🇰🇪 Republic of Kenya
Visiting: High Risk
Kenya is a high-risk destination. Same-sex relationships are criminalised, which places it 122nd for LGBT rights, so LGBT travellers should weigh this carefully. Its best measures are only mid-range: violent crime is moderate, ranking 109th, and freedom is only partly protected, at 111th. Its weakest measure is the roads, which are among the deadliest anywhere, placed 171st.
Homicide
Intentional homicides per 100,000 people — lower is better.
Kenya: 4.7
Ranked 72nd in the world for the highest homicide rate.
Why this rank?
Nearly five killings per 100,000 people a year is just under the world average. It is above the three that ends the low tier, so it sits in the middle.
Is it safe to visit?
Reasonable. Kenya's 2024 count is 2,624 killings — just below the world average.
Road Fatalities
Road-traffic deaths per 100,000 people per year — lower is better.
Kenya: 28.2
Ranked 10th in the world for the deadliest roads.
Why this rank?
Twenty-eight deaths per 100,000 people a year is nearly double the world average of fifteen.
Is it safe to visit?
Not safe. The rate is nearly twice the world average.
Conflict
Conflict deaths inside the country in the last twelve months, as recorded by the Uppsala conflict database, civilians killed on purpose, and any UN sanctions or court order over a war. The worst of those sets the colour. Lower is better.
Kenya: 2.85
Ranked 38th most conflict-affected country in the world.
Why this rank?
60 people died in fighting inside Kenya in the year to July 2026, 19 of them civilians killed on purpose.
Is it safe to visit?
Not safe along the Somali border, in Mandera and the coast's hinterland. Nairobi and the safari circuit are far from it.
Freedom
Six freedoms rated 0–4 by Freedom House — protest, speech, press, religion, movement and due process. The weakest rating sets the colour, and the total places the country inside it — higher is better.
Kenya: 5.62
Ranked 70th least free country in the world.
Why this rank?
In Kenya the lowest are protest and due process at 1. Total 10 of 24.
Is it safe to visit?
Regular competitive elections and a vibrant press, but security forces are brutal and corruption is pervasive. Protest is the risk, so stay clear of demonstrations, and due process is a low rating.
LGBT Rights
LGBT equality in law and daily life — higher is better.
Kenya: Illegal
Ranked 59th least equal in the world for LGBT people.
Why this rank?
Same-sex acts carry up to fourteen years in prison. The High Court upheld the law in 2019, though the Supreme Court affirmed LGBT groups' right to register in 2023. Any criminal law is red.
Is it safe to visit?
Not safe to be open. Nairobi has one of East Africa's most resilient communities despite the law, and periodic waves of political scapegoating.
Women's Safety
Women's safety — feeling safe out at night, political violence against women, a fair hearing in court, and how normal violence at home is, with the night figure setting a floor on the colour — higher is better.
Kenya: 5.36
Ranked 21st least safe country in the world for women.
Why this rank?
Only four in ten women feel safe out alone at night. Attacks on women were recorded in 2024, partner violence is 23 percent, and half of women think wife-beating can be justified.
Is it safe to visit?
Kenya is a high-risk destination for a woman travelling alone.