The popularity of social media raises concerns related to cyber-violence and the security of marginalised individuals and groups, including the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT+) population. Developing worthy interventions requires exploration of the LGBT+ population's experiences of cyber-violence in relation to gender discrimination, which was the aim of this study. A qualitative approach sourced data between 2017 and 2019 from LGBT+ Facebook groups and pages and semi-structured interviews with participants who identified themselves as among the LGBT+ population. Keywords such as LGBT+, homosexuals, and isiZulu terms such as 'izitabane' and 'inkonkoni' were used to search for content. It was found that Facebook is used as a platform by heterosexuals to make violent and hateful comments against the LBGT+ population. Comments displayed to the public (including, for example, "gays are dogs, they can never transform to being women") reflected heteronormative behaviour. A significant finding was the infiltration of heterosexual individuals into the space created by the LGBT+ population, suggesting an increased risk of cyber-violence, and that the right to privacy and security is often compromised. Addressing cyberbullying of the LGBT+ population through education on gender diversity is recommended.

Violence against women is a serious health and social problem for women not just in South Africa but across the globe. Violence renders women vulnerable and in most cases seeks to disempower them. However, most women, once out of the violent situation are able to overcome their adversity. Using Ungar's Social Ecology of Resilience Theory as a framework, this paper demonstrates the journey of women affected by violence to overcome their adversity. It does this through interviews with four women temporarily housed in a "shelter" and three women social workers at the shelter -a non-governmental organisation (NGO). Views, positioning the women's coping strategies in the face of adversity, were solicited from the women and the social workers. The face-to-face interviews through which data was generated was qualitative in nature. Findings show that external resources in the social ecologies of the women, community, state and families, are facilitating resilience in sexually and physically violated women. keywords resilience, abused women, survivors of gender violence, women's shelter Agenda 112/31.2 2017