8.4 Disownment by family on the basis of sexual orientation or gender gender identity Displacement 4% TOTAL DISTRIBUTION OF VIOLATIONS Blackmail 13% Unfair Labour Practice 2% Hate Speech 1% Disownment Transgender 0% Bi-Sexual 9% Assault 18% Discrimination 7% Threat 15% Outed 11% Invasion of Privacy 7% Lesbian 27% 2017 2016 2015 Disownment 2014 Detention 7% Police Harrassment 8% Disownment Intersex 0% Disownment 7% Gay 64% 2013 2012 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 Disownment, which is typically associated with a family deciding to cut all relational ties with a member who has been outed, accounted for 7% percent of all all recorded violations. This form of violation was generally associated with displacement in situations where the complainant was living under the care of parents or guardians and did not own or have entitlements to the residence. As with the two other trends discussed above, gay men represent the greatest number of individuals that suffered from disownment by their families. The common thread running in a majority of the cases of disownment was a singular focus of families disassociating themselves with a member outed as an LGBTI person. For example, in the case of Godknows*, a 25-year-old gay man, his family not only disowned him, but confiscated all his travel and identity documents as punishment for ‘embarrassing’ the family. In another unique case recorded in 2014, a gay man is believed to have committed suicide following a sustained dispute and possibly disownment by his family. GALZ has over the years supported LGBTI persons disowned by their families as a result of their sexual orientation. The organization has worked with other partners to secure reunification of LGBTI persons alienated from their families or alternatively negotiating for them to be taken in by relatives. Securing homes for disowned and displaced LGBTI persons is critical as life on the streets would likely present a double challenge for them, especially if they are minors and not able to fend for themselves. In such cases, individuals may be forced into commercial sex work, where they would be even more vulnerable to abuse. An analysis of the state of human rights violations against LGBTI persons in Zimbabwe (2011-2017) 22