Methodology

This report is a collaboration between Human Rights Watch and the Wake Up and Step Forward Coalition (WASO), a coalition of organizations serving men who have sex with men (MSM) in Dar es Salaam. The Tanzania Gender Networking Program (TGNP) and the Nyerere Centre for Human Rights, both based in Dar es Salaam, also helped to conceive and research this report.

Between May 2012 and April 2013, Human Rights Watch and WASO conducted field research in Dar es Salaam, Zanzibar, Tanga, Arusha, and Mwanza. Human Rights Watch conducted additional research in Mbeya and Chunya with the assistance of Population Services International (PSI), an international NGO focusing on reproductive and sexual health.

Two Human Rights Watch researchers and two WASO researchers interviewed 254 people for this report, including 121 members of key populations:

• 47 men who have sex with men (14 of whom also engaged in sex work, either occasionally or as a full-time occupation)
• 3 transgender people (two male-to-female and one female-to-male)
• 39 adult women sex workers
• 13 girls under 18 engaged in sex work
• 19 people who inject drugs, 5 of them female

Interviewers asked young women and girls engaged in sex work to state their own ages in order to determine which of them were children. In Tanzania, many people do not have birth certificates so exact age can be difficult to determine.

We also spoke with other members of vulnerable populations that are not necessarily considered most at-risk, including nine lesbians or women who have sex with women (WSW), one of whom was also a sex worker, and one of whom also identified as intersex; 13 people who use non-injection drugs; and 12 people who formerly used drugs.

Most interview subjects were approached with the assistance of local or international NGOs. In some cases, particularly where we could find no organizations working with female sex workers, we approached female sex workers in bars or in the street to request interviews with them.

In locations outside Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar, it was difficult to identify and interview members of key populations, in part because of a near-total absence of local organizations that liaise with them. Our two- to four-day visits to mid-size towns, where same-sex intimacy and other socially controversial issues are rarely discussed openly, did not allow sufficient time to gain the trust of a significant number of LGBTI people, sex workers, and people who use drugs. Due to this limitation, and the greater amount of time we spent conducting interviews in Dar es Salaam, this report includes many more case studies from Dar es Salaam compared to other parts of the country. Further research into the specific situations facing key populations in other parts of the country would be beneficial for stakeholders seeking to develop interventions that address their needs.

In each location, we spoke with local and international NGOs, specifically those engaged on issues such as HIV education and outreach, gender equality, and harm reduction.

We also interviewed officials from the government, including from the police; the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare; the Ministry of Gender, Youth, and Community Development; and the Preventing and Combating Corruption Bureau, as well as members of government commissions addressing human rights, HIV/AIDS, and drugs.  We also interviewed academics at Muhimbili University and the University of Dar es Salaam who are conducting research on HIV among key populations.

Interviews were conducted in English and Kiswahili by researchers and a consultant fluent in those languages. Interview subjects who traveled to meet with us, generally on public buses, were reimbursed for transport and lunch, up to Tsh 5,000 ($3) depending on the distance traveled. All interview subjects consented to take part in our interviews, which they were informed would be included in a human rights report.

The names of most interview subjects from key population groups have been withheld to assure their anonymity. Each has been assigned a first name and an initial that bear no relation to their real name.