Gendering the extraverted state: the politics of the Kenyan sex workers’ movement

The Kenyan sex worker movement occupies a peculiar place in Kenyan politics – it is an important partner in different programmes and policies in the health sector, but individuals selling sex still disproportionately suffer from different forms of state and public violence and are often marginalised. This article argues that due to the gendered nature of the Kenyan state’s extraversion processes and the resulting dual accountability to national and foreign sovereigns, the Kenyan state’s approach to gender issues is inconsistent and thus produces a situation where social movements with a gender rights agenda can be both included and excluded from the national political scene. The article also explores how the sex worker movement builds on this duality of the Kenyan state when making its strategic choices about engagement with national policy bodies.