Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Act has cost country $1.6 billion
This week, we start in Uganda, where the country’s strict anti-LGBTQ laws are causing economic losses. Next, we travel to Nigeria, where a trans-woman was bullied for attending a women-only event. Finally, we stop in Malaysia, where parliament voted to change sexist citizenship laws.
But first, in the Central African Republic, many women and girls are suffering from sexual abuse and exploitation at the hands of UN peacekeepers. These peacekeepers, part of the MINUSCA mission (United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission), were sent to CAR in 2014 to help stabilize the country after political unrest and conflict broke out following a civil war when the rebel group Séléka overthrew the government.
However, the peacekeepers’ commendable efforts in saving lives have been tainted by several cases of sexual abuse. Since 2015, more than 730 peacekeepers have been accused of sexual exploitation and abuse. Yet, despite these alarming numbers, the issue remains largely unresolved.
A recent investigation by The New Humanitarian revealed that many survivors are too afraid to come forward due to fear of retaliation, including threats of death. Many also don’t trust the system and are unsure how to file a complaint. Tragically, some victims have been forced to leave their homes out of fear and shame, while others have contracted diseases or become pregnant by their abusers, adding to their issues.
Many local NGOs have lost faith in MINUSCA’s ability to give justice to the victims. Although they have reported several sexual abuse cases, the response from MINUSCA has been slow and ineffective. Worse still, survivors are not getting the medical, psychological, and legal support they desperately need, as the NGOs are severely underfunded and overstretched.
While the UN claims to be taking steps to improve investigations and responses, its actions so far have fallen short. It’s sad that the system seems to protect the soldiers more than the victims.
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In April, Liber, a trans woman from Nigeria, attended a women-only event in Lagos. Online, her attendance was met with harassment and abuse, something Liber notes isn’t new to her. “I never let my guard down, not even in my room,” she says.
At Hertitude, an all-female event organized for women by women, Liber, a 21-year-old trans student, contested a beauty pageant and was met with violent transphobia online when pictures from the event were posted on Twitter (now known as X).
When asked about what that was like, she said of her trolls, “I remember going through the comments confused and wondering who they were saying all those things about.” Reflecting on the incident, she continued, “Like, you don’t even know me. You saw me walk on stage, and you’re projecting all sorts of things.”
One Ethiopia, One Culture, One Religion: The Isolation of Queer Tigrayans
During the Tigray war, queer Tigrayans like me had to isolate ourselves from the state and our community, as violent nationalism and support of the state’s subjugation were justified by the same people who faced oppression from the state.
“So did you dump the strap-on?” I asked a friend over text.
I had expressed my worries after police started searching the homes of Tigrayans in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital. As a queer woman, I had begun de-dyking my space, which included getting rid of rainbow-colored paraphernalia, letters, my journal, books and films with queer themes, and anything else that was remotely queer-related.
I had shared with her how difficult it was to get my hands on a strap-on; thus, I couldn’t find the strength to part with the one I had.
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“I’m an alpha male, you can’t speak to me like this. I need to be treated like a king.”
Njeri wa Migwi recounts a story one of her clients had told her, describing to CNN how a once-caring husband suddenly began demeaning his wife and putting her down; saying things he never used to say.
As the co-founder and executive director of Usikimye, a non-profit in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi that works with women – and some men – who are experiencing sexual and gender-based violence at home, Migwi said that the woman “couldn’t put her finger on what was changing” in her relationship with her husband at first, but soon thought she figured it out.