South Africa

Demographics

Estimated Total Population:

57.7 million

World Bank, 2018

Estimated SGM Population:

N/A

N/A

Estimated Total SGM Adult Population:

530,000

HSRC, 2016

Estimated % of SGM Adults (18+):

N/A

N/A

South Africa is a continent leader in terms of passing constitutional protections and recognition of sexual and gender minority (SGM) protection laws, yet 61% of South Africans say homosexuality should not be accepted by society (The Pew Center, 2013). There is a large prevalence of hostility towards SGM populations, including homophobic violence and the denial of sufficient access to health care (Healthgate, 2016).

South Africa's Laws and Policies from ILGA World Report (2019)

RECOGNITION
Marriage for Same-Sex Couples
Yes
Civil Unions
Yes
Joint Adoption
Yes
Second Parent Adoption
Yes
PROTECTION
Employment Nondiscrimination Laws
Yes
Broad Protections
Yes
Criminalization of Violence
Yes
Ban of Conversion Therapy
No
CRIMINALIZATION
Consensual Same-Sex Acts are Legal?
Yes
Gender
Does Not Apply
Max Penalty (Yrs in Prison)
Does Not Apply

Selected Published Studies, Reports, and Other Documents

Anguita, L. A. (2012). Tackling corrective rape in South Africa: the engagement between the LGBT CSOs and the NHRIs (CGE and SAHRC) and its role. The International Journal of Human Rights16(3), 489-516. DOI:10.1080/13642987.2011.575054

Currier, A. (2011). Decolonizing the law: LGBT organizing in Namibia and South Africa. In Special issue social movements/Legal possibilities. Emerald Group Publishing Limited. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1059-4337(2011)0000054005

Currier, A. (2015). Transgender invisibility in Namibian and South African LGBT organizing. Feminist Formations27(1), 91-117. doi:10.1353/ff.2015.0000.

de Greef, K. (2019) Th eUnfulfilled Promise of LGBTQ Rights in South Africa. https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2019/07/southafrica-lgbtq-rights/593050/

Francis, D. A., & Reygan, F. (2016). 'Let's see if it won't go away by itself.'LGBT microaggressions among teachers in South Africa. Education as Change20(3), 180-201. https://dx.doi.org/10.17159/1947-9417/2016/1124

Morison, T., & Lynch, I. (2016). We can’t help you here’: the discursive erasure of sexual minorities in South African public sexual and reproductive health services. Psychol Sexualities Rev7, 7-25. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Ingrid_Lynch/publication/309770127_'We_can't_help_you_here'_The_discursive_erasure_of_sexual_minorities_in_South_African_public_sexual_and_reproductive_health_services/links/5822c11608aeb45b58826534.pdf

Müller, A. Scrambling for access: availability, accessibility, acceptability and quality of healthcare for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in South Africa.BMC Int Health Hum Rights17,16 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12914-017-0124-4

Pew Research Center. (2013). The global divide on homosexuality. Greater acceptance in more secular and affluent countries. Pew Research Center.

Sutherland, C., Roberts, B., Gabriel, N., Struwig, J., & Gordon, S. (2016). Progressive prudes: a survey of attitudes towards homosexuality & gender non-conformity in South Africa.