STILL MORE TO DO Decriminalisation of same sex relations: A year on
Ayear ago the Court of Appeal upheld a decision decriminalising gay sex in Botswana, and Advocate Tshiamo Rantao looks back with pride at the groundbreaking success. His passion for human rights drove him to support LEGABIBO in their case, and it came naturally for him as he has been involved in cases of human rights before, which have shaped the path of this country.
Rantao believes that it is important to highlight the milestones that LEGABIBO has made in the decriminalisation of same sex relations, which were previously prohibited by law.
Rantao said they worked tirelessly to gather evidence. Limited resources and time constraints came as a challenge but they overcame them all to reach their goal.
“In this case I got to learn so much more about this community,” Rantao said, adding that it was heartwarming to experience how laws and policies affect people. He notes that understanding the challenges that the LGBTQI community faces strengthened his resolve to push for the decriminalisation of same sex relations. LEGABIBO Head of Policy and Legal Advocacy, Caine Youngman explained that the achievement of decriminalising same sex relations last year was a team effort. He says their victory was important because previously lives have been lost across the world, whereby members of the LGBTQI community were attacked just because they are different.
“For many years we as members of the LGBTQI community have experienced a lot of challenges.”
Youngman said the lack of a legal instrument to protect people opened the door for abuse as people were marginalised for being different with no place to seek recourse.
Youngman noted that prior to the decriminalisation of the law, there were a lot of people with mental health issues in the LGBTQI community because a lot of people were afraid of opening up and being true to themselves.
Community leader in the gay and bisexual community, Karabo Kesegofetse explained that there are still instances where the LGBTQI community is stigmatised by some service providers.
Furthermore, Kesegofetse said cases of extortion rose and continue to rise from the fact that there is a lot of stigma and members of the LGBTQI community sometimes do not want to be stigmatised by the communities they live in.
He also stressed that some cases of sexual abuse such as correctional rape go unreported because people fear the stigma that comes with being openly different.
“Internalised homophobia takes away the selfesteem and self-love of individuals,” Kesegofetse explained. However, Kesegofetse notes that some service providers have been open to learn how
to be more accommodative of the community. As a result, more safe spaces have been created since the decriminalisation of same sex relations last year.