Workshop
Total Together has so far executed 15 private visits with beneficiaries.
The concept was created after a flop that occurred with the last organized workshop where 2% of the invited participants showed up at the venue. The expression we had was that of disappointment and concern as we had not expected such a low turn out at a well organized workshop in a secure setup.
The past encounters had their own set of challenges but this one in specific was a cause for concern.
Without further delay we got back to the drawing board and reached out to our registered and confirmand participants who failed to show up, we were seeking an understanding as in what went wrong and the responses ranged from a
Fear of exposure to the public
Private lifestyle being known by fellow LGBTQ+ members that would have been invited at the session
Confidentiality when it came to those in hiding
Concerns about security after the session
Our participants are lacking the confidence to fully express themselves in a space with more than two people because of their age, that feel the need to act as heterosexuals' so as to fit in the general community set-up.
In-Call
Another chapter that turned out well was voice notes, well from the 20 people we made contact with. 18 of them preferred to send in voice notes about their lived experiences as LGBTQ+ individuals. The figures expressed are that of people who are gay, the response from the other groups is low with an indi9cation that Lesbians to say have active service uptake compared to the male counterparts who fear coming out to seek life saving services.
Indexing
The overall index used in approach indicated the recent steps in the development of the LGBTIQ+ programs for Total Together and the report sought to identify some of the disparities for the older community. The tracking survey involved asking the respondents how they identified i.e. lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer. The five indicators were
Health and long-term care,
Education,
Economic empowerment,
Food security
Civil participation.
Although frequency on arbitrary arrests and persecution is relatively low in Zimbabwe, it remains an unsafe environment to be fully expressional as an LGBTQ+ identifying elder. The frequency of discrimination, harassment, violence and associated factors among the group of older lesbians, gays, bisexual and Trans identifying individuals has forced many of them to roll up the dice by either going back in the closet or conform
Whats going on?
As we have found out in conversations with older LGBTQ+ individuals, a vast majority of LGBTQ+ older adults have lived through discrimination, social stigma, and the effects of prejudice both past and present, including a history of being labelled criminals, sinners, and mentally ill or possessed by demons. 40% of our interviewed elders say social stigma has disrupted their lives and caused uncontrolled fear of being ousted. In that 40%, 35% of the people are from the low end of society. The effects have further disrupted their connections with their own families, lifetime earnings and their opportunities to save for retirement. The stigma further exacerbates their fear and lack of trust with healthcare service providers. They also become apprehensive of other service providers. Compounding these issues is the fact that LGBTQ+ older adults are often invisible in aging service demographics and program planning. A previous research conducted derived the stated results on researchgate completely independent to the current blog report and with a different group of people.