EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: BUILDING EVIDENCE ON LBT+ EXCLUSION ACROSS 21 COUNTRIES
Between February and September 2019, the Out of the Margins network documented the profound exclusion facing lesbians, bi women and trans (LBT+) communities, in their own countries and contexts, using the lens of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This report describes the many ways in which LBT+ people are discriminated against (both actively and passively), and how their needs go refused, ignored and unmet in their own societies. It then extrapolates from this evidence to analyse challenges on a global scale.
The network built under this project spans 21 countries. It works across country contexts and consists of working groups organised based on the framework on the framework of the SDGs: economic well-being, health, education, personal security and violence, and civic and political participation. The research for the first phase of the Out of the Margins project was completed in the following regions and countries:
Sub-Saharan Africa (Botswana, Burundi, Lesotho, Mozambique, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe)
Latin America and the Caribbean (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Jamaica, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela)
Eastern and Southeast Europe, and Central Asia (Chechnya/Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Macedonia and Montenegro).
At the heart of this project and network is the desire to build evidence which can inform wideranging and meaningful change for LBT+ people across country contexts, and on a national and international scale. A key innovation of the project was to directly support the authentic involvement of marginalised LBT+ people in the research, and in action affecting them and their communities. Over 100 organisations submitted research proposals to be part of this project – of which most were meritorious. This proves how great a need there is for this type of research network.
Most importantly, the spirit of the programme was to bring intersectional, feminist and queer perspectives together to understand the issues faced by LBT+ communities, and by women and LGBT people more broadly. Overall, there were 2,728 research respondents in various projects, with the vast majority being from LBT+ communities.
Some of our findings are challenging to read – throughout the report there are descriptions of violence and abuse. However, we believe that the ethos of the project demands that the discrimination faced by LBT+ people is acknowledged. The voices of the research respondents in this report are testament to the need for the Out of the Margins network to continue apace, and to include all those with valid and vital research proposals that we were not able to honour in this first phase.
WHO IS THIS REPORT FOR?
Our findings will be of interest to a wide range of government and non-governmental policymakers, advocates, funders, researchers and campaigners seeking to understand the ways in which inequalities are experienced by LBT+ communities worldwide. We hope they will also be of interest to a wider audience of those working on LGBTI rights, gender equality and international development on the challenges facing lesbians, bi women and trans people in accessing their most basic rights to equality and non-discrimination in employment, healthcare, education, family life and communities, and in living lives free from violence.
KEY FINDINGS OF THE FIVE THEMATIC WORKING GROUPS
1. ACCESS TO ECONOMIC WELL-BEING
The research of the working group made a clear connection between discrimination against LBT+ communities and lack of access to decent work. The lack of access includes unemployment, as well as work that may be insecure, informal, unsafe, and/or poorly paid. Discrimination against LBT+ communities, and their exclusion from families and households, was connected by researchers with their exclusion from land, development programmes, and shelter. The studies also explore the sources of particular experiences of poverty among LBT+ communities, especially trans women.
The findings in this area of research are stark and show an urgent need for further research on LBT+ poverty and its links with hunger, food insecurity and nutrition, as well as lack of shelter. A range of studies affirmed links between social and economic exclusion and our other research themes, including low education completion rates, healthcare disparities, and lack of personal security.
2. ACCESS TO HEALTHCARE
The findings in this area show that there is a huge gap in the research needed to address the apparent failings of many actors to ensure access to adequate, accessible, and appropriate healthcare for LBT+ people. The research of the Health group explores barriers affecting the experiences and outcomes for LBT+ communities, particularly the relationships between exclusion ‘push factors’ and health disparities. A range of projects show that, due to stigma, discrimination, exclusion and – alarmingly – patient abuse and neglect in healthcare settings, LBT+ communities are less likely to access healthcare when they need it.
Various studies also reveal connections between social exclusion, discrimination and stigma with a lack of support for LBT+ communities, along with a range of poor mental health and well-being outcomes.
Research confirmed that LBQ women’s sexual and reproductive health needs remain glaringly understudied in a range of country contexts. Informed healthcare support and services for trans men was found to be particularly lacking in some cases. There were strong findings across the research of the Health group and the network around so-called ‘conversion therapy’, suggesting this is a much needed area for further investigation and advocacy.
3.ACCESS TO EDUCATION
The studies find striking levels of discrimination and violence against trans children and young people in schools. This was linked to the enforcement of binary gendered norms – for example that the idea that men ought to be masculine, and women ought to be feminine – which are harmful to people of all genders. This chapter and other evidence across the project show that these norms are often violently enforced (e.g. through bullying, shaming, and physical and sexual violence); and typically involve the stigmatisation of difference (e.g. classing trans people as ‘mentally disturbed’, ‘abnormal’ and/or ‘unnatural’).
Moreover, young people are especially vulnerable to norms, stereotypes and harmful views promoted by their families, communities, and societies. LBT+ young people are also particularly at risk of efforts to ‘correct’ their sexual orientations and gender identities. In research in schools and other areas, LGBT families experienced significant invisibility. This, and other findings, suggests that families (both LGBT children within families, and families with LGBT parents/guardians) could be a useful area for further study.
4. PERSONAL SECURITY AND VIOLENCE
Research across contexts affirmed high levels of violence against LBT+ communities. This violence is fuelled by a wide range of contributors across society, and committed by family members, partners, healthcare providers, faith leaders, and police. Violence and exclusion in family settings emerged as a strong theme across the network’s research, with the family often seen playing a strong role in enforcing ‘norms’, ‘correcting’ identity and expression, and being violent.
Violence had a so-called ‘corrective’ quality in a variety of cases, suggesting that violence which aims to ‘correct’, ‘treat’ and/or ‘cure’ LGBTI people is more widespread than has yet been acknowledged in mainstream research and practice. High rates of sexual violence were also apparent, especially against bi women and trans communities. Police violence was highlighted in various projects.
5. CIVIC AND POLITICAL PARTICIPATION
Research explored how institutionalised violence and stigma combine to fuel violence against intersex communities, and their invisibility. It affirmed the importance of intersex communitybuilding and inclusion. Restrictive legal systems, violence, and gender inequalities within social movements were shown to fuel low levels of civic and political participation overall for LBT+ communities, in a range of settings.
CONCLUSION
These initial findings show that there is an urgent need for further research in all of these areas. Most importantly, the research is needed at a community level. It must be actively led by community members who can engage with organisations to conduct research in their own communities, using methods appropriate to their contexts. The strength of the Out of the Margins network is that it provides resources for communities that are being left behind to define solutions for their own communities, inspired by a global network of others seeking to do the same. Read the full report