Female Same-Sex Legal Status and Its Implications to Women Who have Sex with Women’s Health and Well-being in Tanzania: A Public Health Lens

Abstract

Same-sex relationships and marriages are increasingly becoming legal in some parts of the globe, in the United States and Europe, in particular. However, opposition is strong and same-sex marriage remains banned in many countries leading to uneven expansion of broader lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer or questioning rights globally. Researchers conducted a formative qualitative cross-sectional descriptive and retrospective study with women who have sex with women to, among other objectives, assess and document female same-sex legal status and its implications to these women’s daily lives, health, and wellbeing in Tanzania. Results indicate that female same-sex is illegal in Tanzania and same-sex activities are punishable on conviction by life imprisonment. As a result, female same-sex behaviors and practices are pushed underground due to fear of stigma, rejection, abandonment, discrimination, and violence from the law enforcement machinery and the general public. In turn, this situation restricts these women from utilizing healthcare services available, which endangers women who have sex with women’s health and wellbeing. Recommend for further multidisciplinary, comprehensive, and informative public health research among women who have sex with women to generate data that would facilitate improving healthcare professionals’ ability to diagnose, treat, control, and prevent illnesses among women who have sex with women in Tanzania.