KENYA TO INCLUDE 'INTERSEX' ON ITS 2019 CENSUS FORM

Nairobi, Kenya

THE Kenyan authorities will include an intersex category, along with "male" and "female", in the section on gender in next month's census, an official from the statistics bureau has confirmed to the BBC.

It will form part of efforts to gather data on the number of intersex people in the country, thus becoming the first African country to do so.

The August survey will determine the number of citizens who do not identify as either male or female.

"Intersex" is an umbrella term that describes people who are born with a variety of characteristics that do not fit into traditional conceptions of female or male bodies.

Intersex people in Kenya often face violence and discrimination.

The UN believes that up to 1.7% of the world's population have intersex traits.

There are thought to be more than 700,000 of them out of a general population of 49 million.

"Getting information about intersex people in the census will help people understand the challenges we go through," Ryan Muiruri, founder of the Intersex Persons Society of Kenya (IPSK), said he welcomed the government's decision.

"Being included in the census is a big achievement for us," he told the BBC.

South Africa was the first African country to explicitly include intersex people in anti-discrimination law.

A special task force had been set up by the government to look into the interests of intersex persons and will identify reforms required to respect and protect their rights as Kenyans.

The census is expected to take place at the end of next month.