(ii) Families of LGBTI Persons Families are one of the most central socialising institutions for individuals. Families can be instrumental in promoting tolerance to a multiplicity of sexual orientations and gender identities. Families are discouraged from disowning members on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, as this may lead to destitution or homelessness. In the event that a family is faced with an outing, they should try to get professional help from a qualified Counsellor/Therapist. Support is key and engagement should ultimately lead to ideas on how to build a working family relationship. Disowning LGBTI persons from families and depriving them of familiar benefits may escalate their risk of alcohol/ substance abuse and transactional sex. (iii) LGBTI Persons LGBTI persons are urged to report any kind of violations perpetrated against them to relevant authorities such as Police and LGBTI friendly organizations. It is essential that violated individuals seek help such as counselling, medical or legal support. The degree to which LGBTI individuals are vulnerable is in part influenced by their own behaviour and practices. For instance, it is known only too well that Zimbabwe is still generally homophobic and as such care must be taken when publicly expressing sexual orientation. LGBTI persons are therefore encouraged to be cautious about sexual encounters with unfamiliar individuals or spur of the moment hook ups, avoiding sharing too much personal information, storing and circulating pornographic information, and revealing their orientation only when ready to face possible social backlash. (iiii) Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission and the Parliamentary Portfolio committee on Human Rights One of the key contentions in the SOGI debate in Zimbabwe is recognising LGBTI rights as human rights that are enshrined in the country’s laws and recognised by regional and international conventions and treaties. Most desired will be the eventual recognition of LGBTI rights and the establishment of a monitoring and reporting mechanism within the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission (ZHRC) to provide for systematic tracking of trends pertaining to LGBT issues and rights and recommending to the Government ways in which an enabling environment could be created. The ZHRC can create and regularly update a database of the various forms of violence based on sexual orientation and gender identity in order to ascertain the magnitude of the problem and continuously find ways of addressing it. An analysis of the state of human rights violations against LGBTI persons in Zimbabwe (2011-2017) 41