Sunday 5 October at Tshing location, Ext 2 Community Hall, from 12pm-5pm.
Disebo Gift Owen Makau, a 24 year-old lesbian was found half naked and strangled on 18 September, 2014 in Ventersdorp. She had a wire around her neck with an open house pipe pushed down her throat.
In response to this heinous hate crime, Iranti-org, the Legal Resources Centre and Sonke Gender Justice will be hosting a Social Dialogue for members of civil society, representatives from local government, religious organisations, traditional leaders, the SAPS and the LGBTI community from Ventersdorp, Klerksdorp, Rustenburg, Mafikeng and Potchefstroom. This precedes the planned court date for this case, on Monday 6 October at the Ventersdorp Magistrates Court.
The purpose of this forum is to raise public awareness of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI) and have an open and frank discussion about issues of safety and security of the LGBTI community, discuss the norms and values of ‘family’, masculinities, gender norms and violence. It also seeks to promote visibility and transparency of the issues at hand, which in itself can be educational and promote diversity. Various invited organisations will present their work and how they can support the rights of the LGBTI community in Ventersdorp and other locations in the North West Province.
CONTACT
• Kokeletso Legoete of Iranti-org – legoetek@gmail.com
• Carien van der Linde of the Legal Resources Centre (LRC) – carien@lrc.org.za or (011) 838 6001
• Mzwakhe Khumalo of Sonke Gender Justice – mzwakhe@genderjustice.org.za or (011) 339 3589
MORE
www.enca.com/media/video/suspect-arrested-murder-ventersdorp-lesbian-woman
SUNDAY’S PROGRAMME
Community Social Dialogue on the protection of the LGBTI community in Ventersdorp:
12:00 Welcome
12:10 Video Screening (hate crime, human rights violations)
12:20 Words from the Makau family
12:35 Hate crimes documentations and reporting
12:50 LGBTI issues
13:05 Transgender and Intersex Africa
13:20 LGBTI issues identified by the Ventersdorp community
13:30 South African Police Services
13:50 National Task Team/ Rapid response team
14:15 Municipality social conditions on safety and security in Ventersdorp
14:45 Sonke Gender Justice
15:00 Legal Resources Centre
15:15 Parents Friends and families of the South African Queer
15:30 South African Council of Churches
15:45 Community Police Forum
16:00 Questions and Answers (Discussions)
About IRANTI-ORG
Iranti-Org is an African visual media organisation established in 2012. It works within a human rights framework to raise issues of sexual orientation and gender identities. To date, Iranti-org has documented hate crimes and human rights violations in the Northern Cape, Limpopo and Gauteng provinces. Iranti-org has also set up the African Queer Media Makers Network, which seeks to build the media making capacity of LGBTI activists in southern Africa.
About LRC
The Legal Resources Centre is the largest public interest law firm in South Africa. Since 1979, the LRC has worked to promote, protect and advance human rights and democracy in the country.
About SONKE GENDER JUSTICE
Sonke Gender Justice is a non-partisan, non-profit organisation, established in 2006. Today, Sonke has established a growing presence on the African continent and plays an active role internationally. Sonke works to create the change necessary for men, women, young people and children to enjoy equitable, healthy and happy relationships that contribute to the development of just and democratic societies. Sonke pursues this goal across Southern Africa by using a human rights framework to build the capacity of government, civil society organisations and citizens to achieve gender equality, prevent gender-based violence and reduce the spread of HIV and the impact of AIDS.
