed that they have gained a substantial amount of knowledge against their expectations. The community members are optimistic to share this information with their peers with an aim of eliminating violence against key populations in the region’. Enosh Abuya, Executive Director, Eagles for Life.
On 26 – 27 April 2018, KELIN, with financial support from the Partnership to Inspire, Transform and Connect the HIV response (PITCH) conducted a two day community sensitization forum on violence prevention, HIV, human rights and the law. The forum, which was conducted in Kisii County, attracted a wide range of participants from Homa Bay, Migori and Kisii counties.
The highly interactive forum was aimed at: enhancing participants’ understanding on the linkages between violence prevention, HIV and human rights; increasing support for key populations’ access to justice in the context of HIV; and strengthening the capacity of key population communities to respond to cases of violence.
During the forum, the facilitators demystified the medical aspects of violence using case studies and in particular, gave the classical examples of the Anal testing case at the Coast and the Kisii sex workers who were forcefully tested for STIs case.
At the end of the meeting, participants committed to taking forward a number of action points including:
- Formulation of violence response teams, who will be the first respondents in case of cases of violence; and
- Sensitization of their own members on violence prevention and documentation of human rights violations.
KELIN commits to support the participants’ efforts to document human rights violations using the REACT programme and refer survivors of violence to medical and psychosocial support using the same portal.
To contribute to the discussions on this forum, follow KELIN on our social media platforms: Twitter: @KELINkenya using these hash tags: #Justice2Health Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/kelinkenya
Documents:
For more information, contact:
Ted Wandera
Program Officer, Key & Affected Populations
Kenya Legal and Ethical Issues Network on HIV/AIDS (KELIN)
4th Floor, Somak Building, Mombasa Road
Tel +254202515790; Cell +254708389870
Email: twandera@kelinkenya.org
