Deadline: 03 January 2026
Feminists in Kenya (FIK) is pleased to announce the second edition of the Feminist Transformative Justice Institute! After a successful first edition in 2023, in which we provided a collective learning space that deepened awareness of the liberatory practice of Transformative Justice for marginalised 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 marginalised and criminalised groups such as LGBTIQ+ communities and Sex Workers who often have to navigate immense violence within criminal justice systems across the continent.
As well, organising 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 organisers can take are met with State violence, making organising 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 organising has been an opportunity for feminists to further question whether the State can truly be the harbinger of justice, prompting us to think more creatively about the 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 organising space for sharing and documenting existing Transformative Justice practices in Kenya, while training feminists to organise as interveners in situations of violence. We see this Institute as a collective space to explore how communities can intervene in cases of violence without reinforcing oppression and, ultimately, contribute to transforming the social conditions that drive violence. Transformative Justice for us is therefore a path to liberation for marginalised 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 aim to select 25 feminists based in the Eastern African region (Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Somalia, South Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo) and aged 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 hosting a biannual Institute and expanding 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 across communities, including schools, churches, and neighbourhoods. They will also support the growth and development of community accountability politics by engaging in anti-violence/anti-oppression education at the community level and by supporting our bystander intervention and healing justice programs.
Core Attributes
Applicants must demonstrate the following core attributes in order to be selected:
- Commitment to feminist values: Demonstrate a clear commitment to intersectional, African, Black, Queer, and community-rooted feminist principles.
- Experience or active involvement in community organising, 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.
- Demonstrated Interest in Transformative Justice.
As well, participants must:
- Demonstrate a willingness to learn, unlearn, heal, and practice non-punitive, survivor-centred, 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.
