"Nowadays, digital spaces, which are so vital for LGBTQ people in Uganda, are often no safer than offline spaces — they are experiencing discrimination and violence in both."
Roland Ebole, Amnesty International’s Uganda researcher

Ugandan LGBTQQIA+ people and activists use social media platforms and other digital spaces to mobilize against human rights abuses and violations and to advocate for a range of human right issues. Despite the opportunities it presents, criminalization of LGBTQ people leads to them facing several challenges, including technology facilitated gender-based violence (TfGBV) while using digitally mediated spaces. Urge the Government of Uganda to act now to make it safe online for LGBTQQIA+ people.

The ability to communicate and come together online can an empowering force for good. But the prevalence of gender-based violence in digital spaces (amplified through digital tools) serves to further marginalize people who already face discrimination, especially those from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds.

In Uganda, Amnesty International has documented countless stories of TfGBV against LGBTQQIA+ people carried out by state and non-state actors which has increased with the passage of the Anti-Homosexuality Act, 2023 (AHA 2023) in May 2023 as well as the continuous failure of the Ugandan authorities to respect, protect and fulfil the human rights of LGBTQQIA+ people

The TfGBV perpetrated against LGBTQQIA+ people and organizations has presented itself in various ways, such as doxing, outing, accessing data of LGBTQQIA+ people and organizations without their consent, trolling, harassment, threats of physical violence and death, blackmail, extortion, disinformation etc.

These attacks are detrimental to people’s everyday life. In many instances, the online threats have translated into offline harms, including both verbal and physical attacks, arbitrary arrests and detentions. They have seriously harmed people’s mental and physical health, their livelihood and housing, social lives, and ability to freely express themselves or engage in activism.
 

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A RESILIENT COMMUNITY IN UGANDA

Despite mounting violations and abuses against the LGBTQQIA+ community in Uganda, the community has remained steadfast in its resilience through everyday acts of survival and sustained advocacy and transformation of Ugandan society and its sexuality norms.

A vibrant local LGBTQQIA+ community and an active sexual rights movement has always been at the forefront of defending the rights of LGBTQQIA+ people in Uganda. The LGBTQQIA+ community in Uganda has developed its own initiatives and repeatedly and unequivocally demonstrated that LGBTQQIA+ people in Uganda are not dependant on Western interventions to ‘save them’. They have thrived against all odds, created a community and developed a systematic approach to fighting anti-LGBTQQIA+ rhetoric, which is sustained through collaboration between transnational actors and local religious and political leaders. Together with allies, they have used tactics including strategic litigation, lobbying with policy makers, coalition building, awareness raising campaigns among the general population, and guiding international response and advocacy, to challenge and transform homophobia and transphobia in Uganda, including its codification through legislations like the AHA 2023.