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{{short description|none}} <!-- "none" is preferred when the title is sufficiently descriptive; see ] -->
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2011}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020}}
{{Infobox LGBT rights {{Infobox LGBT rights
| location_header = Madagascar {{flagicon|MDG}} | location_header = Madagascar
| image = LocationMadagascar.png | image = Madagascar_(centered_orthographic_projection).svg
| caption = ] | caption = ]
| legal_status = Legal among persons at least 21 years old | legal_status = Legal, age of consent not equal
| gender_identity_expression = No | gender_identity_expression = Ambiguous
| recognition_of_relationships = No | recognition_of_relationships = No
| adoption = No | adoption = No
| military = Unknown | military = Ambiguous
| discrimination_protections = None | discrimination_protections = None
}} }}
{{LGBT rights}}

'''Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT)''' persons in '''Madagascar''' face legal challenges not experienced by non-] residents. ] (LGBTQ) people in ] face discrimination and legal challenges not experienced by non-] residents. While same-sex sexual activity is legal among individuals above the age of 21, most civic liberties such as the rights to get married and adopt children are not afforded to LGBTQ individuals.


==Law regarding same-sex sexual activity== ==Law regarding same-sex sexual activity==


Same-sex sexual activity among persons at least 21 years of age is legal in Madagascar. The Penal Code provides for a prison sentence of two to five years and a fine of 2 to 10 million ariary (US$900 to US$4,500) for acts that are "indecent or against nature with an individual of the same sex under the age of 21".<ref name="Report"></ref> Same-sex sexual activity among persons at least 21 years of age is legal in Madagascar. The Penal Code provides for a prison sentence of two to five years and a fine of 2 to 10 million ariary (US$900 to US$4,500) for acts that are "indecent or against nature with an individual of the same sex under the age of 21".<ref name="Report">{{Cite web|url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/documents/organization/186425.pdf|title=''2011 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Madagascar'', Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, U.S. Department of State, p. 26}}</ref>


==Recognition of same-sex unions==
==Discrimination protections==


Madagascar does not recognise ] or ]s.<ref>{{Cite news|title=African kontris wey give go ahead to homosexuality|work=BBC News Pidgin|url=https://www.bbc.com/pidgin/tori-53231922|access-date=2021-02-03}}</ref>
The law in Madagascar does not outlaw discrimination with regard to sexual orientation or gender identity.{{fact|date=August 2012}}


==Adoption of children== ==Adoption and family planning==


Only married, heterosexual couples may adopt children in Madagascar.<ref></ref> Only married, heterosexual couples may adopt children in Madagascar.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://adoption.state.gov/country_information/country_specific_info.php?country-select=madagascar|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140531132906/http://adoption.state.gov/country_information/country_specific_info.php?country-select=madagascar|url-status=dead|title=Intercountry Adoption: Madagascar, Bureau of Consular Affairs, U.S. Department of State, January 2011|archivedate=31 May 2014}}</ref>


==Discrimination protections==
==Living conditions==

The law in Madagascar does not outlaw discrimination with regard to sexual orientation or gender identity.


==Life conditions==
The ]'s 2011 Human Rights Report found that "here was general societal discrimination against the LGBT community" and that "exual orientation and gender identity were not widely discussed in the country, with public attitudes ranging from tacit acceptance to violent rejection, particularly of transgender sex workers". The report also found that, "LGBT sex workers were frequently targets of aggression, including verbal abuse, stone throwing, and even murder. In recent years, awareness of 'gay pride' increased through positive media exposure, but general attitudes have not changed."<ref name="Report"/> The ]'s 2011 Human Rights Report found that "here was general societal discrimination against the LGBT community" and that "exual orientation and gender identity were not widely discussed in the country, with public attitudes ranging from tacit acceptance to violent rejection, particularly of transgender sex workers". The report also found that, "LGBT sex workers were frequently targets of aggression, including verbal abuse, stone throwing, and even murder. In recent years, awareness of 'gay pride' increased through positive media exposure, but general attitudes have not changed."<ref name="Report"/>


In December 2019 a law was passed punishing gender-based violence.<ref>{{Cite web|title=How development policy financing can support COVID-19 response and preserve human capital|url=https://blogs.worldbank.org/africacan/how-development-policy-financing-can-support-covid-19-response-and-preserve-human-capital|access-date=2021-02-03|website=blogs.worldbank.org|language=en}}</ref> Nevertheless, the sociologist and former president of the National Council of Women of Madagascar, Noro Ravaozanany noted that "Malagasy society is not ready to move on the rights of homosexuals. Gender equality is already a challenge in 2020, even in intellectual circles".
==Madagascar's obligations under international law and treaties==


