Kenneth Thethe
Kenneth Thethe is a human rights defender, activist for the rights of LGBTIQ+ people in his community. He is the founder and executive director of Grassroots Transitional House, Kenya (GTH-Kenya). A community-driven organisation created to grant safety, protection and assistance to LGBTIQ+ individuals and defenders living in Mount Kenya region. The organisation also provides well-being support to LGBTIQ+ individuals that were victims of discrimination, stigma and who fear violence due to their gender identity. The work of the human rights defender Kenneth Thethe in the organisaton focuses on implementing mechanisms that will tackle gender-base violence against LGBTIQ+ people in his community and enable an environment where LGBTIQ+ community feel accepted and supported.
While Kenya maintains the appearance of a country where the public space is open, specific categories of human rights defenders encounter a wide range of risks as a result of their work. These include human rights defenders and journalists working on highly sensitive corruption issues, those who document or contribute testimony on past violence (including the 2007/2008 post election violence and frequent extra-judicial killings by the police) as well as those using peaceful demonstrations as an advocacy tool.
