From Silence to Symbols

Digest #83

Image from our research report, ‘Equal Victims: The Universal Reality of Intimate Partner Violence’

In Uganda, the WHO, World Bank, and Uganda Bureau of Statistics have gathered extensive data on intimate partner violence (IPV) among the heterosexual, cisgender population. But when it comes to IPV in LGBTQ+ communities, there is no official data. As queer people writing this article, we know that this data gap has real-life consequences for a group already marginalized and discriminated against.

Without this data, healthcare providers can’t plan or provide the right care for LGBTQ+ survivors of IPV, there’s less understanding and less compassion and it becomes far too easy for everyone to deny that IPV in queer relationships exists.

“The consequence of this underreporting of IPV creates a void, leaving LGBTQ+ individuals invisible in the data, with little support or resources directed toward us.”
Eric Ndwaula, Director of Lifeline Youth Empowerment Center

This data gap isn’t unique to Uganda, it’s a global problem. But addressing it is especially difficult in Uganda, where the Anti-Homosexuality Act criminalizes anyone identifying as LGBTQ+ or supporting LGBTQ+ communities. LGBTQ+ survivors of IPV in Uganda are often trapped, unable to turn to law enforcement or healthcare providers for fear of legal repercussions and societal rejection.

So, why collect this type of data in the first place if it’s so dangerous? The answer is simple: because it’s necessary. Official data on IPV in Uganda entirely excludes LGBTQ+ experiences. This exclusion creates a dangerous data gap that leaves LGBTQ+ survivors invisible, unsupported, and misunderstood.

Challenges in IPV data collection—privacy, trauma, and trust

Documenting deeply personal or painful experiences is always entangled with issues of privacy, stigma, and survivor safety. If you don’t acknowledge this, you are likely collecting data in a way that risks significantly retraumatizing the people involved. Sensitive data must be collected with communities, not from them.

“I’ve always been skeptical about sharing my experiences with outside organizations. But with LifeLine, I knew they got it. They are part of us, and that’s why I trusted them.” Anonymous survey respondent

In 2023, LifeLine Youth Empowerment Center, an organization providing physical and mental health support to gay, bi and queer (GBQ) men in Uganda, and Data4Change, a nonprofit that supports civil society organizations and changemakers around the world to collect and communicate data, teamed up to fill a small part of this gap. Together, we collected data with 76 brave Ugandan GBQ individuals to explore their experiences with IPV. The result is an interactive research report called Equal Victims: The Universal Reality of Intimate Partner Violence, which provides new insights for survivors, healthcare providers, legal support workers, and researchers working on LGBTQ+ and IPV issues.

To collect this data we knew we needed to work with community members and psychologists to design a new data collection methodology that minimized the risk of retraumatization, while also considering the security risks for both the surveyor and the respondent in case of arrest. Through a series of sessions led by LYEC, GBQ community members, a trusted psychosocial support person, and the Data4Change team, we co-created ‘Power Portraits’.

A community-driven methodology to collect and present data

At the heart of ‘Power Portraits’ is the concept of using symbolic elements to represent an individual’s story. Instead of asking people to describe painful experiences in words, they select symbolic elements that represent specific parts of their story. These symbols aren’t random; the community has assigned a meaning to each one. For example, a wolf might mean resilience, or a bird might symbolize freedom.

Anonymized images from the data capture and translation process

The process feels more like creating art than answering a survey and provides a way to have tough conversations without asking people to relive their trauma. This approach lets people express emotions and produces structured data that can be used for advocacy and storytelling.

While the result is individual, the process of creating a ‘Power Portrait’ is collaborative. Individuals retain the role of the storyteller at every stage while shaping their portrait with a trusted community member trained in the methodology. The final portrait is a personal, tangible object that individuals can keep. This ensures the process is reciprocal rather than extractive, and also fosters a sense of closure and ownership.

“The methodology is what made me feel comfortable. They understood the trauma, they understood the fear, and they handled my story with care. It didn’t feel like I was being exploited for data.” Anonymous survey respondent

The symbolic elements in these portraits are then deconstructed, coded, and analyzed to generate measurable insights. Multiple portraits are assembled into a 'gallery' that forms the dataset. The key to decoding the symbols is securely encrypted and stored outside Uganda. This safeguard ensures that if LifeLine staff or survey participants were ever arrested and their devices confiscated, authorities would see only the ‘Power Portraits’—a collection of symbols without context. Without the key, the data remains indecipherable, protecting both the participants and the integrity of their stories.

The future of inclusive data: A call for community-led research

LifeLine Youth Empowerment Center has used the data to improve our health and mental-health services to the GBQ community. We’re also using the Equal Victims interactive data report, which has a dedicated advice section, to educate Ugandan health workers and legal professionals on how to best support LGBTQ+ individuals who’ve experienced IPV. Last but not least, we’re using the data to advocate for our rights nationally and to provide information and advice on how to get help if you or someone you know is experiencing IPV. We know from experience that the mere knowledge that you are not the only one facing IPV is often a catalyst for change, to take that first step and get help.

As a methodological approach, ‘Power Portraits’ holds immense potential for broader use in data collection efforts with children, individuals who have experienced trauma, and groups who do not read or write. It is also instructive for institutions and community groups around the world that face barriers to data collection among certain groups. Yet, organizations like the WHO, World Bank, or Uganda Bureau of Statistics likely couldn’t collect the same data as we did, even if they wanted to. They lack the level of trust, access, and lived experience to do so effectively. Community and citizen-led data are key if we want data to be truly representative. Official data collectors must collaborate more closely with community-led organizations to co-create data collection methods early on, rather than engaging with them at the end of the data collection pipeline as contractors and service providers. Not only will this lead to better-informed survey questions and data collection methods, and better access to survey respondents due to community trust and buy-in, it will ultimately also lead to better quality data.

From data insights to action, our report has an advice section with clear calls to action for different stakeholders.

Our approach demonstrates that collecting really sensitive data is possible when it is done with the community, fostering trust and prioritizing lived experiences. It has both filled dangerous data gaps, and created opportunities for meaningful support and change. Without this data, stories like these stay in the dark. And in the dark, nothing changes.