The South African History Archive has prepared reports to raise awareness about the right to information within the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) sector in Africa.
The materials not only describe the laws, but contain specific practical suggestions on how requests can be used to gather useful information and defend rights in a hostile environment.
“Access to information can be used to inform evidence-based advocacy campaigns to bring about change for LGBTI people and to bridge the gap between theoretical legal positions and the everyday reality for LGBTI persons,” according to Tammy O’Connor, the author of the two documents. O’Connor is the Advocacy and Training Outreach Officer of SAHA’s Freedom of Information Programme.
One document, Accessing Information in the LGBTI Sector is a guide to using the Promotion of Access to Information Act to advance the position of LGBTI persons in South Africa.
The other, LGBTI and Access to Information in Africa, contains similar suggestions for using access laws in other African countries.
The reports suggest sample requests applicable to a variety of situations.
For example, where a government has made same-sex relationships illegal, “… you could ask your government for:
• research or policy documents that led to the making of the law;
• documents that relate to the decision-making process of government in introducing the law, such as minutes of meetings, memorandums or directives; and
• documents about the implementation of the law, such as policy documents of the police or national prosecutors about how they enforce the law and statistics on the number of people arrested, prosecuted and convicted under the law.”
The report explains, “Having this information would empower you to expose prejudices within government that led to the law and expose how the law is affecting the liberty of LGBTI people in your country. It may also expose any myths or false beliefs on which the law is based and allow you to focus your advocacy work on breaking down those myths. “
In the context of health care discrimination, requests could be used to ask a hospital for:
• policies or practices of the hospital about the treatment of intersex people or that are aimed at preventing discrimination;
• records of your interaction with the nurse; an
• how you could make a complaint.
Concerning assaults on transsexuals, activists could:
• request details of the number of assaults against transsexuals reported to the police. This would allow you to measure the extent of the problem within your community;
•requests details of prosecution rates in instances of assault against transsexuals and other assault cases.
• ask government what policies, plans or strategies it has to address the problem of assaults against transsexuals and how much money they are spending on it. If they have policies, plans or strategies you can assess whether those are appropriate and monitor their implementation. If they have no policies, plans or strategies then you know they are doing nothing to address the problem and you need to lobby for action.
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