A PRE-COVID 19 TO POST-COVID 19 SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS
A publication of Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG)
Researchers
GEOFFREY OGWARO, Senior Research and Policy Officer-SMUG & REGINA TUSIIME, Research Assistant/Research and Policy Officer-SMUG
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
For the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer plus (LGBTIQ+) community in Uganda, safety and security have always been and continue to be one of the biggest concerns. This is because equality and non-discrimination are still not fully enjoyed by them. The social, political, economic and legal environment often works against them rather than for them. This situation often translates into several human rights violations, including violence, against the LGBTIQ+ community of individuals. This rapid situational analysis is one of the quick steps among many others that have been done and published before, to once again document through research, the situation as it pertains to the safety and security of this group of persons in order to use the data to secure to the extent possible, their freedom from violence or threats of violence, and discrimination.
This report looks at the safety and security situation of the LGBTIQ+ community in Uganda between 2019 and 2020, and nuancedly includes the period in 2020 when the novel COVID-19 disease started spreading across the globe (and eventually in Uganda), leading to stringent controls in the form of Presidential Health Guidelines to prevent its spread in the country. These guidelines were both positively and negatively perceived and implemented as is seen in the report. The therefore led to human rights violations against LGBTIQ persons because they were not thoroughly thought through as well as being made open to abuse by local authorities and the state security machinery.
The report examines the specific safety and security risks and incidences during the period in question, the source of these insecurities, the perpetrators of the violations, the remedy-seeking behaviour of victims and finally delivers a set of non-exhaustive recommendations.
The survey and focal group discussions that led to this report point us to some key findings that need to be continuously considered going forward on any social change, safety and security, legal or service projects and programmes developed for the benefit of the community of LGBTIQ+ individuals in Uganda: The research found that the social environment is the biggest factor bringing about the lack of safety and security for LGBTIQ+ persons. By the social environment, the research meant family and home of LGBTIQ+ persons, persons in the vicinity of the home of LGBTIQ+ persons, and friends or acquaintances as well as the mobile communities through which LGBTIQ+ persons travel or commute, including the transport community (public transport). The other factors after the social environment and in order of most impacting and least impacting on the safety and security of LGBTIQ+ persons include the legal framework in the country that still criminalises LGBTIQ+ sexual conduct and constitutionally disallows same-sex marriage, the economic environment, and the political environment. With the political environment for example, the research looks at the impact of public utterances by political leaders especially during electioneering period. The example is given of the President’s accusation of foreign powers and homosexuals supporting the opposition during the current election campaigns of 2020, a situation that could lead to vitriol against and insecurity for the LGBTIQ+ community and their activists and organisations.
The research also reveals some of the actual incidences of insecurity and lack of safety for the LGBTIQ+ community and among them were verbal vitriol, police harassment and arbitrary arrests and detentions, organisational office raids and destruction of property based on sexual orientation and sexual orientation. However, the research also reveals that the LGBTIQ+ community can also be a serious threat to itself. Some of the key issues that came up in the data collection stage were Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) and blackmail by either pretend LGBTIQ+ persons or real ones.
The period of COVID-19 also brought in some unique safety and security challenges for the LGBTIQ+ community. Key was the misinterpretation of the Presidential Guidelines by-law on the prevention of COVID-19. The Presidential Guidelines were unclear especially on what entailed a big gathering when it came to restricting public gatherings and therefore did not clarify the place of organisations that had beneficiaries housed in shelters such as the LGBTIQ+. The same guidelines did not specify how many people were allowed to reside or congregate in a home and yet, in the case of one LGBTIQ+ shelter, they were implemented in a way as to warrant the arbitrary arrest and detention of 20 LGBTIQ+ persons from the shelter administered by Children of the Sun Foundation (COSF).
The above are few of the issues that this report looked at. Finally, the report gives suggested solutions to mitigate some of the safety and security concerns raised, and among these are: further building the capacity of the LGBTIQ+ community and its activists on safety and security strategies; continue to equip the police and local council leaders on LGBTIQ+ issues so that they are aware of their Constitutional limits regarding the arbitrary arrests and detentions that they are prone to; continue to incrementally target bad laws through advocacy and dialogue with legal entities like the Uganda Law Reform Commission and the legislature to lead to decriminalisation of same-sex sexual conduct because these laws inform the homophobia that is within the society and within public institutions and; strive to change social perceptions of LGBTIQ+ persons through education that tackles myths, negative attitudes and discourages violence against other human beings based on their differences. Read more via SMUG