On a sunny Friday morning in Mexico City, Mexico Kenya Cuevas reports crimes that happened to the offices of Mexico's National Electoral Institute (INE). Lines outside the office were long but Kenya is pretty confident that the authorities will attend to her problems immediately.

As Kenya is a household name she boasts a range titles such as, HIV prevention educator, transgender rights advocate and founder of the nongovernment organisation Casa de las Munecas Tiresias. She said that she formerly worked as a sex worker and now she works full time in the office of the Secretary of Public Education where she trains the institutions' teachers in continuing the education programs.

Her line of work makes her well known in the National Electoral Institute (INE) where she regularly attends to the transgender people who are looking forward in changing their gender on official documents.

In December 2019, Kenya inaugurated the shelter on the eastern periphery of Mexico City that was named Casa Hogar Paola Buenrostro. The shelter was named after her best friend Paola Buenrostro who was also a transgender and a sex worker that was murdered in the year 2016. Paola's death woke up activism in Kenya. 

MEMOIRS

As Kenya walked with triumph she had a commanding presence and also a packed schedule she walked up straight to one of the city's main thoroughfares Avenida de los Insurgentes explaining the details of her work. As she spots a younger trans woman, they greet Kenya and she adds the woman's number to her phone and says that if the woman needs anything she will not hesitate to contact Kenya. 

At the early age of 9, Kenya already worked in the sex industry. She was the youngest of six in their family and she was raised by their grandmother. Growing up was hard as she was bullied by her brothers for being different and feminine, but her sisters and grandmother defended Kenya.

As her grandmother died she was left with her brothers and she was no longer protected by anyone, then she decided to leave home and headed out into the real world. 

PAOLA'S DEATH

It was a usual night for Kenya and Paola on the night of September 30, 2016. Kenya said that her best friend felt under the weather and they just felt like drinking to remove the bad feeling. Later that night a man who had a gray Nissan sedan drove up to them. He looked like he was drunk and he had his pants down, having only eight dollars with him.

Paola went with the man in the car and after the car moved for about 15 meters, Kenya heard 3 gunshots while Paola screamed for Kenya. As Kenya fast approached the car, the man tried to shoot her too, but luckily he missed.

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After the incident happened and as the ambulance arrived Kenya, together with other sex workers went to the police station but the police refused to give information because they were not blood related to Paola.

Paola died at the age of 24 with no evidence of the killer. Kenya was expected to be a witness to what happened but the investigator did not allow it because according to the investigator Kenya's presence will spoil the proceedings. 

According to the Human Rights Commission's report the authorities were unable to locate Paola's family due to the fact that Paola's name was uncertain. 

KENYA FIGHTS FOR JUSTICE

Because of what happened to her best friend, Kenya had awoken her activism. Aside from Paola's death Kenya is also fighting for the deaths of two trans women. They were identified to be Itzayana Lopez Hernandez,and Pamela Sandoval Ramirez, who was found dead on September 22, 2019 and January 28, 2019. 

Mexico City was known to be a progressive country when it comes to respect with LGBTQ rights. Kenya extends her advocacy to the rest of the country. But, Mexico is also known with one of the highest rates of trans femicides in the world. 

As of now Kenya is working with the Mexico City's Human Rights Commission to add trans homicides cases and to be recognized in the penal code. The shelter named after Paola didn't have much of things and furniture but Kenya has big plans for it.