Living in fear over sexual orientation
Members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community are often ridiculed, shunned, assaulted – and even killed – because of sexual orientation and lifestyle. NADIA KHAN speaks to two transgender women about their daily challenges and the
MORE than 50% of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) South Africans fear they will experience discrimination because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.
A research initiative for the Love Not Hate campaign, through the organisation OUT LGBT Well-Being, which conducted the Hate Crimes against LGBT People in South Africa report, shows that 44% of those surveyed said they had experienced discrimination in their everyday life because of their LGBT status.
Of those who experienced discrimination, 7% had been punched, hit, kicked or beaten; 7% experienced violence from a family member; and 6% had been raped or sexually abused.
It was also revealed that 41% of those surveyed knew of someone who had been murdered because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.
OUT Hate Crime division manager and Love Not Hate campaign spokesperson Lerato Phalakatshela said that among the most troubling findings were discrimination levels in schools, which were extremely high.
“There were 56% of people, aged 24 or younger, who indicated they had experienced discrimination based on their LGBT status in school. Victims of discrimination and hate crimes also expressed deep reservations about reporting incidents to the authorities; as 88% said they had not reported these incidents to the police.
“The reasons for the lack of reporting included concerns that the police would not take victims seriously, would do nothing with the complaint, were homophobic themselves, or even worse, were the abuser themselves. We need effective prevention and responses to hate crimes. Sadly, it seems we are failing at both.”
Phalakatshela said there were a few societal programmes to address lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) prejudice and hate crimes, most notably in schools.
“When it comes to responses, the criminal justice system is slow to react and justice is not seen to be done. That explains low reporting rates as people don’t trust the system.
“We can identify from the findings that people do not report, and as civil society organisations we can only do so much to encourage people to report. However, we cannot guarantee them justice,” said Dawie Nel, director of OUT.
“We need to find alternative and effective mechanisms to improve on the criminal justice system through existing collaborations and structures.”
Gerbrandt van Heerden, an analyst for the Centre for Risk Analysis at the SA Institute of Race Relations (IRR), said nearly 800 000 South Africans identified as members of the LGBT community.
“This is most certainly an undercount as only half of black LGBT people are completely open about their sexuality, because of cultural and religious reasons; as well as the stigma attached to being identified as a member of the LGBT community, many choose not to come out.
“Although LGBT rights are entrenched in South Africa’s Constitution, the protection afforded to LGBT people is not always guaranteed. For instance, four out of 10 LGBT South Africans know of someone who has been murdered for being or suspected of being lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender.”
The director of the Gay and Lesbian Network, Anthony Waldhauden, said the impact of homophobia, which was fear, contempt and hatred or intolerance of homosexual people, had a negative effect on an individual’s psychosocial well-being.
“The discrimination happens when people make homophobic slurs, verbal and physical assault to someone who is homosexual or if they know someone’s sexual orientation.
“At times, LGBTI people are rejected by their families, schools and communities, which could lead to depression, poor self-esteem and people may think suicide thoughts as they feel isolated and neglected.”
Waldhauden said a lot of work still needed to be done to educate society, service providers, government officials, communities and families on LGBTI issues.
“We need society and families to have a better understanding to provide support to their LGBTI sons and daughters. Also, the LGBTI people need to be made aware of their rights to get support and services to create safe spaces for them. They need information on how to protect themselves and get psychosocial support.”