Kenya
She/Her
2021 Cohort
Jovian is a social worker, Human rights defender and SRHR advocate. Jovian started Kisumu world of pleasure in 2018 where the major role was to advocate for women empowerment through sexual reproductive health education focusing on sex as a key point.
Kisumu Social Inclusion Network 
Jovian is a social worker, Human rights defender and SRHR advocate. Jovian started Kisumu World of Pleasure in 2018 – now registered as Kisumu Social Inclusion Network CBO - where the major role was to advocate for women empowerment through sexual reproductive health education focusing on sex as a key point. Kisumu created a safe space where women could get together, vent, talk about sex, talk about family and most importantly body politics. Kisumu World of Pleasure was able to be hosted by other organisation for wellness and well-being of women through which a partnership was created and now Jovian works with the LBQ in western Kenya as the Programs Director.
During the Pleasure Fellowship, Jovian was able to register her organization – Kisumu World of Pleasure – as a CBO under the name of Kisumu Social Inclusion Network (KSIN). It is through KSIN that she carried out different activities related to the empowerment of women and young girls. Some of these activities included a meeting with community health workers and mothers, developing support group activities along the Kisumu Cancer Center regarding challenges that cancer patients have with regards to their pleasure and tackle body negativity by self love. Jovian is still engaged with The Pleasure Project.
Currently, Jovian acts as founder and director of her organization, Kisumu Social Inclusion Network (KSIN), which is a registered CBO that offers a multi-thronged approach to issues affecting indigenous, marginalized women, youth and young mothers in Kogony, a Kisumu West sub county in Kenya. Through her role as director and through KSIN, she runs programs with like-minded partners outside of Kisumu County as they aim to ensure the fundamental rights of women – both young and old – are respected by being empowered to make decisions pertaining to their autonomy and integrity in their households and at a community level. Along her team, Jovian works to empower women with information, lobbying, linkages to ready job skills and advocacy tools through social convening and collective healing spaces. Thus, enabling them to become self-reliant, mentors and champions in order to mitigate drivers of unmet social, economical and SRHR needs, such as poor access to contraceptives, gender based violence, teenage pregnancies, and forced marriages. Jovian promotes a pleasure based approach in her work through KSIN and also works along men, who also play a big role as change makers and champions within the county of Kogony in Kisumu.
Highlights
Kenya
2018 Ongoing
Women and young girls have particularly low status, undermining efforts to improve reproductive health, face heavy workloads, are exposed to severe risks during pregnancy and delivery and are unable to control safe sexual practices with partners, increasing their vulnerability to HIV acquisition and unplanned pregnancies.
Because of this, Kisumu Social Inclusion Network has developed a series of activities with pleasure based approaches. A support group developed along with the Kisumu Cancer Community was developed where the notions and challenges of pleasure with regards to cancer patients was addressed. The project also involved the participation of KSIN In Teens Day, to have conversations on menstrual hygiene, early pregnancies and a lack of comprehensive information on SRHR. Additionally, the project included the first male baraza, where men were trained on SRHR and condom demonstration and use. Kisumu Social Inclusion Network continues their work on pleasure helping their communities.
"It was interesting and I got to learn more about how to actually be more comfortable with myself. Specially with regards with body integrity and taking charge of my body and how to be pleased and to receive pleasure".
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