Florence Keya

Florence is an activist, feminist, and a survivor of sexual violence. She has six years of experience in trauma counseling and paralegal work with a focus on sexual violence issues and the law.

She is the founder of Maisha Girls, an initiative that brings together girls and young women who have survived sexual violence from across parts of Kenya. Through this initiative, she has established safe houses that provide immediate care and protection to survivors of sexual violence.

The safe houses also support the survivors to access medical services, psychosocial support, and access to justice. Florence spearheads community safe spaces that act as platforms for prevention and response to sexual and gender-based violence issues. The spaces are also a hub where youth can access information on different issues. She has run campaigns on the effects of sexual violence in different communities and social platforms.

She works with Talita Kenya, which is a rehabilitation program that reaches out to girls and women who have been trafficked for sexual exploitation or have been forced into prostitution. Her work as a mentor and counsellor has been quite instrumental in ensuring that healing and dignity is restored in the lives of the ladies she comes in contact with.

She has been a strong member of the National Survivors of Sexual Violence Network, Kenya, where she coordinates the network's activities in Nairobi County.

Florence, the safe sister, is a “walking safe space” for survivors and vulnerable girls and young women in informal settlements in Nairobi. She advocates for holistic service delivery towards people going through any form of sexual abuse, and currently, together with other members of the Survivors of Sexual Violence Network, are lobbying for the National and county annual government budgets to allocate funds towards managing the referral path for survivors of sexual violence.