Nadine Segadlo and I have published a paper titled Surviving Exile: Queer Displaced People’s Lived Experiences of Aid, Risks, and Coping in Kakuma in Gender Issues. In this open-access article, we explore how queer individuals navigate the humanitarian aid system in Kakuma Refugee Camp, Kenya, the risks they encounter, and the strategies they use to cope with the challenges of daily life.

Abstract: This paper examines the lived experiences of LGBTQ+ displaced individuals in Kakuma refugee camp, Kenya. Drawing on situated knowledge and relational agency, it delves into how queer people experience the humanitarian-aid system on-site, what risks they encounter, and how they exert agency to cope with the prevalent challenges of day to day life. Findings reveal that, in a country context where same-sex relations are illegalized and queer people criminalized, those displaced face heightened risks. They are confronted with the heteronormative paradigms inherent to the humanitarian-aid system, ones resulting in their neglect and denied access to much-needed assistance and protection. Structural and physical violence such as discrimination, exclusion, harassment and threats of murder exacerbate unrelenting fears and tangible risks in the camp. To navigate these challenges, they employ diverse individual and especially collective coping strategies, creating safe spaces for mutual support, exchange and hope.

Krause, Ulrike and Segadlo, Nadine (2024), ‘Surviving Exile. LGBTQ+ Displaced People’s Lived Experiences of Aid, Risks, and Coping in Kakuma’, Gender Issues, 41, article 26.  https://doi.org/10.1007/s12147-024-09344-6