Lesotho project aims to stop gender-based violence

Women and queer people face violence and discrimination across Lesotho 

An international commission of lawyers and court officials has kicked off an initiative aimed at reducing violence against women and LGBTQI+ people in the southern African nation of Lesotho.

In September, the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) and local partners, the People’s Matrix and Seinoli Legal Centre, launched the Reform for Inclusion, Support and Empowerment (RISE) project in Maseru, Lesotho, to bolster the efforts of civil society in Lesotho in gaining greater legal and other protections to safeguard survivors of gender-based violence.

The RISE project is aimed at facilitating the empowerment of women, including by promoting their efforts to access to land and property.

In addition to facing extremely high rates of sexual and gender-based violence, women commonly face a range of cultural and social stereotypes, norms and restrictions which limit their ability to own land and property and enjoy financial independence. This increases their economic vulnerability and an inability to escape gender-based violence (GBV).

The two-year project builds on existing advocacy by the ICJ, the Seinoli Legal Aid Center and the People’s Matrix, which offers “a range of free services to LGBTIQ+ community members in Lesotho from HIV prevention and treatment, information dissemination to menstrual and mental health services.”

The project of the International Commission of Jurists, funded by the European Union, builds on a 2024 report titled “They See Us As How We Have Sex, Not As Who We Are.”

That report shows that LGBTIQ+ persons in Lesotho face many different forms of discrimination, structural barriers to exercising their human rights, as well as harassment and abuse because of their real or imputed sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression.

The ICJ found that  “corrective rape” and forced attendance at schools that aim to “correct” and “cure” a person’s gender identity. Additionally, LGBTQI+ persons struggle to access justice for violations and abuses of their rights.

The ICJ also found that an estimated 86% of Lesotho women reported experiencing gender-based violence (GBV) at some point in their lives. Consequently, a 2022 survey of Afrobarometer found that 64% of them view GBV as the most critical women’s rights issue needing government and societal intervention.

“The fight against sexual and gender-based violence in Lesotho requires a reform of the laws and systems that allow it to persist,” said Kaajal Ramjathan-Keogh, ICJ’s Africa Director. “It is critical that local Lesotho civil society organizations become leaders in and catalysts for change, championing legal reforms that protect the rights of women, girls, and LGBTIQ+ persons, and ensuring that justice is accessible and attainable for all persons.”