Responding to hate crimes: identity politics in the context of race and class division among South African LGBTI

• Main Author: Clayton, Matthew Ross
• Format: Others
• Language: en
• Published: 2016
• Subjects: Hate crimes > South Africa; Discrimination; Homosexuality > South Africa; Sexual rights > South Africa; Homophobia > South Africa; Social justice > South Africa; Gay rights; Transgender people > South Africa; Lesbians > South Africa; LGBTI; South Africa; discrimination; hate crimes; hate crimes legislation
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10539/19862

Research report submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Political Studies. March 2015 === This paper examines race and class schisms among South African LGBTI persons using the lens of hate crimes legislation. While much praise is given to South Africa’s constitutional framework which provides for non-discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation, LGBTI persons still face unacceptably high levels of violence and victimisation. An ongoing trend of violent murders of black lesbian women in particular has mobilised advocacy by LGBTI organisations and other civil society actors to call for hate crimes legislation. This paper takes a critical look at hate crimes legislation and the potential problems of its application in a society with gross inequality and power discrepancies. This critique has as its foundation an acknowledgement that action needs to be taken to address the scourge of violence, while at the same time understanding the intersectionality of oppression and the uneven results achieved by liberal legal reform.