In 2020, a 33-year-old woman was arrested for the statutory rape of a 19-year-old woman, after her mother filed a complaint. A law punishes "anyone who has committed an indecent or unnatural act with an individual of her sex, under the age of 21" with imprisonment.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Overcrowding and the risk of unmitigated spread of COVID-19 in Madagascar's prisons|url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2020/04/overcrowding-and-the-risk-of-unmitigated-spread-of-covid-19-in-madagascars-prisons/|access-date=2021-02-04|website=www.amnesty.org|date=3 April 2020 |language=en}}</ref> The mother wanted to take revenge for her daughter's decision to file a complaint against her father, who had raped her. A campaign to support the couple was organised on social networks, while Noro Ravaozanany declared that it was "scandalous that the mother did not defend her daughter against this incest. ... It was revenge on the part of the mother and a way to cover up the accusation of incest and rape".<ref>{{Cite web|last=drbyos|date=2020-03-13|title=Imprisonment of a lesbian in Madagascar recalls the plight of sexual minorities|url=https://www.newsy-today.com/imprisonment-of-a-lesbian-in-madagascar-recalls-the-plight-of-sexual-minorities/|access-date=2021-02-04|website=Newsy Today|language=en-US}}</ref> On social media, the couple's supporters were victims of insults and death threats; religious leaders, accused them of "promoting homosexuality" and also offered the young woman conversion therapy. Although homosexuality is not illegal in Madagascar, it remains as a sensitive issue which is strongly condemned by Malagasy society.
In 1994, the ] (UNHRC) confirmed in '']''<ref></ref> that laws criminalizing consensual same-sex activity violate both the right to privacy and the right to equality before the law without any discrimination, contrary to Article 17 of the ]<ref></ref> (the "Covenant"). Those laws interfere with privacy rights, regardless of whether they are actively enforced, and "run counter to the implementation of effective education programmes in respect of HIV/AIDS prevention" by driving marginalised communities underground. The UNHRC has subsequently affirmed this position on many occasions by urging countries to repeal laws that criminalize consensual same-sex activity and thereby bring their legislation into conformity with the Covenant.<ref></ref>{{rp|page: 6 ¶ 27}}<ref></ref><ref></ref><ref></ref><ref></ref><ref></ref><ref></ref><ref></ref><ref></ref><ref></ref> Madagascar ratified the Covenant on 21 June 1971.<ref></ref>


In early July 2021, the Malagasy government canceled an LGBTQ party held in a bar in Antananarivo, on the grounds of "incitement to debauchery".
The ] in June 2002 found that arrests for being homosexual or for engaging in consensual homosexual conduct are, by definition, human rights violations.<ref></ref> The arrests constitute an arbitrary deprivation of liberty in contravention of Article 2, Paragraph 1 of the ] and of Article 2, Paragraph 1<ref></ref> and Article 26<ref></ref> of the Covenant. The Declaration is part of international law and is, therefore, binding on Madagascar.


==Summary table==
This position is consistent with other regional and national jurisprudence, including the decisions of the:
{| class="wikitable"
* ] ('']'', 1981;<ref></ref> '']'', 1991;<ref></ref> '']'', 1993<ref></ref>)
|-
* ] ('']'', 1998<ref name="South Africa"></ref>)
| Same-sex sexual activity legal
* ] ('']'', 2003<ref></ref>)
| ]
* ] ('']'', 2005<ref></ref>).
|-

| Equal age of consent
The South African court said,
| ]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://old.ilga.org/Statehomophobia/ILGA_State_Sponsored_Homophobia_2013.pdf |title=Archived copy |accessdate=2016-10-17 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130717085454/http://old.ilga.org/Statehomophobia/ILGA_State_Sponsored_Homophobia_2013.pdf |archivedate=17 July 2013 }}</ref>

