UN declares lesbian sex ban is a violation of human rights
A committee of the United Nations has declared that Sri Lanka’s lesbian sex ban is a violation against human rights.
The UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) ruled on March 23 that such bans are against international law.
UN declaration on lesbian sex ban
CEDAW made the ruling after a case was brought to them by lesbian and LGBT rights activist Rosanna Flamer-Caldera over Sri Lanka criminalizing same-sex sexual activity between women.
The activist had argued that the Sri Lankan law had violated her human right to live a free life from discrimination.
In their ruling, the UN committee said this act of criminalizing sexual activity between women affected Flamer-Caldera as it gave her a hard time to find a partner.
She also had to hide her relationships and run the risk of being investigated and prosecuted by authorities, the committee said.
Because of this, they found Sri Lanka had breached the human rights of Flamer-Caldera.
Sri Lanka “failed to protect [her] against, and have partaken in, harassment, abuse and threats against the author’s work promoting the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex community in Sri Lanka.”
Ruling against Sri Lanka on LGBT rights
Because of this ruling, Sri Lanka was called on to specifically protect and compensate Flamer-Caldera.
The committee also urged the country to decriminalize “consensual same-sex sexual conduct between women having passed the age of consent.”
Moreover, it called on the country to provide discrimination protections for the LGBT community and collect hate crime statistics.
CEDAW also asked them to train their law enforcement on respecting the human rights of the LGBT community.
Sri Lanka has six months to respond on how it will act on the committee’s recommendations.
More importantly, the CEDAW landmark ruling means that any government criminalizing lesbian sex is violating international law.
Sri Lanka’s colonial-era lesbian sex ban
Sri Lanka has a colonial-era law, section 365 of the penal code that bans “carnal intercourse against the order of nature.” This is punishable with up to ten years in prison, as well a a fine.
It also bans “any act of gross indecency” with up to two years in prison and a fine.
Because of this law, Sri Lanka not only criminalizes same-sex sexual activity between men, it is also one of 34 countries that criminalize same-sex sexual activity between women.
In response to the UN ruling, Flamer-Caldera was reported by the Sri Lankan daily paper The Daily FT: “I am so ecstatic to hear of this decision as it is a major win for all of us.”
“The Sri Lankan Government has ratified CEDAW, and this is therefore further encouragement for them to repeal these discriminatory laws and free us from the stigma and violence caused by criminalisation,” Flamer-Caldera said.
She added that this is a strong message for Sri Lankan government policymakers and the international community to ensure the rights and equal treatment of all their citizens, including LGBT persons.