Country Reports

2012, 39 pages

Over the past four years, the West and Central Africa sub-regions have seen a rapidly growing flame of controversy, political debates and media attention on questions related to the existence, identities and rights of sexual minority. Most notably, recent cases in Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, Senegal and Cameroon, have served as a catalyst for debates and increased visibility of the realities of this population. However, very little data exists on this community.

This research enriches the “library” of data on the realities of LGBTI in Africa, “library” that has started to be built across the continent. For instance, in researches conducted in countries such as Cameroon, Morocco, Nigeria and Senegal, it was highlighted how the question of homosexuality is increasingly becoming a problematic one. One the other hand, these researches also show how it is becoming more and more challenging for African politicians to declare without reservation that homosexuality is “un-African”, since the respondents of these research projects are African, living on the continent who have voluntarily taken part in the studies, despite the social and political context in their countries.

August 2013, 32 pages

Between Us: The complexities of Lesbian, Bisexual and
Queer Women’s Organizing in Francophone Sub-Saharan
Africa is a compass to all who are struggling to work
within the complex landscape of sub-Saharan African
LBQWSW (lesbian, bisexual, queer, women who have sex with women) organising. This is a groundbreaking initiative
that points us towards, and keeps our focus on, the
right kind of support to give struggling communities and
emerging LBQWSW organizers in sub-Saharan Africa.

Although this report is based on case studies of
LBQWSW-led organizing work conducted in two different
francophone African regions, Cameroun and Togo,
we hope that the findings will give all readers a good idea
of what is obtainable in sub-Saharan Africa because of
the similarities in our socio-cultural and policy environments,
especially as they relate to sexual diversity and
human rights.

June 2013, 110 pages

This report from Human Rights Watch results from research conducted between May 2012 and April 2013 by Human
Rights Watch and Wake Up and Step Forward Network (WASO), a Dar es Salaam-based
network of groups that represent men who have sex with men. It documents human rights
violations experienced by sex workers, people who use drugs, and lesbian, gay, bisexual,
transgender, and intersex people (LGBTI), including MSM. It also exposes the very
troubling situation of sexual exploitation of children in sex work. The report highlights two
main categories of human rights violations: those for which law enforcement officials bear
primary responsibility, and those within the health sector.

2013, 30 pages

A detailed discussion of the term corrective rape through an analysis of the narrative of one lesbian's experienced of being raped.

2013, 60 pages

Lesbians and gays face serious violations of their human rights in Iran. This report from The Iran Human Rights Documentation Center (IHRDC) gives a thorough background to the past and current situation for LGBT people in Iran. The report contains in-depth case stories collected through testimonies and other sources.