What the project addresses

Kenya has made significant strides in advancing human rights, particularly following the adoption of the 2010 Constitution, which guarantees fundamental rights and freedoms to all persons. While these constitutional protections equally apply to intersex persons, their lived reality for years has been marked by exclusion, stigma, and discrimination. Intersex persons have long been perceived as an anomaly within a society largely conditioned to recognise only two sex categories; male and female.

Despite these challenges, sustained advocacy efforts have increasingly influenced policy, legal reform, and public discourse towards the recognition and protection of the rights of intersex persons in Kenya. These efforts are beginning to yield tangible progress. Notably, the Births and Deaths Registration (Amendment) Rules, 2024 introduced the inclusion of an “intersex” sex marker in birth notification forms and birth certificates, marking a significant milestone towards legal recognition and inclusion. There is a need to document this advocacy journey to promote learning, reflection, institutional memory, and continued advocacy for the rights and recognition of intersex persons.