Document #1140005
IRB – Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (Author)
The coordinator of GALEBRITRA, a non-governmental membership-based group committed to fighting for the rights of gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transsexuals in Kenya, stated in correspondence that discrimination against lesbians within the Hindu community is "not very common" (5 Feb. 2003). The coordinator also claimed that a member of parliament from the Hindu community once owned a club frequented by lesbians but said that there was no harassment or discrimination because of "financial protection" (GALEBITRA 5 Feb. 2003).
For additional information regarding the treatment of homosexuals by the authorities and by society in general, please consult KEN40339.E of 21 November 2002. Additional information specifically relating to the treatment of Hindu lesbians could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.
This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.
Reference
GALEBITRA, Nairobi, Kenya. 5 February
2003. Correspondence from the coordinator.
Additional Sources Consulted
IRB Databases
NEXIS
Unsuccessful attempts to contact an oral
source.
Internet sites, including:
Africa Online
Afrol.com
AllAfrica.com
Amnesty International (AI)
BBC Africa
Human Rights Watch (HRW)
The International Lesbian and Gay
Association (ILGA)
The Khush Page
University of Southern California,
International Gay and Lesbian Review
University of Western Ontario, Women's
Studies
World News Connection (WNC)
Search engines:
GayCrawler.com
Google
Treatment of lesbians by the authorities and by society, specifically the treatment of Hindu lesbians by the Hindu community [KEN40617.E] (Response, French)