Report: ‘Little progress’ on LGBTQI+ discrimination, sex workers, people living with HIV

Barbados has made little headway in tackling deep-rooted stigma and discrimination against LGBTQI+ people, sex workers and those living with HIV, a new report has found, painting a stark picture of persistent abuse and inaction despite years of advocacy and repeated recommendations.

The most recent Stigma Register Project revealed its findings on Tuesday during a symposium hosted by the National HIV and Wellbeing Commission at the Courtyard Marriott.

Project Manager Patsy Grannum gave an assessment of the island’s sluggish progress since the original survey was conducted in 2021.

“Between 2024 and 2025, after five years, we’re still finding the majority of people are saying within those communities, yes, they’re still being discriminated against,” she said.

The updated research surveyed 706 individuals—surpassing its target—and incorporated a broader demographic, including previously underrepresented male sex workers. Yet the results painted a disheartening picture: verbal abuse remains rampant, most commonly taking place in public spaces, and perpetrators are often neighbours, passers-by and even family members.

Grannum, who has managed the project over several years, voiced frustration at the lack of tangible action. 

“Within the last five years, it doesn’t look as though any of [the research] has been used,” she said. “How many more times are we going to have to do this in order to find the evidence that is already there, that has been there from the first time we started, that supports that something needs to be done?”

The data, collected between last October and February, confirmed what many advocates already feared: discrimination is still deeply embedded in Barbadian society. Forty-eight per cent of respondents reported being discriminated against on the street; 20 per cent at social events; and smaller but notable percentages in workplaces, schools, churches and even their own homes.

“Sexual orientation still remains to this day a main reason people discriminate,” Grannum said. 

Some of the most devastating reports involved parents denying basic needs or shelter to their children based on their perceived sexual orientation or HIV status. 

“Family members do this. Still. In this day and age,” she emphasised.

While the research tool was expanded—an improvement suggested in the 2021 report—Grannum stressed that incorporating new groups alone is not enough.

“There is still a need for public awareness campaigns which address discrimination… and wellbeing campaigns for the public to better understand the effects of discrimination on a person’s mental health,” she noted.

The psychological toll is apparent. Eighty-seven per cent of respondents said they did not feel they had anything to contribute to their community. Grannum found this figure particularly concerning in light of recent mental health struggles and suicide trends on the island.

“This says a lot about what is going on with people and what could likely happen with them in the future,” she said. “If you don’t feel that you have anything to contribute to society… why am I here?”

The lack of accountability further compounds the issue. While many victims respond to discrimination with verbal retaliation—what Grannum described plainly as “cussing out the person”—very few seek legal or formal recourse.

“If they go to the police, they see no other action happening,” she explained. “So not many people [are] doing that. They might do it, but how often are we going to do that? Are we even going to think about doing that again?”

Even more disheartening is the growing number of individuals who choose to do nothing at all, having become desensitised after years of enduring hostility. 

“They say they could not be bothered… they have got to the point where they just expect it to happen,” she said.

“This is supposed to be the way that things are because it’s been happening for so long.”

Fear of being outed—whether for one’s HIV status or sexual orientation—also plays a major role in victims’ silence.

“That fear keeps them a prisoner,” Grannum said.

Despite the bleak findings, the project did register one encouraging milestone: it successfully reached and documented the experiences of 61 male sex workers, a group largely overlooked in previous surveys.

“Now we’ve tapped in, there is a reason to do more work within the male sex work community,” said Grannum.

Still, she issued a challenge to policymakers and the wider public.

“We see billboards all over the place about all other sorts of things… Why is it that we don’t see anything put up about persons discriminating anywhere on the road? Nothing.”

Referring to a 2023 symposium themed Putting People First, Grannum closed with a stinging rebuke: “Two years down the line from that research, we didn’t put people nowhere. So we’re still at this point. We have done nothing.”

Her message was clear: evidence is not the issue. Action is. “Every single one of us, at some point in time, can do our part to make that change happen,” she said. “So maybe the people at the top, who will look at the legislation and whatever else, will be able to see, well, yeah—this is something that the people want.” 

sheriabrathwaite@barbadostoday.bb