Multiple Health Needs of Lesbian, Bisexual, Intersex and Transgender Women in Western Kenya: Initial Findings and Future Directions

This study will discuss the initial findings from an emergent, multiple-method and staged qualitative study focused on developing a baseline understanding of the health needs of lesbian, bisexual, intersex and transgender women living in Western Kenya. Young women are approximately four times more likely to become infected with HIV than young men in Kenya (KNBS 2010).  Although these infections are attributed to sex with men, not all women who have sex with men engage in exclusive heterosexual sexual behavior.  Initial ethnographic work with gay, bisexual , and men who have sex with men illustrated the visibility of lesbian/bisexual women and their unique sexual health needs.  This study set forth to explore an area that has been largely absent from the literature or other formal documentation. Initial study questions were developed in collaboration with the research teams in Kenya and in the US. Questions focused on participants’ perspectives, their meanings, and their multiple subjective views. Interpretative framing was influenced by reflective, interpretative, holistic & contextually-bound analysis.  Initial data collection and analysis with participants (N=16) demonstrate robust psycho-social and medical needs and suggest the need for further exploration in the following four areas: 1).The lived experiences of Kenyan lesbian/bisexual women, 2). The factors which impact risk and resilience, 3). Documentation of the psychosocial and medical needs of lesbian/bisexual women, and 4). The unique experiences and needs of intersex and transgender women. Finally, future directions for inquiry will be discussed.