Kenyan feminist empowers minority women after CRD training

When she attended the Trainer of Trainers meeting organized by CHARM, through Civil Rights Defenders, (CRD), Peace Loise was on a mission to understand why she fights for queer rights.

Loise is the Communications Officer at Minority Women in Action (MWA), a grassroots organization based in Nairobi, Kenya, working to advance the rights and well-being of minority women, including LGBTQ+ individuals, through advocacy, education, and empowerment programs. We caught up with her in a trainer of trainers meeting, where she had ten focal leaders gathered in South B area of Nairobi, being taught on different topics including feminist consciousness, understanding the power within and empowerment among minority women in Kenya.

She drew insights from the Feminist Pocketbook for Human Rights Defenders, a guideline by CRD on training on gender issues. Now a TOT after a training session in November 2024, Loise is working to cascade feminist knowledge and advocacy throughout MWIA’s growing network of over 500 members across five chapters in the country.

The training, equipped Loise and other participants with tools to unpack complex topics such as lived experiences of homophobia, feminist consciousness, power mapping, and the “problem tree”, a tool used to identify root causes of systemic issues.

“One of my biggest takeaways,” Loise shared, “was understanding feminist consciousness and integrating it into my personal life. Before this, I often struggled to answer simple but profound questions like, ‘Why are you a feminist?’ Now, I understand that it’s not just about fighting injustice, it’s also about knowing why we fight and having the right information to back it up.”

In Addis, Loise had the opportunity to reflect deeply on her own journey and share her perspective during exercises like power mapping, analyzing “power within,” “power with,” and “power over.” She says that the experience allowed her to become a stronger advocate not only for others but also for herself.

“I’m now a big advocate for myself. I can exercise the power within, the knowledge and awareness I’ve gained, to align my internal world with my external actions.” She added.

With her newfound confidence and knowledge, Loise has identified key front-line activists within MWA to undergo similar training. Her goal is to create a ripple effect where trained leaders pass down the knowledge to other members, ensuring that feminist awareness and empowerment reach even the grassroots level of the organization.

MWA mission is to empower sexual and gender minorities to have autonomy over their bodies, advocate for their rights and freedom from discrimination. Their intersectionality shows up in the diversity of our members and work with trans women, gender non-conforming individuals, queer women of faith.

“As a queer woman and feminist, I want to raise consciousness within the queer community,” Loise explained. “We need to empower people to have autonomy over their bodies and advocate for their rights. But to do that, we need the right information and the right tools.”

Now setting her sights on becoming a certified trainer of trainers, Loise envisions weaving feminist consciousness into both personal realities and collective action. “It’s about creating a movement,” she said. “One that starts from within and extends outward — into communities, organizations, and systems.”