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Published: 04 June 2018

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Published: 04 June 2018

Ageing in the LGBT community: a positive outlook for older lesbian women in South Africa?

*Glossary of terms and abbreviations:
LGBT stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender; GFBT stands for Gay, Female Bisexual, and Transgender; ‘Closeted’ means secretive about one’s sexual orientation.

Author: Geoffrey Ogwaro1

The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (thereafter the Constitution), protects older lesbian women through its provision that prohibits discrimination based on an intersectional number of grounds for lesbian women: age, gender, sex, marital status, pregnancy, sexual orientation, disability, and conscience.2 I have chosen these eight grounds for discrimination because they may apply, at any one given time or different times, to the average situation of older lesbian women: Older lesbian women will be older, have a sexual orientation that is same gender-loving, identify as biological women, might not be married or might never have married, have never had children, have age-related disabilities, might be discriminated against for the fact they are women, and believe in lesbian equality/gender equality and strongly and publicly express these views therefore becoming victims or prisoners of conscience.

The Constitution also protects the inherent dignity of everyone and stipulates that that dignity must be respected and protected.3 This provision will definitely also apply to older lesbian women too.

South Africa has legislation that governs the wellbeing of older persons. The Older Persons Act 13 of 2006 defines ‘older persons’ as ‘in the case of a female is 60 years of age or older’. The age is higher for males and stands at 65 years of age.4  However, there is nothing in the Act that deals with diverse older persons which highlights the unique challenges that older lesbian women (or the wider LGBT community) might face in terms of ageing.5

The question that this article addresses is what is the situation of older lesbian women in South Africa. The article does not restrict itself to the age of 60 but accommodates the other ages below 60 but above 50 because there is very limited research on older lesbian women to begin with, and older lesbian women who are from the age of 60 going up. This could be for the reason that not many older lesbian women are visible because they came from an era when LGBT rights were not much emphasized and LGBT identities were on the down low for the most part. Additionally, there is very little research on older lesbian women- specific wellbeing in South Africa. Therefore the article alludes to general LGBT aggregated research that would highlight statistics of older LGBT persons in general. However, the situations faced by older GFBT persons can be generalized to older lesbian women as well.

Human rights violations against older lesbian women in South Africa – is their need to fill some gaps?
Having read through many media reports of the murder, rape and assault of younger lesbian women in the country, one would expect that many older lesbian women would be closeted in fear of being stigmatized and violated.  However, a research done in 2016 by the Love Not Hate (LNH) Campaign conducted by OUT LGBT Well-being, found that 55% of older LGBT persons sampled were open about their sexuality to those around them despite the danger of being stigmatized or violated; 51% of those LGBT persons from the age of 55 going up were reported to not have any fear of discrimination due to their sexual orientation or gender identity and; 88% of those LGBT from and above the age of 55 reported not having experienced any discrimination in the health care sector due to being gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender.6 However, the same research showed that 20% of those older LGBT persons from and above the age of 55 said they had experienced verbal insults directed at them because they were lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender; 9% had been threatened with physical violence; 7% had had personal property or possessions damaged or destroyed because of their sexual orientation or gender identity and; 4% had been sexually abused or raped because of their sexual orientation or gender identity in the previous 24 months.7 Although these statistics do not disaggregate the data according to sex or gender, the picture could be as grim for older lesbian women too.

Though a significantly higher percentage of those older LGBT individuals interviewed reported being free from any violations against them because of their sexual orientation or gender identity, a smaller but worth noting percentage reported violations as serious as sexual abuse and rape, which, though not exclusively, is a violation that affects disproportionately more women than men.

The problem is that no significantly larger and specific research exists on the human rights situation for older lesbian women in the country and until this gap is filled, not much can be said about older lesbian women. The recommendation would be to start disaggregating data and research to target older lesbian women in particular. The other alternative would be to centre research around lesbian women and girls and in that way aggregate them by age category.

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Published: 31 May 2018

Since its formal recognition as an academic department in the Faculty of Law, the Centre for Human Rights has been able to invest its efforts in both formal academic programmes, on the one hand, and research, advocacy and less formal human rights teaching and training, on the other. In 2008, the Centre continued with the Master’s in Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa, again preparing 30 of Africa’s most talented young lawyers to make a difference within the sphere of international human rights law in Africa. An innovation introduced in 2008 was the LLM Partner’s Conference, held just before graduation on 10 December. Academics from participating faculties and LLM students presented work-in-progress and summaries of their dissertations, respectively, at an event aimed at stimulating further reflection among partners about the content and methodology of themes covered in the Master’s programme. The Centre further continued to cultivate continuous and constructive discussions among registered doctoral students on topics in human rights in Africa.

