A Monash University human rights expert has condemned the Ugandan president Museveni's approval of anti-homosexuality law, which will impose life imprisonment for homosexual acts and the death penalty for 'aggravated' cases.
Associate Professor Mai Sato, Director of Eleos Justice, Monash University Law
Contact: +61 3 9903 4840 or media@monash.edu
Read more of Associate Professor Sato’s work at Monash Lens
The following can be attributable to Associate Professor Sato:
“As the world shifts towards increased acceptance, inclusion and celebration of sexual diversity, it is easy to overlook the fact that in some countries, same-sex sexual acts may carry the death penalty.
“With Uganda’s new law, same-sex sexual acts may carry the death penalty in 12 countries.
“However, the state-sanctioned killing of sexual minorities is often perpetrated well beyond the use of the death penalty, and even in countries that do not criminalise such conduct.
“Even in States that appear to embrace sexual diversity, sexual minorities continue to be subjected to stigmatisation, discrimination, and violence at the hands of the state.
“Looking beyond the death penalty, our research has found that in at least 23 countries, sexual orientation—whether actual or perceived—may be the motivating factor in state-sanctioned killings.”
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