The High Court in Eldoret handed transgender Kenyans a historic victory, directing the state to enact a Transgender Protection Rights Act, after ruling that prisons do not provide protections for their dignity and privacy.
In the alternative, Justice Reuben Nyakundi ordered the amendment of the Intersex Persons Bill, 2024, to plug the glaring gaps in the law.
The court’s decision came on August 12, 2025, following a petition from SC, a transgender Kenyan who fought for recognition after invasive and nonconsensual medical procedures were carried out during her incarceration.
SC was born male but identified and lived as a female from childhood.
She obtained official documents, including ID, birth certificate, and passport with female sex marker, and competed as a female athlete.
However, on June 14, 2019, police arrested SC at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital and charged her with “personation” under Penal Code s 382. SC was initially detained in the women’s section of Eldoret police station and remanded at Eldoret women’s prison.
But a prison strip search degraded her even more, and a court ordered “gender determination”.
SC was taken to MTRH for tests, underwent genital examination, radiology, hormone testing, and blood sampling without her consent and beyond the court’s order.
Her private medical records were also leaked to the media.
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