ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview of formal and informal protection practices for human rights defenders at risk in Kenya. It emphasises the significance of informal protection practices – support and assistance provided to defenders at risk by family members, friends, neighbours, community members and other individuals in their personal capacities. These forms of protection include shelter, accompaniment, financial support, relocation, warnings of possible attacks and engagement with potential perpetrators to get them to desist in their actions. Secondly, this chapter focuses on socio-geographies of protection. The layout of neighbourhoods, difficult to navigate for outsiders, creates a sense of anonymity that human rights defenders draw upon for their protection. It argues that it is crucial for formal protection practices to become more decentralised, less bureaucratic and more accessible. It notes the importance of examining how formal and informal protection practices intersect and impact on the security of defenders at risk.
