Submission to the Global Commission on HIV and the Law

Submission to the Global Commission on HIV and the Law

Contact Details

Name of Authors: Anton Rocke and Joel Simpson

Name of Organisation: Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination

Are you submitting as an Individual or on behalf of an organisation?

Answer: Organisation

Please note that you can only make 1 submission per person and per organisation.

Phone Numbers: (Office) +592-226-5155; (Cellular)+592-623-5155.

Email addresses: sasod.officer@gmail.com and sasod.manager@gmail.com

Website: www.sasod.org.gy

Date of submission: March 14, 2011

Address: CIDA PSU Building – 56 Main and New Market Streets, North Cummingsburg

City: Georgetown

Country: Guyana

Laws and practices that effectively criminalise people vulnerable to HIV

In Guyana, sex workers suffer violence and discrimination on a constant basis. This is supported by the UNAIDS report - “Whoring,’ ‘Boopsing,’ and Other Business: A Situational Analysis of Sex Work and the Sex Industry in the CARICOM” which categorises the physical violence and harassment that sex workers experience, because of the type of work they do, into two main groups of perpetrators: police and non-state actors.[1] Guyana’s laws criminalize cross-dressing, consensual sex between men and aspects of sex work, thereby making vulnerable, these groups, transgenders, gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men and sex workers, to discrimination which causes disempowerment, barriers to effective prevention, treatment, care and support services, thereby exacerbating their vulnerability to HIV.

Under Section 166 of the Summary Jurisdiction (Offences) Act 1894, of the Laws of Guyana, every person who:

a) being a male person, knowingly lives wholly or in part on the earnings of prostitution; or

b) being a male person, in any public place persistently solicits or importunes for immoral purposes; or

c) loiters about, or importunes any person in, any street or other public place for the purpose of prostitution.

Transgender persons are criminalised for expressing their identity by ‘cross-dressing’ under section 153 of the Summary Jurisdiction (Offences) Act, Laws of Guyana, which establishes as an offence:

“being a man, in any public way or public place, for any improper purpose, appears in female attire or being a woman, in any public way or public place, for any improper purpose, appears in male attire… ”[2]

This denial violates the right to freedom of expression, the right to privacy and personal dignity and gives tacit approval to the frequent attacks cross-dressers face in the streets, especially at nights.

(1) Police Assault and Abuse:

In Guyana, police have been accused by cross-dressers of harassment and physical violence. Transgender sex workers reported to SASOD that police often extort sexual favours from them, and even rape and brutalize them. Most of the cases are not reported to the police, due to the lack of confidence in their response. “Petronella,” (alias) a cross-dressing sex worker, that some police further participate in the harassment of gay men on the streets, adding that there is no recourse to complain since the existing laws criminalize consensual sex between men and cross-dressing.

In February, 2009, seven persons were charged for cross-dressing. The charges were not dropped and the seven were each fined for the offence. The detainees reported to SASOD, that police refused to allow them to make a phone call or to contact a lawyer. They were photographed by police and then told to take off all of their “woman clothes” in front of several police officers. One defendant stated that “after stripping [us] the police told us to bend down and they search us as if to make fun of us and our sexuality.”

The cross-dressers also reported that they were ordered to put on “man clothes.” Police kept five of the seven in solitary confinement until the day of the trial, contending that it was for their safety. In court, when handing down the sentences, the then acting Chief Magistrate Robertson told the detainees they were not women but men, and exhorted them to “go to church and give their lives to Christ.”[3]

Some police have reportedly used the existence of the laws for extortion. Males who are found in compromising positions are made to pay bribes rather than face charges and the possibility of prosecution. Although consensual same-sex activity between adult men is difficult to prove, the damage is really in the accusation itself because of the stigma attached to homosexuality.

(2) Abuses by Non-Sate Actors

Sex workers in Guyana, and other parts of the world, face disproportionate levels of violence which is often unreported. The assault, battery, rape and even murder of sex workers, which is all too common in the industry, goes unnoticed because of the existing legal framework around the profession which prevents sex workers from reporting violence. The stigma and discrimination perpetuated by sex-work related offences has made violence against sex workers acceptable.

