Title: Street Safe Space Culture: A Project on creating Gender-responsive Safe Spaces to Improve Mental Health among Street-connected Children and Youth in Mombasa County, Kenya.

Abstract

Street-connected children and youths (SCCYs) in Mombasa County, Kenya, experience a high level of social exclusion, stigma, and limited access to essential services, including mental health care, protection from violence, access to justice, and sexual reproductive health. The current interventions in Kenya have largely focused on rescue, rehabilitation, and removal from the streets, however, while these interventions are important, they fail to address deeper structural, psychosocial, and gendered realities shaping SCCYs’ lives. As a result, SCCYs remain trapped in cycles of trauma, marginalization, and sometimes unsuccessful reintegration.

SCCYs navigate everyday violence, substance use, poverty, unstable social support systems, and their experiences are also deeply gendered. Boys face the pressure from the streets to conform to harmful masculinities that normalize violence and emotional suppression, whereas girls are disproportionately exposed to sexual exploitation, gender based violence (GBV), and restricted agency. However, it is important to admit that it is not as black and white, as the street environments deeply affect their expressions of gender. Despite these realities, current interventions remain largely gender-neutral and not trauma-informed enough, leaving critical gaps in addressing mental health, gender norms, and social belonging.

The Street Safe Space Culture project responds to these gaps by introducing a participatory, gender-responsive, and trauma-informed safe space model for street connected adolescents aged 14-17. The project will establish a youth-centred safe space co designed with SCCYs, where they can access psychosocial support, build trust, and strengthen their agency. This co-design concept is important for learning and collective engagement. The safe space will host weekly group sessions focused on mental health literacy, coping strategies, sexual reproductive health and GBV awareness, and enable critical reflections on harmful gender norms.

This project aims to increase engagement of and a sense of belonging among SCCYs, improve their coping mechanisms in mental health, strengthen their agency and confidence in reporting violence, and enhance their understanding of gender norms leading to reduced inequitable behaviors. By positioning SCCYs as active agents in shaping their own well-being, the project prioritizes rights-based and sustainable approaches. It contributes to improved psychosocial well-being, enhanced social inclusion, and inclusive protection systems, while generating evidence to inform more effective, gender-responsive SCCY interventions in Kenya.