Inviolata Mbwavi
Kenyan HIV-activist (1972–2020)
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Inviolata Mbwavi (1972 – 29 July 2020[1]) was a Kenyan HIV activist.
Career
Mbwavi was the first Chief Executive of the National Empowerment Network of People Living with HIV in Kenya (NEPHAK).[1] She was the Kenyan co-ordinator for International Community of Women Living with HIV/AIDS.[2] She successfully led a project funded by the Global Fund working to support HIV positive people in Kenya.[3]
Mbwavi was a critic of HIV responses that failed to determine the gendered reasons behind why more women and girls lived with HIV than men and boys in Kenya.[1] She campaigned publicly against the coerced sterilisation of women in Kenya with HIV.[3] She was also a keen proponent of involving civil society and communities in tackling the HIV pandemic[2] and challenging stigma and violence towards people who have the virus including supporting legal action.[4][5][6] In 2006 she led a movement against a new Kenyan law that sought to 'criminalise' HIV.[7]