Founder of Success Capital Organisation and human rights , Dumiso Gasha, says Lesbian Visibility Week is a hallmark testament for acknowledging and affirming diverse women, girls, queer and non-binary individuals.
In an interview, Gasha pointed out that in its 34th commemoration and under the theme of “Celebrating the power of sisterhood", Success Capital Organisation celebrates and recalls the contributions of amazing Batswana who changed the landscape of the LGBTIQ+ movement from the late 1990s.
Gasha added that it expanded beyond 26 April, Lesbian Visibility Day, allowing them to celebrate and remind stakeholders of key contributors who inspired them as an organisation.
“Monica Tabengwa, a human rights lawyer, has been an instrumental contributor to the movement domestically, regionally and globally. Illuminating gaps in human rights issues and contributing to soft law universally used including within our own jurisdiction. Kutlwano ‘Bubbly’ Selaledi, a gender non-conforming individual that volunteered and contributed to the efforts of several civil society organisations whilst navigating their creativity through poetry and connecting with community.” “Shatani ‘Shatie’ Baloki, is a mobiliser and activist renowned for reshaping the LGBTIQ+ movement in Maun.
Her work has inspired the continuation of support group efforts and we continue to celebrate her legacy. The latter two activists are important to Success Capital Organisation, having engaged them on an ad-hoc basis in community engagement, participatory research and stakeholder advocacy in different cities and villages. May Bubbly and Shatie continue to rest in power,” they emphasized. Furthermore, Gasha explained that the three change agents left imprints in their work and continued to inspire their work in bridging grassroots communities with national, regional and global mechanisms.
They added that their contributions reflected what solidarity could look like when those who were most impacted can accelerate and strengthen human rights work at various levels. They also called on the need to increase public discourse, media reports and enabling environments for women in their diversity to eliminate harmful gender norms, stigma, discrimination and variant forms of violence. Gasha also pointed out that their storytelling initiatives had been impactful in awareness raising and knowledge sharing in stakeholder engagement workshops and screening, including; intimate partner violence, lived experiences and intersections of gender, sexuality and human rights. They added that they continue to advance those experiences, along with others in the intersections of bodily autonomy and integrity, climate, migration and digital divides.
“Notably, we will be working towards the United Nations Summit of the Future, strengthening our country consultative work to compliment our engagements at the UN Civil Society conference, and the upcoming reporting cycles of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights advancing the rights of diverse women and girls,” they ended.