Kenya becomes first African country to collect data on intersex citizens | General news



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Kenya will become the first country in Africa to collect data on interbad people in its national census of the population, a major victory for human rights defenders.

The August survey will determine the number of citizens who identify neither as men nor as women.

Interbad people in Kenya often face violence and discrimination.

It is thought that there are more than 700,000 out of a general population of 49 million.

"Getting information on interbad people in the census will help people understand the challenges we face," said Ryan Muiruri, founder of the Kenya Society of Interbad People (IPSK), welcoming the government's decision.

"Being included in the census is a great achievement for us," he told the BBC.

South Africa was the first African country to explicitly include interbad people in the anti-discrimination law.

What is the background?

In 2009, a woman in Kenya went to court after doctors wrote a question mark instead of bad on her child's birth records.

He wanted three things: identity documents allowing his child to go to school, a law prohibiting surgery of interbad children unless it was medically necessary, and appropriate information and support. psychological to the parents.

In a landmark decision in 2014, the High Court ordered the government to issue a birth certificate to the five-year-old child.

In addition, he directed the Attorney General to create a task force to examine ways to better support interbad children.

This task force submitted its recommendations to the Attorney General in April. They include postponing surgery until the children can choose themselves and a robust survey of the numbers.

He also recommended that an I marker, an interbad identifier, be used in public documentation.

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