Coming together. Experiences and lessons from an LGBTQI project in three countries

ABSTRACT

This article reflects on experiences and lessons from an LGBTQI project implemented by Oxfam and its partners in South Africa, Zimbabwe, and a third country in Asia where LGBTQI work is strongly criminalised. It argues that protecting and promoting the rights of LGBTQI persons, so that they can live a decent life without violence, needs a systemic shift in social norms and attitudes, even in contexts where laws and policies promise equality. Development policymakers and practitioners can usefully channel funding and other forms of support to LGBTQI leaders, groups, and movements who are best placed to lead the social change needed. The article shares a wide range of strategies used by the project and calls for development organisations and funding agencies to work with LGBTQI organisations in solidarity and sustain their vital activism, long term. It focuses in particular on the key strategies of supporting the development of safe spaces, both in ‘real life’ and online. These spaces are extremely important for psychosocial well-being, challenging social norms, fostering collective consciousness, and collective action. The article also focuses on advocacy to place LGBTQI issues in the spotlight, internationally as well as nationally.

Cet article se penche sur les expériences et les enseignements provenant d’un projet LGBTQI mis en œuvre par Oxfam et ses partenaires en Afrique du Sud, au Zimbabwe et dans un troisième pays en Asie où le travail relatif aux personnes LGBTQI est fortement criminalisé. Il soutient que, pour protéger et promouvoir les droits des personnes LGBTQI afin qu’elles puissent mener une vie décente et sans violence, il faut une évolution systémique des normes et attitudes sociétales, même dans les contextes où les lois et les politiques générales promettent l’égalité. Les décideurs et les praticiens du secteur du développement peuvent avantageusement canaliser les financements et d’autres formes de soutien vers les leaders, les groupes et les mouvements LGBTQI qui sont les mieux placés pour prendre la tête des changements sociaux requis. Cet article présente une large variété de stratégies utilisées par le projet et exhorte les organisations de développement et les agences de financement à travailler avec les organisations LGBTQI dans un esprit de solidarité et à soutenir leur activisme vital, ce à long terme. Il se concentre en particulier sur les stratégies clés consistant à développer des espaces sûrs, tant dans la « vie réelle » qu’en ligne. Ces espaces sont extrêmement importants pour le bien-être psychosocial, la mise en question des normes sociales, la promotion de la conscience collective et l’action collective. Cet article se concentre par ailleurs sur le plaidoyer pour braquer le projecteur sur les questions LGBTQI, à l’échelle tant internationale que nationale.

El presente artículo examina las experiencias y los aprendizajes obtenidos durante la realización de un proyecto —en apoyo a la comunidad lgbtqi— implementado por Oxfam y sus contrapartes en Sudáfrica, Zimbabue y un tercer país de Asia, donde el trabajo en pro de las personas lgbtqi ha sido fuertemente criminalizado. En este sentido, sostiene que la protección y la promoción de los derechos de las personas lgbtqi, a fin de que puedan disfrutar de una vida plena sin violencia, requieren la transformación sistémica de las normas y actitudes sociales, aun en contextos en que las leyes y las políticas prometen promover la igualdad. Los formuladores de políticas de desarrollo y los operadores pueden canalizar fondos y otros tipos de apoyos hacia aquellos líderes, grupos y movimientos lgbtqi mejor situados para encabezar los cambios sociales pretendidos. El artículo da cuenta de la amplia gama de estrategias impulsadas por el proyecto y hace un llamado a las organizaciones de desarrollo y las agencias de financiamiento para trabajar solidariamente con organizaciones lgbtqi, de modo que su importante activismo se sostenga en el largo plazo. Asimismo, el artículo se centra sobre todo en las principales estrategias implementadas para apoyar la creación de espacios seguros, tanto en la “vida real” como en internet. Dichos espacios son extremadamente importantes para lograr el bienestar psicosocial, cuestionar las normas sociales, fomentar la conciencia colectiva y motivar la acción colectiva. Además, hace hincapié en la incidencia orientada a arrojar luz sobre los temas lgbtqi a nivel nacional e internacional.

KEYWORDS:

• Safe space
• social norms
• advocacy
• visibility
• security
• wellbeing

Notes on contributor

Nicolette Matthijsen is Project Manager Gender Justice for Oxfam Novib. Postal address: PO Box 30919 2500 GX, The Hague, the Netherlands. Email: [email protected]

Notes

1 For security reasons, the ‘third country’ and partners’ names are not specified in this article.

2 Three Oxfam affiliates (Oxfam Novib, Oxfam Canada, and Oxfam Australia) developed and started the project in 2014. The implementation of the project was handed over from Oxfam Australia to Oxfam South Africa in 2016.

