On 24 August 2017 the Centre for Human Rights hosted yet another cohort of Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) Southern Africa scholars for an afternoon of discussions on violence against women and the rights of sexual and gender minorities.
During the discussion It is non of my business, a movie on community action on violence against women and girls was shown. The movie was followed by a question and discussion session led by Ms Patience Mungwari Mpani. The discussion touched on the inadequacies of the law in offering protection to survivors of violence. The impact of intimate partner violence on children and the importance of communities coming together to end violence against women. Participants also share personal experiences of growing up in homes where violence took place and the impact that this has on their life choices today.
In addition, Ms Ade Johnson introduced the group to the provision in the regional and international instruments that relate to violence against women and a discussion on how these can be used to address violence against women.
Mr Tapiwa Mamhare who is the SOGIE Unit’s expert on intersex rights, gave a presentation on the unique challenges faced by intersex persons. One of these challenges is non-consensual genital normalising surgery on intersex children, which creates problems of sex self-identity once these children have grown into adults.
Mr Geoffrey Ogwaro the Manager of the SOGIE Unit joined by Mr David Ikpo summarized the afternoon with a brief discussion on lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender rights and implored the scholars to think about sexual diversity and co-existence of persons with different sexual orientations and gender identities in the spirit of mutual respect and harmony.