Violence and Discrimination against Black Lesbians and Transgender Men in South Africa
This 93-page report is based on more than 120 interviews conducted in six provinces. Human Rights Watch found that lesbians and transgender men face extensive discrimination and violence in their daily lives, both from private individuals and government officials. The abusers of people known or assumed to be lesbian, bisexual, or transgender act with near-total impunity, Human Rights Watch found.
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In 1996, two years after the formal end of apartheid, South Africa’s new constitution became the first in the world to include provisions of non-discrimination based on sexual orientation. This protection was enshrined in the “equality clause” of the Bill of Rights.
At the time, demands of equality and non-discrimination by lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) and sexual rights activists resonated with the political claims of other constituencies and groups. As one South African scholar noted, “The discourse of diversity, the celebration of difference and, especially, the right to freedom of sexual orientationwere defended as part of the challenge of building a diverse, pluralistic society.”
The constitution also mandated the creation of six state institutions to support constitutional democracy, including the Commission for Gender Equality and the South African Human Rights Commission. During the next decade, South African LGBT communities won major legal battles, including overturning “sodomy” laws, gaining rights in adoption, medical aid, child custody, insurance, immigration, alteration in sex description and sex status, inheritance, and state recognition of same-sex marriage.
While these are significant advances, lesbians, gay men, and transgender people in South Africa continue to face hostility and violence. Social attitudes lag: recent social surveys demonstrate a wide gap between the ideals of the constitution and public attitudes toward such individuals. Negative public attitudes towards homosexuality go hand in hand with a broader pattern of discrimination, violence, hatred, and extreme prejudice against people known or assumed to be lesbian, gay, and transgender, or those who violate gender and sexual norms in appearance or conduct (such as women playing soccer, dressing in a masculine manner, and refusing to date men). And constitutional protections are greatly weakened by the state’s failure to adequately enforce them.
This report documents discrimination and abuse against black lesbians, transgender men, and individuals who, while born female, do not conform to feminine gender norms and expectations. These individuals and groups experience discrimination, harassment, and violence at the hands of private individuals and sometimes state agents. They may be thrown out of home; ridiculed and abused at school; harassed, insulted, and beaten on the streets, in church, and at work; and threatened by neighbors and strangers. The abuse they face may be verbal, physical, or sexual, and may even result in murder. This is a far cry from the promise of equality and non-discrimination on the basis of “sexual orientation” contained in the constitution.
The economic and social position of lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender people in South Africa has a significant impact on their experience. Those who are able to afford a middle- class lifestyle may not experience the same degree of prejudice and discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. But for those who are socially and economically vulnerable, the picture is often grim. Lack of access to such things as secure housing and transport options greatly increases people’s vulnerability to violence. Most of the respondents in this report are working-class lesbians, transgender men, and gender non-conforming people, many of whom have experienced abuse, threats, violence, and discrimination throughout their lives, and have few resources for mitigating their vulnerability.
Many of the 121 people we interviewed for this report told us that rigid social and cultural norms for appropriate feminine and masculine behavior resulted in them living a life of fear and self-policing, sometimes impeding their ability to finish school or get and keep a job, and exposing them to rejection and ridicule in public spaces and at home. Most crimes committed against them go unreported. As is the case with sexual abuse in the broader population, the fear and stigma attached to sexual assault makes it probable that such crimes are particularly underreported. The few who do report abuse and violence often face hostility, and discrimination from police and, sometimes, from other service providers.
This report focuses on economically marginalized black communities because reports of violence documented by LGBT rights organizations over the last two decades suggest that, for historical reasons, black lesbians and transgender men living in townships, peri-urban and rural areas, and informal settlements are among the most marginalized and vulnerable members of South Africa’s LGBT population. The fact that this report focuses on the experiences of black lesbians, bisexual women, and transgender men is not intended to suggest that discrimination, abuse, and violence based on sexual orientation and/or gender expression is separable from, or “worse” than, violence faced by other disenfranchised groups, such as sex workers, immigrants, disabled people, people living with HIV, and women as a whole. Rather, it aims to understand abuse and gender-based violence in a broader context of discrimination and disadvantage.
Much of the recent media coverage of violence against lesbians and transgender men has been characterized by a focus on “corrective rape,” a phenomenon in which men rape people they presume or know to be lesbians in order to “convert” them to heterosexuality. While the focus on “corrective rape” draws attention to an important aspect of the problem, it also detracts from the larger set of issues fueling violence and discrimination against lesbians and transgender men. A narrow focus on “corrective rape” can give the mistaken impression that only “butch lesbians” are subject to sexual assault, or that rape is the only issue of concern, or that sexual assault faced by a lesbian is qualitatively different from and more serious than sexual assault against a person who is not identified as a lesbian. Local and international campaigns have condemned the practice and state responses have also focused on so-called “corrective rape.” Based on research conducted in six provinces, this report broadens the scope of the problem by looking more holistically at the range and impact of violence, discrimination, and governmental neglect of lesbians and transgender men.
The report begins by placing the prejudice and violence faced by lesbians and transgender men in context, looking both at South Africa’s high rates of violence, including sexual violence, and the curtailment of women’s sexual and social agency in South Africa.
Next, the report documents verbal, physical, and sexual threats, abuse, and violence faced by lesbians, transgender men, and gender non-conforming people. As the testimonies here show, such violence is often perpetrated by men who are complete strangers keen to establish what they view to be the transgressor’s “proper” femininity, but it is also perpetrated by acquaintances, friends, and family. The report documents the climate of fear and impunity within which lesbians and transgender men attempt to negotiate their safety, sometimes even when performing routine tasks such as buying bread at the corner shop. It also highlights some of the strategies they employ to avoid being attacked.
The following section examines police inaction and unwillingness to provide services to lesbians and transgender men and how this contributes to their vulnerability. The section also looks at the lack of faith among lesbians and transgender men in the police, from whom many fear secondary victimization rather than protection. Such concerns are not without justification; in several instances, police themselves have perpetrated abuse and violence.
Legislative measures prohibit discrimination in workplaces and schools but, as this report shows, such laws are still implemented inconsistently.
Finally, the report looks at South Africa’s legal obligations in domestic, regional, and international forums and makes concrete recommendations to various stakeholders, including several departments of the South African government.
South Africa already has in place many laws and policies to address sexual violence and discrimination; what is sorely lacking is effective implementation of those provisions. It is incumbent upon the South African government to take immediate steps to honor its promise of equality, non-discrimination, and a life of dignity for lesbians, gay men, and bisexual and transgender people; failing to do so betrays the constitution, imperiling the rights of all South Africans.
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