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Published: 28 May 2018

The Research Units of the Centre for Human Rights contribute to the realisation of human rights in Africa and beyond.

Business & Human Rights Unit

The Business and Human Rights Unit is a multi- and trans-disciplinary research unit which focuses on the extractive industries law, trade and development law, as well as general international human rights law – and is relevant to the business environment.

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Children's Rights Unit

The Children’s Rights Unit is a pan-African platform established to carry out & support pan-African research in children’s rights, provide capacity strengthening training for government, intergovernmental and non-governmental institutions and organisations. 

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Democracy & Civic Engagement Unit

The Democracy and Civic Engagement Unit works with the Pan-African Parliament (PAP) – the chief legislative organ of the African Union. From its seat in South Africa, PAP provides a regional platform for Africans and their civil society organisations to have a greater impact on the decisions affecting the continent.

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Disability Rights Unit

The Disability Rights Unit works to find ways of addressing the rights of persons with disabilities on the African continent by conducting research on international disability rights standards and instruments, building capacity among governments, national human rights institutions, academia, civil society, and communities.

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Expression, Information & Digital Rights Unit

The Expression, Information, and Digital Rights Unit is aimed at supporting the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information in Africa of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights in the promotion and protection of Freedom of Expression and Access to information on the continent.

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Freedom from Violence Unit

The Freedom from Violence Unit was established in 2014 to research the incidence of unlawful killings across the African continent, working within the Centre for Human Rights and the Institute for International and Comparative Law in Africa. The Unit looks to explore the drivers of violence & the legal framework in which they operate.

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International Development Law Unit

The International Development Law Unit presents the LLM (International Trade and Investment Law in Africa) and its mission is to conduct and promote policy-oriented legal research on international development law topics.

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Litigation & Implementation Unit

The Litigation and Implementation Unit strategically uses the law through the instrumentality of judicial and quasi-judicial institutions to enforce human rights, prevent human rights violations and seek redress for human rights violations.

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SOGIESC Unit

Established in May 2016, the SOGIESC Unit’s mandate is to advocate for and work towards equality inclusion non-discrimination, non-violence, and non-heterosexism for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer, questioning, and asexual persons (LGBTIQ+ persons).

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Women's Rights Unit

The Women’s Rights Unit works towards the realisation of the rights of women and girls in Africa. The Unit aims to promote the implementation & popularisation of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human & Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa through research, training, and advocacy. 

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Migrants’ Rights Unit

The Migration Unit at the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria, engages in research and activities on migration. The migration Unit works through research, advocacy and training in contributing to the regional discussion on migrant rights. The Unit responds to the need for evidence-based work. The focus areas of the Migration Unit include the protection of migrants, refugees, internally displaced persons and stateless persons.

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Published: 14 May 2018

Dr Tresor Makunya

Postdoctoral Fellow and Publications Coordinator 

+27 (0) 12 420 3810
Tresor.Makunya@up.ac.za 

Areas of research: African Comparative Constitutionalism; International Human Rights Law in Africa; Democratisation in Africa; African Union Law & Public International Law

Media Publications

• 'The function of constitutional judges and judicial philosophy in Africa: Introduction to the special issue'
  AfricLaw 17 December 2021
  
  
• DRC’s Constitutional Court: Broken shield in overseeing the executive in emergencies?
  Originally published in ConstitutionalNet
  27 May 2020

• TM Makunya ‘Fostering a gendered approach to peacebuilding in the African Great Lakes Region: Perspectives from the Democratic Republic of Congo’ 13 October 2021 in Kujenga Amani  

• TM Makunya ‘DRC’s Constitutional Court: Broken shield in overseeing the executive in emergency?’ 27 May 2020 in ConstitutionNet

• TM Makunya ‘An agenda for constitutional reform in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)’ 5 February 2019 in ConstitutionNet  

• KB Kennedy & T Makunya ‘Bringing the African human rights system into classrooms: Somes lessons drawn from a lecture delivered at the Université Libre des Pays des Grands Lacs (DR Congo’ 4 February 2019) in AfricLaw

• EB Bope & T Makunya ‘Les conséquences juridiques de la déclaration de l’Union africaine sur les élections en République démocratique du Congo : Un simple avis ou une mesure contraignante ?’ 19 January 2019 in Club des Amis du Droit du Congo

• T Makunya ‘Voting in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) against all odds: An account of the 30 December 2018 elections in one of the polling centres’ 4 January 2019 in AfricLaw