3 A Theory of Change is essentially a comprehensive description and illustration of how and why a desired change is expected to happen in a particular context. It is focused on mapping out what a programme or change initiative does (its activities or interventions) and how these lead to the desired goals being achieved. It does this by first identifying the desired long-term goals and then works back from these to identify all the conditions (outcomes) that must be in place (and how these related to one another causally) for the goals to occur. See www.theoryofchange.org/what-is-theory-of-change/ (last checked 8 January 2018).

4 Sexual Rights Centre (SRC) was established in 2007 and legally registered in 2010. It is operating in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. SRC is a non-profit, human rights-based advocacy organisation which aims to influence the improvement of the sexual rights status of sex workers and sexual and gender diverse (LGBT) persons in Zimbabwe. SRC aims to bridge the gaps in provision of hassle-free health care, psychosocial and legal services to key populations, sensitises duty bearers, and works on law enforcement. See https://www.oxfam.ca/partner-profile-sexual-rights-centre-src (last checked 26 February 2018). Voice of the Voiceless (VOVO) is a feminist collective, based in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. VOVO was formally registered as an NGO in 2016. VOVO is working to integrate intersectionality in its work with lesbian women, bisexual women, and trans-women (LBT). See www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYSmQWg0cC8 (last checked 8 January 2018).

5 Triangle Project (TP), active for 35 years, is the oldest LGBTIQ organisation in South Africa. TP offers professional services to ensure the full realisation of constitutional and human rights for LGBTQI persons, and their partners and families. The main areas of operation are: Health and Support Services (Helpline, Medical Clinic, Counselling, Support Groups); Community Engagement and Empowerment (Safe Spaces, Mentoring, Education, Training, Community Advocacy); Research, Advocacy, and Policy (Hate Crimes work). The majority of its work is centred in the urban and rural areas of the Western Cape Province. See https://triangle.org.za/ (last checked 8 January 2018). The Inner Circle (TIC), now operating as the Al-Fitrah Foundation, started as a social group in 1996. Reconciling sexual orientation and gender identity of Muslim queer people with Islam has been the core of its work. It provides services (marriage and same-sex unions, counselling, support fund, Psycho Spiritual Programmes, Safe Spaces, and Imamate courses) and seeks to build a movement towards an all-inclusive and compassion-centred Islam. The organisation and reach has expanded over the years, especially internationally, with the development of the Global Queer Muslim Network (GQMN). See http://theinnercircle.org.za/ (last checked 8 January 2018).

6 It is important to emphasise the fact that the law evolves in each country over centuries, resulting in anomalies and challenges in interpretation and use. In some countries, it is anal sex – ‘sodomy’ – that is illegal, rather than homosexuality. An example is Zimbabwe. In such a context, being lesbian is not a criminal offence, but this is not because lesbianism is recognised or accepted. Rather it is because patriarchal values equate sex with penile penetration, so sexual acts between women are not recognised as sex. However, while homosexuality is not actually illegal, and lesbians are invisible in a legal sense, in the present day lesbians encounter homophobic discrimination and violence (ILGA 2017, 106).

7 Migrants should be considered as just one category of ‘non-citizens’ with legal and/or non-legal status. Also in the case of non-citizens in general, there are layered vulnerabilities.

8 See http://theinnercircle.org.za/AIR/index.html (last checked 8 January 2018).

9 For more information, see http://www.mambaonline.com/2016/12/06/suspect-arrested-outrage-grows-noluvo-swelindawos-murder/ (last checked 15 November 2017).

10 The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is a mechanism of the Human Rights Council (HRC) aimed at improving the human rights situation on the ground of each of the 193 United Nations (UN) Member States. See www.upr-info.org/en/upr-process/what-is-it (last checked 8 January 2018). The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), adopted in 1979 by the UN General Assembly, is often described as an international bill of rights for women. See www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/ (last checked 8 January 2018).

11 Activists in South Africa have been working to get a comprehensive hate crimes law in the country since 2006; 2016 marked a year of ground-breaking national research on discrimination and hate crimes against LGBTQI persons. Research was done by a nation-wide multi-partner initiative called ‘The Love Not Hate Campaign’. TP is part of the Hate Crime Working Group and hosts its secretariat. See https://hcwg.org.za/ (last checked 8 January 2018).

12 At the moment of writing the article, the project is evaluated in Zimbabwe and South Africa. The report is not yet finalised but the conclusion is that the project accomplished its planned outcomes and outputs.