Heterosexuals’ Perceptions and Attitudes Toward Female Homosexuality in Tanzania: Qualitative Findings from Women Who Have Sex with Women in Dar-es-Salaam City

Until a decade or so ago, the general public demonstrated negative perceptions and attitudes toward homosexuality and homosexuals: gays, lesbians, and bisexuals. However, there is empirical evidence that from the 1970s, the public has progressively embraced positive attitudes ranging from tolerance to greater acceptance. Unfortunately, much of the data available on this issue come from the US and Europe. Little is known from the developing world and Tanzania, in particular. This knowledge is critical because public perceptions and attitudes influence the formation of multifaceted policies and legislative frameworks that address and impact the health and wellbeing of LGBT people. We conducted a cross-sectional descriptive formative study in the Dar-es-Salaam region, Tanzania. Among other objectives, we aimed to understand the general public’s perceptions and attitudes toward female homosexuality and factors that influence the perspectives they hold. Findings showed that majority of the general public hold negative perceptions and attitudes toward female homosexuality that adversely impact women’s health and wellbeing. Homophobia, religious beliefs, socio-cultural constructs, heteronormality, and criminalization by national laws and the Constitution greatly informed public’s constructs of female homosexuality in this country. I recommend for larger ethnographic and multidisciplinary (longitudinal/cohort) studies, and nationally representative samples among women who have sex with women (WSW) and other homosexual subgroups. The goal is to establish an empirical database of predictors and time trends of public perceptions and attitudes toward WSW and other sexually-defined minority groups that influence rise in acceptance. In addition, data would facilitate improving healthcare professionals’ ability to diagnose, treat, control, and prevent illnesses among WSW and other sexually-defined minority groups in the Tanzania context.