UN Declares Criminalizing Lesbian Sex a Human Rights Violation
The landmark ruling by the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women came in a case brought by Sri Lankan activist Rosanna Flamer-Caldera.
Landwebs
A ruling this month by the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) against Sri Lanka’s ban on lesbian sex has international implications, as the UN becomes the first international law body to declare that criminalizing sex between women is a violation of human rights, reports Pink News. In addition to criminalizing sex between men, Sri Lanka is one of 34 countries that also criminalized same-sex sexual activity between women. The case was brought to the CEDAW by lesbian and LGBT+ rights activist Rosanna Flamer-Caldera, who argued that the law violated her human right to live free from discrimination. The UN committee found that Sri Lanka had breached Flamer-Caldera’s human rights, and that the country had “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.” The landmark ruling means that any government criminalizing lesbian sex is violating international law.
