The Centre for Human Rights, Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria, hosted the 2025 edition of the annual Advanced Human Rights Short Course on Sexual and Gender Minority Rights in Africa.
Held from 17 - 21 February 2025, the course brought together a diverse group of participants, including LLM/MPhil students from the Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa (HRDA) and Sexual and Reproductive Rights in Africa (SRRA) master’s programmes, along with researchers, academics, judicial officers, government officials, representatives of National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs), and civil society members.
The course marked the first short course after the passing of Prof Charles Ngwena, a stalwart academic in the fields of disability rights and sexual reproductive rights in Africa. As a long-time contributor to the short course, his presence was deeply missed however a video based on his seminal work ‘What is Africanness?’ was shown. The course also took place a few days following the tragic killing of Imam Muhsin Hendrick, a giant in the LGBTIQ+ community in South Africa and long-time friend of the Centre.
This year’s course engaged participants in discussions on the rights, identities, and lived experiences of sexual and gender minorities in Africa, particularly in the context of growing global political resistance, transnational funding cuts, and challenges to protection laws.
The course opened with a welcome address by Prof Nkatha Murungi, who set the scene by highlighting the landscape of sexual and gender minority rights in Africa in context of the global political landscape. Prof Murungi underscored the rising challenges of discrimination, global anti-rights rhetoric, and the scapegoating of ‘gender diversity’ as a tool used by social conservatives to fuel moral panic about the fabric of society.
Whether you want it or you don’t, these are not issues we can afford to ignore. The unfortunate reality is that they also entail marginalisation and death for some. We can pretend that it does not impact us but, we all have a sexual orientation, we all have a gender identity. There is a lot to learn and a lot to unlearn this week… we all come from different backgrounds with deeply seated value systems, but we all need to engage in these conversations, because we need to respect everyone. This is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, that every individual is born equal in dignity and rights; the rest is details.
Prof Murungi continued to reiterate the privileged position that the Centre has in having access to knowledgeable experts that can provide answers and to present unbiased unemotional opinions to a society that has questions.
Throughout the week, expert presentation were made by leading scholars, activists, and legal practitioners working in African and international human rights contexts.
Additionally, the Centre hosted Dr Graeme Reid, the United Nations Independent Expert (IE) on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI). Dr Reid shared insights into his mandate and recent reports, highlighting the harms and threats faced by sexual and gender-diverse persons in various contexts, and the impact of repressive regimes on marginalised identities.
A highlight of the course was the screening of the play Born Naked, followed by a panel discussion on art and media and the lived realities of LGBTIQ+ persons with Kim Windvogel and the cast. The play, inspired by the real events such as the brutal murder of Thapelo Makutle in Kuruman in 2012, takes on a more chilling relevance in light of the assassination of Imam Muhsin Hendricks, the first openly gay imam in the world, in the Gqeberha in this past week.
The Centre for Human Rights extends its sincere gratitude to all presenters for their expertise, time, and contributions, as well as to the team that ensured the course’s success. The Centre also thanks SIDA for their financial support, alongside the network of partner organisations and individuals whose collective efforts made this course possible.
For more information, please contact
Tel: +27 (0) 12 420 3151
ch.vanderlinde@up.ac.za
