LGBTQ+ individuals, children with disabilities, people living with HIV, and survivors of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) must now navigate generalized, overcrowded health facilities with little privacy or tailored care. “Survivor-centered care is now a luxury…The same queue for malaria is now the queue for a rape survivor.” — SGBV care worker, Nakuru County, Kenya.
Date: 7/25
Region: Africa
Country: Kenya
Topic: Health
Policy Lens: Global Health Security
Additional Context: For sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) survivors, U.S. funding cuts have meant a decline in the quality of care received, longer wait times to receive care, and a lack of survivor-centered care. Specifically, the funding cuts have resulted in the merging of SGBV services with regular outpatient care as well as a reduction in staffing and shorter operational hours of Gender Violence Recovery Clinics.
One SGBV responder expressed these concerns:
“I have seen the GBV and HIV clinics integrated with other services. This has resulted in ineffective triaging. Patients also have no privacy. The services are now neither gender sensitive nor survivor centered.” — SGBV care worker, Nakuru County, Kenya.
When survivors visit the facilities in need of care and are instead met with obstacles, they eventually stop seeking follow-up care, which denies them their right to non-discriminatory care.
Another SGBV responder told PHR:
“Many are struggling and have actually opted out of follow up clinics because they feel they are no longer receiving the care they used to, they feel neglected and discriminated.” — Clinician, Kijabe Hospital, Kiambu County, Kenya
Between May and June 2025, Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) conducted a rapid qualitative assessment to understand how the U.S. cuts to global health funding have affected the availability, accessibility, acceptability, and quality of health care and services in Kenya. As part of this research, PHR engaged 30 respondents from 10 counties across Kenya through interviews, anonymous surveys, and WhatsApp communications to capture data to understand the impact of the global health funding cuts in Kenya. Respondents included clinicians, nurses, peer educators, survivor advocates, and community-based organizations/NGO staff.
This information was first published in a July 2025 research brief by Physicians for Human Rights called "The System is Folding in on Itself: The Impact of U.S. Global Health Funding Cuts in Kenya." Find the research brief here.
Source: Physicians for Human Rights (PHR)