SASOD is a founding partner in the Guyana Sex Work Coalition and recalls the violence faced by a female sex worker at the hands of a male client:

“Soon as the sex was over, this man started slapping and cuffing me up and he empty my purse and take away all my money, not just what he pay me,” recounted a female sex worker based in New Amsterdam, who had been assaulted and robbed by a client, to an advocate at United Bricklayers, a local AIDS-prevention, community-based organization. “Now how could I go to the police and make a report when sex work is not really legal,” she added.

The Terborg (2006) report, which details interviews with female, gay male and cross-dressing sex workers, concluded that the majority felt rejected by society.[4] An interviewee stated:

“Society doesn’t try in any way to understand the position of gays. I have experienced stigma and discrimination when looking for a job. When I went to a store for a job and the proprietor told me to find my own work, then, chased me’!

Some people want to appear to be non-judgmental and still want to find out why you are like that.”

Social stigma and discrimination based on gender identity is common in many parts of the Caribbean, including Guyana, and in some cases resulting in violent attacks, some of them fatal, against people perceived to be lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender.[5] In 2003, during a debate to revise Article 149 of the Constitution to include a ban on discrimination based on sexual orientation, SASOD and other civic organizations supported the move to prohibit such discrimination but some sections of the religious community and the bill was never voted on, as the government presented but did not support it.

Men who have Sex with Men (MSM)

In Guyana, the Criminal Law Offences Act (8:01) under section 351 criminalizes consensual sexual activity between men while Sections 352 and 353 criminalizes 'buggery'. The laws do not distinguish consensual and non-consensual acts.

The existence of these laws reduces access to treatment, care and prevention services by men who have sex with men. These so-called ‘sodomy laws’ facilitate discrimination within the health and social services sectors. Moreover, these laws therefore place an added burden on the health sector and this is an additional reason to repeal them.

According to Amnesty International, “discrimination against people based on their sexual orientation or gender identity, including men who have sex with men, manifests itself in a number of ways including the criminalization of same-sex relationships. Men who have sex with men often face additional stigma because of the incidence of HIV/AIDS in gay men and the history of the pandemic that was initially associated mainly with gay men in the global North.”[6]

The latest surveillance study finds a HIV prevalence of 19.4% among MSM,[7] which is ten times the national average, according to UNAIDS estimates. The Government of Guyana has also acknowledged that MSM are also a vulnerable group. The problem is that there is an inconsistent response to sexual and gender minorities who are in need of healthcare and related social services since there is an accepted norm of discrimination. There are some healthcare professionals who would exercise their own discretion in terms of how they treat sexual and gender minorities. Persons who are discriminated against do not have recourse to any remedies within the health system.

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[1] Kempadoo, Kamala, et al. ‘Whoring,’ ‘boopsing,’ and other business: A Situation Analysis of Sex Work and the Sex Industry in the CARICOM - Final Report, page 88. UNAIDS, Caribbean.

[2] Laws of Guyana, Chapter 8:02, Summary Jurisdiction (Offences) Act; Section 153, (1)(xlvii), In: http://www.gina.gov.gy/gina_pub/laws/Laws/cap802.pdf

[3]http://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2009/03/07/halt-abuse-of-transgenders-%E2%80%94-human-rights-group/

[4] Terborg, J. Report on HIV Prevention and Care among FSW and MSM in Georgetown, Guyana, 2006, pg. 75.

[5] Human Rights Watch, Hated to Death: Homophobia, Violence and Jamaica’s HIV/AIDS Epidemic. New York 2004. Available at: http://hrw.org/reports/2004/jamaica1104

[6] Amnesty International, Report on HIV/AIDS in Guyana and the Dominican Republic. AI Index: AMR 01/002/2006

[7]Ministry of Health, Guyana Behavioural Surveillance Survey 2008/2009 Report, page 60.