|-
<blockquote><p align=justify>Privacy recognises that we all have a right to a sphere of private intimacy and autonomy which allows us to establish and nurture human relationships without interference from the outside community. The way in which we give expression to our sexuality is at the core of this area of private intimacy. If, in expressing our sexuality, we act consensually and without harming one another, invasion of that precinct will be a breach of our privacy.<ref name="South Africa"/>{{rp|page: 33 ¶ 32}} ... The criminalisation of sodomy in private between consenting males is a severe limitation of a gay man's right to equality in relation to sexual orientation.... It is at the same time a severe limitation of the gay man's rights to privacy, dignity and freedom. The harm caused by the provision can, and often does, affect his ability to achieve self-identification and self-fulfilment. The harm also radiates out into society generally and gives rise to a wide variety of other discriminations, which collectively unfairly prevent a fair distribution of social goods and services and the award of social opportunities for gays.<ref name="South Africa"/>{{rp|page: 37 ¶ 36}}</p></blockquote>
| Anti-discrimination laws in hate speech and violence

| ]
Article 2 of the ] requires each state party to "take effective legislative, administrative, judicial or other measures to prevent acts of torture in any territory under its jurisdiction". Article 1.1 defines "torture" to be,
|-
<blockquote><p align=justify>Any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person, information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity.<ref></ref></p></blockquote>
| Anti-discrimination laws in employment

| ]
The Committee Against Torture, which officially monitors the implementation of the convention by state parties to the convention, has said that the protection of minority or marginalized individuals or populations especially at risk of torture is a part of the obligation to prevent torture or ill-treatment. Their laws against torture must cover all persons, regardless of "gender, sexual orientation, transgender identity".<ref></ref> Madagascar ratified the convention on 13 December 2005.<ref></ref>
|-

| Anti-discrimination laws in the provision of goods and services
], the ] on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, reported in April 2010 that laws criminalising sexual conduct between consenting adults impede HIV education and prevention efforts and are incompatible with the right to health.<ref></ref> The ] (commonly known as UNAIDS) has a similar view.<ref></ref>
| ]

|-
The international obligations of countries to respect the human rights of all persons, irrespective of sexual orientation and gender identity, were articulated in 2006 in the ].<ref></ref><ref></ref><ref></ref> The Principles were developed and adopted unanimously by a group of human rights experts.<ref></ref> Principle 2 ("Rights to Equality and Non-Discrimination") affirms that everyone is entitled to enjoy all human rights without discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity, and specifically obligates countries to,
| Same-sex marriage

| ]
<blockquote><p align=justify>repeal criminal and other legal provisions that prohibit or are, in effect, employed to prohibit consensual sexual activity among people of the same sex who are over the age of consent, and ensure that an equal age of consent applies to both same-sex and different-sex sexual activity.</p></blockquote>
|-

| Recognition of same-sex couples
Principle 6 (the "Right to Privacy") affirms the right of everyone, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity, to the enjoyment of privacy without arbitrary or unlawful interference, and confirms the obligation of countries to,
| ]

|-
<blockquote><p align=justify>b) Repeal all laws that criminalise consensual sexual activity among persons of the same sex who are over the age of consent, and ensure that an equal age of consent applies to both same-sex and different-sex sexual activity.</p></blockquote>
| Step-child adoption by same-sex couples
<blockquote><p align=justify>c) Ensure that criminal and other legal provisions of general application are not applied to de facto criminalise consensual sexual activity among persons of the same sex who are over the age of consent.</p></blockquote>
| ]

|-
The ], ], in a statement to a High-Level Meeting on Human Rights, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity at the United Nations on 18 December 2008 affirmed.
| Joint adoption by same-sex couples

| ]
<blockquote><p align=justify>The principle of universality admits no exception. Human rights truly are the birthright of all human beings. Sadly ... there remain too many countries which continue to criminalize sexual relations between consenting adults of the same sex in defiance of established human rights law. Ironically many of these laws, like Apartheid laws that criminalized sexual relations between consenting adults of different races, are relics of the colonial era and are increasingly becoming recognized as anachronistic and as inconsistent both with international law and with traditional values of dignity, inclusion and respect for all.... It is our task and our challenge to move beyond a debate on whether all human beings have rights – for such questions were long ago laid to rest by the Universal Declaration – and instead to secure the climate for implementation.... Those who are lesbian, gay or bisexual, those who are transgender, transsexual or intersex, are full and equal members of the human family, and are entitled to be treated as such.<ref></ref></p></blockquote>
|-
| Gays and lesbians allowed to serve openly in the military
| ]
|-
| Right to change legal gender
| ]
|-
| Access to IVF for lesbians
| ]
|-
| Commercial surrogacy for gay male couples
| ]
|-
| ] allowed to donate blood
| ]
|}


==See also== ==See also==
{{Portal|LGBTQ|Madagascar}}


*] *]
*] *]


