TUESDAY: 31st August, 2021 The United Nations have said that a proposal to criminalize LGBT+ people in Ghana is “a gross violation” of human rights and could set back a decade of progress fighting HIV/AIDS in the West African nation.
The Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill, 2021, which received a first reading in parliament on Monday, will be reviewed by a committee before going back to lawmakers for a second reading.
Patrick Brenny, who runs UNAIDS programmes across west and central Africa said, “This proposed legislation is a gross violation of the human rights of Ghana‘s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, who already face high levels of violence, abuse, stigma and discrimination.”
“UNAIDS stands squarely on the side of human rights, expresses its solidarity with LGBT people in Ghana and urges lawmakers to reject this bill.”
Currently, gay sex is punishable with up to three years in jail in Ghana.
Furthermore, the draft law charges a maximum five-year term for anyone who is gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, transsexual, pansexual and non-binary. It also makes advocating for LGBT+ rights, sympathizing or offering help (financial or medical) to LGBT+ people or their organizations a crime punishable by up to 10 years in jail.
According to UNAIDS, about 470,000 Africans living with HIV die every year because they cannot or do not get tested and so miss out on treatment.
Vulnerable groups include men who have sex with men, along with transgender people and sex workers who encounter persecution, stifling their chances of getting help.
According to Brenny, while AIDS-related deaths in Ghana have fallen by more than a third to 13,000 since 2010, and new infections are down about a fifth, the bill would create “strong headwinds” against forging future progress.
“If passed, this legislation will have the certain effect of driving people further away from HIV prevention, care and treatment services and endanger the advances made,” he said.
A study carried out in 2019 showed that thousands of gay men in Africa likely die from HIV-related illnesses every year due to homophobic laws.
The European Union, Britain and the World Bank which have provided a total of $265 million in 2018/19, urged Ghana to uphold protections enshrined in the country’s constitution.
“The EU actively condemns discriminatory laws, policies and practices, including the criminalization of consenting same-sex relations between adults or transgender identities,” said an EU spokesperson.
A World Bank spokesperson said that “institutionalized discrimination” had serious consequences in everyday life.
“When laws are enacted that prevent people from fully participating in the workforce, economies suffer,” he said, urging countries like Ghana to embrace “equality of opportunity”.
