Making Visible: The Lived Realities of LBTQI+ across Nepal, Uganda and Zimbabwe

LGBTQI+ people are often stigmatised, discriminated against and subjected to violence and abuse based on their sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression. ‘Homosexual activity’ is illegal in over 70 countries. In 45 of these countries, the law applies to women as well as men.

Womankind celebrates diversity and difference and believes in addressing the multiple ways that women experience oppression and works with a range of women’s rights organisations representing particularly marginalised constituencies, such as lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex + (LBTQI+) people.

‘Making Visible: The Lived Realities of LBTQI+ across Nepal, Uganda and Zimbabwe’ aims to capture and collate some of the knowledge, learning and evidence around the focus and effectiveness of our work with partners who focus on LBTQI+ issues. It draws on evidence and learning from three distinct but related LBTQI+ focused projects: Pakasipiti, Zimbabwe: ‘Promoting human rights and fundamental freedoms for LBTQ women’; FARUG, Uganda: ‘Documenting the lived realities of LBQ women’; and Mitini Nepal, Nepal: ‘Enhancing the capacity to build advocacy groups for LBT persons’. The paper also documents how supporting more marginalised voices within national women’s movements can contribute to strengthening and sustaining women’s movements.

This learning paper is the third in a learning papers series produced by Womankind which shares insight, analysis and reflection from our portfolio of work and builds upon a body of learning to support women’s rights and movement strengthening.