Introduction
Feminists in Kenya (FIK) is pleased to announce the second edition of the Feminist Transformative Justice Institute! After a successful first edition in 2023, where we were able to provide a collective learning space that deepened awareness on the liberatory practice of Transformative Justice for marginalized groups, including LGBTQIA+ communities, Sex Workers and People with Disabilities, we are ready to bring feminists together for another round of conversation and communion.
In our interactions, through advocacy and providing wellness support for survivors of sexual, domestic, State and carceral violence, two questions continue to be asked by survivors - ‘Why doesn’t the system work?” and 'Why don’t we ever get help when we go to the police?’ Accessing justice has particularly been difficult for marginalized and criminalized groups such as LGBTIQ+ communities and Sex Workers who often have to navigate immense violence within criminal justice systems across the continent.
As well, organizing currently exists during a time of massive State repression, authoritarianism and anti-rights pushback. Whilst the entire world watches in horror as fascism escalates, efforts to curb this change have been hampered by funding cuts. Those actions that feminist organizers are able to take are met with State violence, making organizing even more difficult. In Kenya, in particular, the past year has been a challenging one, with the fight against femicide and repression being met with state violence, and arrests of protestors. This past year of organizing has been an opportunity for feminists to further question whether the State can truly be the harbinger of justice, pushing us to think more creatively about what sort of structures and futures we want to build for ourselves, our safety, and our healing.
In seeking to spotlight and possibly answer these questions, Feminists in Kenya is guided by research, lived experiences and proven practices which highlight that efforts to end violence are more successful when they are rooted within communities and are led by communities. The current systems of justice as we know them, are inherently oppressive and any attempts for their reformation, while commendable, have largely reproduced harm to survivors of violence. To reiterate Audre Lorde’s words, “The master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house."
We therefore see this Institute as a critical organizing space for sharing and documenting the already existing Transformative Justice practices in Kenya while training feminists to organize as interveners in situations of violence. We see this Institute as a collective space to explore the different ways that communities can intervene in cases of violence without reinforcing oppression, and ultimately contribute to the transformation of social conditions that cause violence in the first place. Transformative Justice for us is therefore a path to liberation for marginalized groups, a constant practice and a way of 'making things right.’
The Institute
The Institute is residential and will run in Kenya from 15th to 20th February, 2026. FIK will cover all costs related to attendance. For this Second Cohort, we are looking to select 25 feminists based in the larger Eastern African (Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Somalia, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo) region and aged between 18-55. We invite applications from feminist organisers, researchers, students, policy practitioners and community leaders. We also invite applications from budding feminists who are simply curious about Transformative Justice and are open to learning. For future cohorts, we will explore the possibility of hosting a bi-annual Institute and expand the call to feminists across Africa. The Institute's language of instruction will be Kiswahili and English for this Second Cohort.
The deadline for this round of applications is 3rd January 2026. We encourage early applications.
The Institute's Alumni will lead and support ongoing Accountability Circles in different communities, including schools, churches and neighbourhoods. They will also support the growth and curiosity for community accountability politic by engaging in anti-violence/anti-oppression education at community level and support our by-stander intervention and healing justice programs.
Core Attributes
Applicants must demonstrate the following core attributes in order to be selected:
1.Commitment to feminist values: Demonstrate a clear commitment to intersectional, African, Black, Queer, and community-rooted feminist principles.
2. Experience or active involvement in community organizing, feminist movements, LGBTQ+ activism, SRHR advocacy, anti-violence work, or social justice campaigns. Note: Formal job titles are not required — lived experience and community work count.
3. Demonstrated Interest in Transformative Justice.
As well, participants must:
* Demonstrate a willingness to learn, unlearn, heal, and practice non-punitive, survivor-centered, community-led responses to harm.
* Express curiosity about alternatives to policing, prisons, and State-led punitive approaches.
* Uphold anti-harassment, anti-violence, and anti-discrimination principles.
* Commit to feminist ethics of confidentiality, care, consent, and accountability.
* Be open to conflict transformation and non-carceral methods of addressing harm within the cohort.