Vintage Mash' Costume Party - Feb 18, 2011

CARIBBEAN GROUPS JOIN INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY IN SALUTING MURDERED AFRICAN HUMAN RIGHTS WORKER

Caribbean associations working on reproductive, sexuality and HIV issues have issued a brief joint statement of condolence and tribute to the life of slain Sexual Minorities Uganda human rights defender David Kato. The statement, signed by over 25 groups in 16 territories, calls attention, in the United Nations Year of People of African Descent, to Kato’s international inspiration as an African defender of sexual rights. It notes the continuing danger that sexuality, and the human rights defenders who work in this area, face in the Caribbean and elsewhere; and Governments’ failure to champion people’s freedom over their own bodies when it comes to sexuality.

In the face of a proposal in the Uganda parliament to execute citizens for consensual homosexual acts and a clergy-led campaign to whip up animosity against gay sexuality, several Ugandan human rights groups have fought back. Kato’s picture, captioned “Hang Them” was featured on the cover of tabloid Rolling Stone in November, one of a number of instances of media attempts to “out” gay and lesbian people, several of whom, like him, received death threats and other harassment. He and others successfully sued for damages, and the courts blocked the paper from further outing three weeks ago. On January 26, he reportedly suffered blows to his head with a hammer in his residence, and died. The European Union, United States President Barack Obama and others have condemned the killing and paid tribute to Kato’s work.

Across the Caribbean, those of us who knew Sexual Minorities Uganda advocacy officer David Kato Kisule as a friend, as well as those who only read of his work, are deeply moved by his powerful and courageous life. As fellow sexual rights advocates, we convey deepest condolences to all his loved ones and fellow activists on his awful murder. We have been horrified by the inhumanity and hysteria of Uganda’s parliamentary, media and clergy campaigns to deny gay people like David the simple right to liberty, privacy, dignity and joy. We join others throughout the African diaspora in our pride in David’s conviction and passion as an outspoken African champion of sexual autonomy – even when it put his liberty and life in great danger – and his record as an internationally recognized human rights defender. His inspiration stretches around the globe to those who also struggle against ignorance, indifference and violence to create countries and a world where everyone can enjoy our sexuality as something good and wholesome and worthwhile, free from shame and coercion.

Were it not for advocacy late last year, 13 Caribbean countries would have allowed “sexual orientation” to be removed from an international statement of commitment to protect persons from unlawful killing because of who they are. David’s death, following threats against his life, is a gripping reminder of the importance of those protections, and a sobering one of how much more work needs to be done to give people the right to freedom over their bodies in places like Africa and the Caribbean, where battles against slavery, colonialism, racism, apartheid, genocide, gender inequality and religious persecution ought to have taught us better lessons. David’s life and death are reason to renew international commitment to sexual rights, to increase our vigilance for our colleagues in danger in Uganda. We respectfully urge Uganda’s politicians, media and clergy and international Christian advocates who have become entangled in this hostility to seize the opportunity to bring an end to yet another painful chapter of intergroup violence in Africa.

AIDS Action Foundation – St. Lucia • AIDS Free World • ALFA: Alternative Life Foundation Aruba • Alianza GTH – República Dominicana • Amigos Siempre Amigos – República Dominicana • ASPIRE: Advocates for Safe Parenthood-Improving Reproductive Equity – Trinidad & Tobago • Barbados Family Planning Association • Belize Family Life Association • Belize National AIDS Commission • CAISO: Coalition Advocating for Inclusion of Sexual Orientation – Trinidad & Tobago • Caribbean Family Planning Affiliation • Caribbean Harm Reduction Coalition • Caribbean Vulnerable Communities Coalition • CariFLAGS: Caribbean Forum for Liberation & Acceptance of Genders & Sexualities • DiBo: Diversity Bonaire • DominicaChaps • Family Planning Association of Trinidad & Tobago • Foko Curaçao Pride • Fondation SEROvie – Haiti • GrenCHAP – Grenada • J-FLAG: Jamaica Forum for Lesbians All-Sexuals and Gays • MOVADAC: Movement Against Discrimination Action Committee – Barbados • Pink Orange Dutch Caribbean LGBTI Alliance • Pride In Action – Jamaica • RevASA: Red de Voluntarios de ASA – República Dominicana • SASOD: Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination – Guyana • SASH Bahamas: Society Against STIs & HIV • Tjenbé Rèd: Fédération de lutte contre les racismes, les homophobies & le sida issue des communautés afrocaribéennes • UniBAM: United Belize Advocacy Movement • United and Strong – St. Lucia • Women Against Rape, Inc – Antigua • Women’s Institute for Alternative Development – Trinidad & Tobago • Women Way – Suriname

