Sexual and Gender Minorities in Humanitarian Emergencies

Abstract

LGBTI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex) people are at risk for the same human rights abuses in humanitarian emergencies as the rest of the population. Social sidelining of LGBTI persons occurs both prior to and during emergencies due to harmful legal regimes' and religious, cultural, and societal stigma of perceived nonnormative sexual orientations and gender identities. When these existing stigmas are combined with the difficulties LGBTI persons face accessing emergency services due to the rigid normative systems that mitigate and determine access, LGBTI people can be pushed further to the margins. This may effectively exclude them from the basic protections and entitlements available to other emergency- affected individuals, and lead to extreme vulnerability in limes of crisis. This chapter offers examples of the experiences of LGBTI people in emergencies and the specific challenges faced during periods of unrest and while attempting to access the services designed to help. There is limited research on these experiences. The examples below are not offered as comprehensive, but rather are illustrative of some of the challenges and opportunities to protect LGBTI people in humanitarian programs. The chapter then addresses gathering data on LGBTI populations and explores several key areas where LGBTI persons face barriers to humane assistance during emergencies, including access to dignified movement, shelter, and livelihoods. It concludes by examining proxies—including humanitarian HIV protocols—and LGBTI-specific programming for refugee resettlement that might suggest approaches to improving protection mechanisms in emergency response and other postcrisis programming. Finally, it suggests recommendations for making emergency programs and protocols sensitive to the experiences and needs of LGBTI people. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved)