Police vs LBQT Dialogue Session.

Right to life; Equality and Freedom from discrimination, Right to human dignity; Freedom of expression; Freedom of assembly and association; Prohibition of discrimination… All these rights and freedoms are Articles of the section of the Kenyan Constitution, all of them can be weakened or denied when national authorities fail to protect citizens from acts of violence triggered by prejudice or committed with a bias motive.

A dialogue between the police and the LBQT community was therefore important to ensure respect towards each other and bridging gaps. 3W recognizes the need of the LBQT community and the police to become partners and form a bonding relation thus saw the need to bring the two parties together to discuss matters that the community seem to believe that keeps them wary of their rights and feel as if they have been infringed by the police and law enforcers. The aim of this engagement with the LBQT sector is to sensitize the police force to bring about attitudinal change.

LBQT people experience alarming hate crimes and domestic abuse but sadly these all go unreported as many don’t feel confident in reporting these to the police this shows a problematic relationship between the law enforcers and the minority groups.

LBQT persons at times feel vulnerable when interacting with police because they have been harassed, abused verbally or physically, blackmailed, Hostile attitudes, False accusation, Unsatisfactory police response, Laughing and ridicule, uniformed opinion and extorted for money or sexual favors by police officers. The promotion of this dialogue therefore formed a basis of discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGIE) as LBQT persons end up being stigmatized by the community and badgered by the police. Discriminatory laws and lack of legal protection around sexual orientation and gender identity creates a climate of fear and legitimizes harassment and violence perpetrated by state actors and further puts at risk LBQT people at violence perpetrated by the police, family and community.

Overall police leadership were pleased with the eye-opening impact of the trainings on police officers. This proves that police perceptions of LBQT peopl