Just Peace Movie Night: Behind the Numbers

Date: 20 June
Time: 18:30
Location: Bibliotheek Nieuw Waldeck

As part of the Just Peace Festival, Just Peace is organizing a series of film evenings in collaboration with The Hague Public Library — the Just Peace Movie Nights.

On Friday, June 20, from 18:30 to 21:00, you are warmly invited to Nieuw Waldeck Library for a special screening of the film Behind the Numbers. We welcome you to join us in watching this impactful documentary and to stay afterward for an open conversation.

During the post-screening discussion (starting at 20:00), speakers will share more about the filmmaking process and offer insights from their own lived experiences.

Behind the Numbers

Behind the Numbers sheds light on the social and economic exclusion faced daily by people within the LGBTIQ+ community. The film tells the stories of an intersex person from Zimbabwe, a lesbian couple from Bangkok, and a trans woman from the Netherlands. While their lives are shaped by different realities, all face the same deeply rooted heteronormative barriers.

Being Intersex in Zimbabwe — Ronie (they/them)

Growing up intersex in Zimbabwe was far from easy for Ronie. They have experienced lifelong discrimination and exclusion — from school systems to medical care.

Ronie looks back on their school years with pain: “Nowhere felt safe. Nowhere could I be myself. I changed schools so often because I ran every time they discovered who I really was.”
The impact was profound: “If you don’t have stability in life, you lose trust in yourself. I didn’t even dare raise my hand in class.”

After many struggles, Ronie transformed their pain into activism. Today, they work for intersex rights and visibility: “It changed my life. I never knew I could be this strong.”

A Seemingly Open Society — Anticha and Build

Thailand is often seen as an open society, but acceptance of gender and sexual diversity is not a given. Anticha and Build, a couple from Bangkok, still face subtle yet persistent discrimination. They dream of having children, but starting a family as a non-heterosexual couple is not straightforward in Thailand.

“Violence isn’t always physical,” Anticha explains. “Young LGBTIQ+ people face verbal abuse and economic dependence within their families.”

The couple hopes to inspire others to dream and to explore life beyond traditional paths. They married during Bangkok Pride — a symbolic act, even if their marriage lacks legal recognition. “I never thought I’d experience this in my lifetime,” says Build. “The photos of our wedding showed what is possible.”

Workplace Discrimination — Laura

Everyone should be able to be themselves at work. Laura’s story reveals how damaging workplace discrimination can be. As a trans woman, her identity wasn’t accepted by her employer. Today, she has found her place and looks back on a painful chapter.

“What I went through — I wouldn’t wish it on anyone,” she shares. Still, Laura remains hopeful: “The people before me faced challenges that our generation no longer has to. That’s how progress works. It gets a little easier each time.”

#FreeToBeMe

The film was created as part of Free to be Me, a program by Hivos that works to improve the social and economic position of LGBTIQ+ people in 14 countries around the world. The program supports communities in advocating for fair laws and policies and works to shift public opinion.

Behind the Numbers was produced in collaboration with Hivos and Human Rights in the Picture, directed by Andy Funnell, and made by three local film teams from Zimbabwe, the Netherlands, and Thailand.