A/HRC/41/45/Add.2
training package for police officers and, in consultation with civil society organizations, is
incorporating elements related to sexual orientation and gender identity. It is also
developing an electronic system to collect data on gender-based violence that will enable
victims to self-identify. The Independent Expert is encouraged that those measures are
being taken and calls for them to be developed further and for the Government to take
ownership for them as part of a comprehensive strategy to combat violence and
discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
32.
In addressing any instance of violence and discrimination, the role of State
institutions is crucial, and the absence of policies related to sexual orientation and gender
identity has a severe impact on the ability of the State to address the phenomenon. From the
chain of justice, through public health or social service, the eradication of violence and
discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity depends on the existence
of public policies in public institutions. Such policies are indispensable in order to
recognize the existence and particular challenges that lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans
people face in any given context.
33.
In Mozambique, the system tends to make sexual orientation and gender identity, a
feature of human existence, invisible. As a consequence, statistics based on sexual
orientation and gender identity are absent from every sector, and official statistics
invariably misrepresent the size of affected communities and populations, the number of
incidents concerning their particular problematic, which leads to prejudicial and inexact
categorization of cases as a result of misidentification, concealment of the victim’s true
sexual orientation or gender identity, and underreporting. The systemic failure to collect
data often results in the virtual invisibility of the concerns and abuses faced by lesbian, gay,
bisexual and trans individuals.
34.
In turn, the lack of data leads to the absence of adequate public policies to respond to
their valid concerns and problematic. As a result, State agents are badly equipped to address
the particular needs of these populations.
35.
The key populations in the third and fourth HIV/AIDS National Strategic Plans
(2010–2019) were men who have sex with men, commercial sex workers and their clients,
users of intravenous drugs, prisoners and the migrant and displaced populations. While this
is the only public policy in the country that appears to take into consideration increased
vulnerability due to sexual orientation and the connected stigma and discrimination, the
emphasis on behaviour (men who have sex with men) fails to capture all political and social
aspects of the life of gay men and other communities and populations.
C.
Access to justice
36.
During his visit, the Independent Expert had the opportunity to meet with
representatives of the judiciary, including from the Supreme Court and the Provincial
Judicial Court of Nampula. While the Independent Expert witnessed great receptiveness
with regard to issues related to his mandate, he found no indication of a systematic
approach or comprehensive policy to address violence and discrimination based on sexual
orientation and gender identity.
37.
Judges conveyed the perception that the judiciary remains influenced by some moral
norms that may sometimes conflict with the law, and that it follows societal and social
developments rather than leading social changes.
38.
The Independent Expert notes with satisfaction that the Centre for Legal and Judicial
Training has mainstreamed human rights and gender in the initial training and continuous
learning courses given to legal professionals. He nevertheless regrets that the training
courses do not incorporate elements related to violence and discrimination based on sexual
orientation or gender identity and recommends that they be taken into consideration in the
context of the current review of the curriculum. The Independent Expert also notes with
concern that, due to budget cuts, the number of training courses delivered by the Centre has
fallen. He wishes to underscore the importance of such training in order to dismantle
barriers to effective access to justice by lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans persons.
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