Call on Guyana to vote at the UN to condemn extra judicial killings of LGBT people

This coming Monday, December 20, the United Nations General Assembly will vote on whether to include protection for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in a crucial resolution on extra-judicial executions and other unlawful killings.
For the past 10 years, this resolution has urged states “to investigate promptly and thoroughly all killings, including… all killings committed for any discriminatory reason, including sexual orientation.” It is the only UN resolution to ever include an explicit reference to sexual orientation. Just last month, Guyana voted with a number of states to remove the reference to sexual orientation from this important resolution.
States will have the opportunity to restore the reference to sexual orientation – and hopefully extend it to also include gender identity – when the resolution comes up before the UN General Assembly on Monday, December 20.
We call on the Government of Guyana to change its vote and to reverse the removal of sexual orientation from the resolution. This resolution seeks to bring attention to the most serious human rights violation, the loss of the right to life. The Special Rapporteur on extra-judicial executions has constantly underlined that people are subject to extra-judicial executions because of their actual or presumed sexual orientation or gender identity.
On International Human Rights Day, 2010, UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon addressed a UN side event:
‘Ending Violence and Criminal Sanctions on the Basis of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.’ This panel was convened by, among other countries, Norway with whom the Government of Guyana is keen to benefit from the LCDS funding; and Brazil, whose President recently received our Order of Excellence.
The Secretary General in his remarks noted that “When individuals are attacked [or] abused … because of their sexual orientation, we must speak out… It is not called the ‘Partial’ Declaration of Human Rights. It is not the ‘Sometimes’ Declaration of Human Rights.
It is the Universal Declaration, guaranteeing all human beings their basic human rights, without exception.”
We call on the Government of Guyana to do as it has done in the past, and to ensure that regardless of what the perceptions of gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender persons are, that the government will not endorse the torture or killing of people because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.
To fail to do so is to reverse the progress Guyana has made locally and internationally in advancing human rights.

Inter-American Commission on Human Rights Heightens Commitment to LGBT Rights at Hearing on Punitive Measures and Discrimination in the Caribbean

Georgetown, Guyana, November 9, 2010 - On Tuesday, October 26, 2010, four representatives of the Lesbian, Gay Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) communities in the English-speaking Caribbean participated in a thematic hearing before five of the seven Commissioners of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) in Washington, DC. The Commissioners who sat for the hearing were Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro (First Vice Chair); Dinah Shelton (Second Vice Chair); Rodrigo Escobar Gil; Luz Patricia Mejía Guerrero and María Silvia Guillén.

The IACHR is the body of the Organization of American States (OAS) responsible for the promotion and protection of human rights in the Inter-American system and the hearing was facilitated in accordance with OAS resolution 2600 ‘Human Rights, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity’ which mandated the IACHR to report on the status of human rights of LGBT at the next General Assembly of the OAS in June 2011.

The petitioners, representing organizations from Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago, presented a 72-page report detailing the situation of LGBT people in the region and requested the assistance of the IACHR in helping to repeal the laws that criminalize same-sex sexual behaviors, expression and identities in the Anglophone Caribbean.

One of the key points made in the hearing, was that the existence of the laws that criminalize same-sex sexual behaviors, expression and identities result in widespread societal stigma and discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, significantly restricting LGBT people’s ability to live safe, happy and fulfilling lives.

Maurice Tomlinson, of AIDS-Free World (Jamaica), reviewed the various laws and their penalties, and gave examples of how they affected gay men in the region; Patsy Grannum of MOVADAC- Movement Against Discrimination Action Committee (Barbados), spoke about how the laws impacted lesbian women; Ashily Dior of CAISO- Coalition Advocating Inclusion of Sexual Orientation (Trinidad and Tobago) advocated for the rights of transgender individuals and Sherlina Nageer of SASOD- the Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (Guyana) discussed the deleterious effect of the laws on the response to HIV in the region.

