2025 In Focus: “It Has to Happen”: Confronting LGBTIQ+ Torture
By Dianne Magbanua, Communications Officer
Being a queer human rights lawyer in Kenya comes with serious risks, yet Masafu Okwara refuses to be silenced. She sees her work as part of a legacy built by those who fought before her, determined that queer Kenyans should not be erased.
A lawyer at the National Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (NGLHRC), Masafu is among the recipients of REDRESS’s Innovative Lawyers Awards, which recognise emerging human rights defenders using strategic litigation to challenge torture. Her decision to enter law was driven by the injustices she faced as a young queer Kenyan, which convinced her the legal system was the most powerful tool to fight back.
At NGLHRC, the first public legal aid clinic in Kenya for sexual and gender minorities, she confronts daily the violence and discrimination that LGBTIQ+ people endure. She recalls one case in which an 18-year-old lesbian in Nakuru was killed with a machete after leaving a club. Fear of discrimination kept witnesses from seeking help, but the organisation pushed for arrests despite resistance from authorities.
One of REDRESS’s key areas of work is using strategic litigation to challenge discriminatory torture used against groups including women, the LGBTIQ+ community, refugees, migrants, and those facing multiple forms of discrimination.
By recognising and supporting these trailblazing lawyers, REDRESS seeks to strengthen the global anti-torture movement and encourage more legal professionals to confront injustice and impunity. Last year, seven more lawyers from across the globe were honoured, including Emilija Švobaitė (Lithuania), Nina Barrouin (Brazil), Manushika Cooray (Sri Lanka), Edwin Makwati (Botswana/South Africa), Roberta Ruiz (Mexico), Laura Media (Spain), and Brenda Khwale (Malawi).
Reflecting on the future for LGBTIQ+ rights in Kenya, Masafu’s tone is one of indomitable hope:
“The system has to change in our lifetime. I have a lot of hope in the system changing. I see marriage equality, even if it’s in the long haul. I see a repeal of the criminalisation of homosexuality in the country. I see Kenya eventually becoming a safer home for LGBTIQ+ Kenyans — whether or not we live to see it. But it has to happen.”
Read an Interview with Masafu Okwara
Photo: © Robin Hammond/Panos Pictures