Edited book

• TM Makunya L’État africain et la crise postcoloniale: Repenser 60 ans d’alternance institutionnelle et idéologique sans alternative économique (L’Harmattan, Paris 2021) (with JB Akilimali)

Book chapters

• TM Makunya ‘La compétence consultative de la Cour africaine des droits de l’homme et des peuples: entre restrictions organiques et limitations matérielles’ in EB Bope & M Mubiala (eds) La République démocratique du Congo et le système africain de protection des droits de l’homme (Editions CAD Kinshasa, 2021) (with SZ Bitagirwa)
  
  
• TM Makunya ‘Le rôle et l’apport des tribunaux dans la réalisation de la justice sociale en Afrique du Sud’ in JB Akilimali & TM Makunya (eds) L’État africain et la crise postcoloniale: Repenser 60 ans d’alternance institutionnelle et idéologique sans alternative économique (L’Harmattan, Paris 2021)
  
  
• TM Makunya ‘The application of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights in constitutional litigation in Benin’ in F Viljoen and others (eds) A life interrupted: Essays in honour of the lives and legacies of Christof Heyns (PULP, 2022, 468).
  
  
• TM Makunya ‘The struggle for constitutional identity in Francophone Africa’ in CM Fombad & N Steytler (eds) Constitutional identity and constitutionalism in Africa (OUP, 2022, forthcoming) (with CM Fombad)
  
  
• TM Makunya ‘Soldiers in civilian uniforms: The role of the military in supporting third-termism in Africa’ in R Adeola & M wa Mutua (eds) The Palgrave handbook of democracy, governance and justice in Africa (2022) (with K Appiagyei-Atua).

Journal articles

• ‘Overcoming challenges to the adjudication of election-related disputes at the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights: Perspectives from the Ngandu case’ (2022) 22(2) African Human Rights Law Journal 379-402
  
  
• ‘The nexus between constitutionalism, peace and security in the law and practice of the African Union’ (2022) 25 Recht in Afrika – Law in Africa – Droit en Afrique 53-83.
  
  
• TM Makunya ‘Selected development in human rights and democratisation during 2020 in Africa’ (2021) 5(2) Global Campus Human Rights Journal 185-216 (with Lornah, Ruddy and Davina).
  
  
• TM Makunya ‘A commentary on the African Commission’s General Comment on the Right to Freedom of Movement and Residence under Article 12(1) of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights’ (March 2021) 65(SA) Journal of African Law (with R Adeola and F Viljoen)
  
  
• TM Makunya ‘Constitutionalism, regional economic integration and the harmonisation of business law in Francophone Africa through the lenses of state sovereignty and statehood’ (2021) 1 Congolese Review of Social Sciences Research (with B Kahombo)
  
  
• TM Makunya ‘Decisions of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights in 2020: Trends and lessons’ (2021) 21(2) African Human Rights Law Journal 1230 - 1264

• T Makunya ‘Selected developments in human rights and democratisation during 2017: Sub-Saharan Africa’ (2018) 2 Global Campus Human Rights Journal  147-173 (with MG Nyarko).

• TM Makunya ‘State security, securitisation and human security in Africa: The tensions, contradictions and hopes for reconciliation (2017) 1(2) Global Campus Human Rights Journal 326-349 (with K Appiagyei-Atua, I Oyakhirome, EK Kabachwezi & S Buabeng-Baidoo).

Ongoing research projects

Edited book

• Commentary on the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (2023) (With A Rudman & C Musembi)

Journal articles

• ‘Beyond legal measures: A review of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s initial report under the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa’ (2023) Journal of African Law (approved for publication)

• ‘Advisory procedure: African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights’ (2023) MaxPlanck Encyclopedia of International Procedural Law (approved for publication)

Book chapters

• ‘Article 15: The right to food security’ in A Rudman, TM Makunya & CN Musembi (eds) Commentary on the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (2023), forthcoming (with M Bwanaisa)
  
  
• 'Article 11: Protection of women in armed conflicts' in A Rudman, TM Makunya & CN Musembi (eds) Commentary on the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (2023), forthcoming (with J Mumbala)
  
  
• ‘The impact of COVID-19 on human rights and democracy in the Democratic Republic of Congo’ in F Adegalu and Others Covid-19 and human rights in Africa (2023)
  
  
• ‘The implementation of the Maputo Protocol in the Democratic Republic of Congo: an account of theoretical promises and little practical impact’ in S Mutambasere (ed) The impact of the Maputo Protocol in selected African countries (2023) forthcoming (With E Katusele & O Bahoze)