The petitioners urged the Commissioners to consider that the Caribbean countries which retain these colonial-era laws against homosexuality foster an environment in which real and perceived homosexuals are regularly threatened, harassed, raped, murdered, and otherwise ill-treated. Because their sexual identity has been criminalized, LGBT people in these countries often feel unable to seek legal remedies when their human rights are violated.

Finally, the petitioners called for the repeal of these discriminatory laws as an essential step in winning the Caribbean’s response to HIV, since stigma and discrimination often prevents LGBT people from seeking vital HIV prevention, treatment, care and support services.

The Commissioners acknowledged the seriousness of this issue and pledged their full support to LGBT individuals and organizations in the Anglophone Caribbean that are working on these issues. The Commissioners also urged affected individuals and organizations to continue to inform and involve them about the status of LGBT human rights in accordance with the OAS resolution, and to utilize all the tools and mechanisms available through the Inter-American human rights system in their efforts. In its release reporting at the conclusion of the 140^th period on November 5, the Commission affirmed its commitment to intensify its efforts to defend the rights of LGBT persons and prepare a hemispheric report on this issue.

The participation of the petitioners at the hearing and the preparation of the report was made possible through support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS), the Open Society Institute (OSI), AIDS-Free World, Global Rights and the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC).

ENDS

Related Information:

IACHR Press Release on the 140^th Period of Sessions:

http://www.cidh.org/Comunicados/English/2010/109-10eng.htm

Audio File of the Thematic Hearing on the Punitive Measures and Discrimination on the Basis of Sexual Identity in Caribbean Countries at the 140^th Period of Sessions of the IACHR:

http://www.cidh.oas.org/prensa/publichearings/Hearings.aspx?Lang=EN&Session=120&page=2

Photo Caption:

LGBT Panelists at the IACHR Thematic Hearing on October 26, 2010, during the 140^th Period of Sessions (from left to right): Patsy Grannum (MOVADOC – Barbados), Stefano Fabeni (Global Rights), Maurice Tomlinson (AIDS-Free World – Jamaica), Sherlina Nageer (SASOD – Guyana), Marcelo Ferreyra (IGLHRC) and Ashily Dior (CAISO – Trinidad and Tobago).

Contact Persons:

In Georgetown, for SASOD, Sherlina Nageer (English): +592 653-3734; or +592 672-3483

In Buenos Aires, for IGLHRC, Marcelo Ferreyra (Spanish, English): +54 11 4665 7527

Response to Inter Religious Organisation on condemnation of the film festival

Dear Editor

Thanks for publishing this open letter to the Inter-Religious Organisation, since we do not think it is appropriate to write to them in care of the Ethnic Relations Commission’s Secretariat - which we believe is a publicly-funded, state body and not a faith institution.

To The Members of the Inter-Religious Organisation (IRO):

We were surprised to read reports in sections of the press that comments made by the Chair of the Ethnic Relations Commission, and Public Relations Officer of the IRO, Mr. Edghill, about the SASOD Film Festival. We are very concerned about the allegations made against SASOD - and by extension Sidewalk Café – about breaking the law and we regret that the IRO did not seek to raise any issues with us to clarify their misconceptions instead of making these baseless allegations in the public domain, which we view as damaging to our good name and reputation and that of our associates and partners.

In a society which is marred by conflict and the abuses of power, it is not easy to try alternative ways of engagement which are not meant to destroy or humiliate. But, try we must and in the spirit of the Film Festival's mission to promote discussion and education about the diversity of sexual orientations and gender identities in this country, we therefore make ourselves available to dialogue with the IRO and with any other interested parties about their concerns.

The SASOD Film Festival engages every year with faith and spirituality, and we affirmed this year at our “Spectrum Celebration” concert the importance of faith and spirituality in the face of all oppressions. We hope that the dialogue with IRO could begin with those common values. We can be contacted via email at sasod_guyana@yahoo.com or by telephone at 698-1174, 686-0835 or 617-6107.

Yours respectfully,

Joel Simpson and

Namela Baynes-Henry

Co-Chairpersons

on behalf of SASOD