== References == == References ==
{{Reflist|2}} {{reflist}}


==External links== ==External links==
* *

{{Africa topic|LGBT rights in}} {{Africa topic|LGBT rights in}}
{{Portal box|LGBT|Human rights|Madagascar}}


] ]
] ]
] ]
]
] ]

{{LGBT-law-stub}}
{{Madagascar-stub}}

]

Latest revision as of 07:47, 1 December 2024

LGBTQ rights in Madagascar
Madagascar
StatusLegal, age of consent not equal
Gender identityAmbiguous
MilitaryAmbiguous
Discrimination protectionsNone
Family rights
Recognition of relationshipsNo
AdoptionNo
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Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people in Madagascar face discrimination and legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBTQ residents. While same-sex sexual activity is legal among individuals above the age of 21, most civic liberties such as the rights to get married and adopt children are not afforded to LGBTQ individuals.

Law regarding same-sex sexual activity

Same-sex sexual activity among persons at least 21 years of age is legal in Madagascar. The Penal Code provides for a prison sentence of two to five years and a fine of 2 to 10 million ariary (US$900 to US$4,500) for acts that are "indecent or against nature with an individual of the same sex under the age of 21".

Recognition of same-sex unions

Madagascar does not recognise same-sex marriage or civil unions.

Adoption and family planning

Only married, heterosexual couples may adopt children in Madagascar.

Discrimination protections

The law in Madagascar does not outlaw discrimination with regard to sexual orientation or gender identity.

Life conditions

The U.S. Department of State's 2011 Human Rights Report found that "here was general societal discrimination against the LGBT community" and that "exual orientation and gender identity were not widely discussed in the country, with public attitudes ranging from tacit acceptance to violent rejection, particularly of transgender sex workers". The report also found that, "LGBT sex workers were frequently targets of aggression, including verbal abuse, stone throwing, and even murder. In recent years, awareness of 'gay pride' increased through positive media exposure, but general attitudes have not changed."

In December 2019 a law was passed punishing gender-based violence. Nevertheless, the sociologist and former president of the National Council of Women of Madagascar, Noro Ravaozanany noted that "Malagasy society is not ready to move on the rights of homosexuals. Gender equality is already a challenge in 2020, even in intellectual circles".

In 2020, a 33-year-old woman was arrested for the statutory rape of a 19-year-old woman, after her mother filed a complaint. A law punishes "anyone who has committed an indecent or unnatural act with an individual of her sex, under the age of 21" with imprisonment. The mother wanted to take revenge for her daughter's decision to file a complaint against her father, who had raped her. A campaign to support the couple was organised on social networks, while Noro Ravaozanany declared that it was "scandalous that the mother did not defend her daughter against this incest. ... It was revenge on the part of the mother and a way to cover up the accusation of incest and rape". On social media, the couple's supporters were victims of insults and death threats; religious leaders, accused them of "promoting homosexuality" and also offered the young woman conversion therapy. Although homosexuality is not illegal in Madagascar, it remains as a sensitive issue which is strongly condemned by Malagasy society.

In early July 2021, the Malagasy government canceled an LGBTQ party held in a bar in Antananarivo, on the grounds of "incitement to debauchery".

Summary table

Same-sex sexual activity legal Yes
Equal age of consent No
Anti-discrimination laws in hate speech and violence No
Anti-discrimination laws in employment No
Anti-discrimination laws in the provision of goods and services No
Same-sex marriage No
Recognition of same-sex couples No
Step-child adoption by same-sex couples No
Joint adoption by same-sex couples No
Gays and lesbians allowed to serve openly in the military No
Right to change legal gender No
Access to IVF for lesbians No
Commercial surrogacy for gay male couples No
MSMs allowed to donate blood No

See also

References

  1. ^ "2011 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Madagascar, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, U.S. Department of State, p. 26" (PDF).
  2. "African kontris wey give go ahead to homosexuality". BBC News Pidgin. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
  3. "Intercountry Adoption: Madagascar, Bureau of Consular Affairs, U.S. Department of State, January 2011". Archived from the original on 31 May 2014.
  4. "How development policy financing can support COVID-19 response and preserve human capital". blogs.worldbank.org. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
  5. "Overcrowding and the risk of unmitigated spread of COVID-19 in Madagascar's prisons". www.amnesty.org. 3 April 2020. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
  6. drbyos (13 March 2020). "Imprisonment of a lesbian in Madagascar recalls the plight of sexual minorities". Newsy Today. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
  7. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

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