8.5 Invasion of Privacy Displacement 4% TOTAL DISTRIBUTION OF VIOLATIONS Blackmail 13% Invasion of Privacy Unfair Labour Practice 2% Hate Speech 1% 2017 Bi-Sexual 0% Assault 18% Transgender 17% Discrimination 7% Threat 15% Detention 7% Police Harrassment 8% 2016 Lesbian 33% 2015 Invasion of Privacy 2014 2013 Disownment 7% Outed 11% Invasion of Privacy Intersex 0% Gay 50% Invasion of Privacy 7% 2012 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 In a homophobic society, LGBTI persons are forced to live private lives by protecting their sexual orientation and gender identity from becoming public knowledge. More often than not, breach of this privacy inevitably leads to being outed in one form or the other, opening the flood gates for other violations to take place. In the context of this report, invasion of privacy refers to intrusion into the personal life or private affairs of an individual without just cause. This may include public disclosure of private information that may be considered embarrassing18. In a majority of the cases recorded on invasion of privacy, failure to adequately secure mobile phones and online accounts was the key weakness, leading to other people gaining access to private and confidential information. Such breaches resulted in unauthorised access to potentially damaging information about the LGBTI complainants. In three of the recorded cases, complainants had their digital mobile devices confiscated as the perpetrators argued that the devices contained pornographic material that could be used as incriminating evidence. The convenience brought about by information communication technologies and social networking platforms also comes with vulnerabilities to some LGBTI persons, who may unwittingly expose themselves through over sharing information or neglecting to log out of online accounts ordinarily visible only to a select limited group of people. Poor on-line security behaviour was identified in previous violation reports as a gap contributing to the vulnerability of LGBTI persons. Recommendations were made to facilitate training on digital security. During one of such trainings in 2015 at a local hotel, a consultant brought in by GALZ to lead the process was arrested by plain clothes police 18 GALZ - LGBT Violations Report: 2012-13 An analysis of the state of human rights violations against LGBTI persons in Zimbabwe (2011-2017) 24