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Interview with Ishmael Bahati, about the work of PEMA Kenya

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The start and planning of the SERENE project has been greatly affected by the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. We have had to postpone the first project workshop, that was supposed to take place in May 2020, and we don’t know when we will be able to reschedule it. An important part of the first workshop was for project partners to meet, get to know each other, and learn about each other’s work. As an alternative way to address that aim, we publish a series of short interviews with stakeholders. This is the fourth interview, with Ishmael Bahati, executive director of PEMA Kenya.

Could you please briefly introduce yourself and your organisation?

My name is Ishmael Bahati. I am a human rights defender working with the sexual and gender minorities. I am based in Mombasa, in east Kenya. I am the co-founder of PEMA Kenya, an organisation that works with gender and sexual minorities in the coastal line of Kenya. PEMA Kenya is a human rights advocacy organisation that aims to have a society where inclusivity is implemented and access to justice for everyone including the gender and sexual minority persons.

How do your work and interests relate do the focus of SERENE on engaging religious leaders on issues of LGBTI inclusion in East Africa?

PEMA Kenya has been working with both the members of sexual and gender minorities (GSM) and the faith-leaders with the aim to advance a reconciliation of faith and sexual identities for the GSM members, and to have the faith-leaders change their attitude towards the GSM and foster acceptance and inclusion of GSM in places of worship and roles. We also want spiritual services and needs accessed by the GSMs. The Mombasa region has a strong Muslim population, and in our work we engage both Muslim and Christian faith-leaders.

The Mombasa region has a strong Muslim population, and in our work we engage both Muslim and Christian faith-leaders.

In doing this, we also need partners who are interested in doing this. We have worked beyond Mombasa reaching out to Faith leaders with trainings. However, we are limited as an organisation and therefore believe that the platform that SERENE is offering will ensure broadening of our work in partnership with other likeminded partners. Regional contexts also are different. Understanding how others are doing this work in their own context helps in advancing our thinking as an organisation.

How have you and your organisation been affected by the COVID-19 outbreak, and how do you try to continue your work?

As I mentioned, PEMA Kenya is an advocacy organisation. This involves sittings and meetings that has many people. With the coming in of COVID19, we are not able to continue with our usual gatherings both for trainings and the safe spaces within PEMA Kenya where members were accessing spiritual support.

With social distancing and lockdowns in some parts of the country, Mombasa where we operate being one of the affected counties, we are unable to reach out to members in person that are outside Mombasa county who are in distress.

Our members feed from hand to mouth since they operate small businesses such as salon, barber shops, sex work and food venting. This has adversely been affected as they were the first businesses to be shut down by the government right at the onset of COVID19 in Kenya. This means that basic livelihood has been affected.

What do you hope to get out of the SERENE project, once this pandemic is over?

As an organisation we are looking forward to this new platform that SERENE is offering to advance the Faith engagement work that we are doing. We also wish that SERENE engages more organisations working on LGBTIQ issues and faith in their work. Also in the future if we can have SERENE offer a continuation and scale up of the work we are doing. For example, we only take the faith leaders through a basic understanding of sexual diversity and human rights. But there is so much more critical work to do, such as engaging the theological arguments at stake and also cultural beliefs as part of it.

But there is so much more critical work to do, such as engaging the theological arguments at stake and also cultural beliefs as part of it.