This archive report was first published on 14 September 2019.
Identity-Based Violence Fuels Fear and Phobias ¶
Four recent incidents in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and South Africa highlight the dangers of identity-based and fear-centred profiling and phobias.
On September 14, 2019, a petition was introduced in the National Assembly of Kenya by nominated MP Jennifer Shamalla, which sought to compel the NGO Coordination Board to collect fiscal information on the National Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission and all organisations that fund gay groups in Kenya.
However, the call for financial transparency is not the issue; the problem lies in the fact that LGBTIQ Kenyans face three times more abuse and violence than heterosexual women and men.
Visiting Tanzania, Kenyan Resolution Health executives were confronted with Government's conservative dress-code restrictions, while in Uganda, the Parliamentary Speaker reminded MPs to avoid casual sex, specifically mentioning Jamaican men and women from the Pacific islands.
But it was the news from South Africa that dominated the international news, with migrants from Nigeria, Ethiopians, Congolese, and Zimbabwe being systematically targeted by mobs of young and poor South Africans, resulting in 12 dead, 653 arrests, 7,000 seeking refuge, and over 600 Nigerians evacuated home.
These incidents are fuelled by identity-based and fear-centred profiling and phobias, which are anxiety disorders that demonise, divide, and destroy someone or some group in society.
As Amnesty International Executive Director notes, 'The power of life and death is on our tongues and in our actions.' We must resist those that seek to feed us fear and confusion and find ways to stand up for the rights and freedoms of all human beings.
As Julius Malema, the Economic Freedom Fighter leader in South Africa, reminded his people, 'You are the children of formidable and brave freedom fighters, not cowards or criminals that steal people's property.'
It is time for us to stand up for the rights and freedoms of all human beings and resist those that seek to feed us fear and confusion.
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