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Persecution based on sexual orientation or gender identity - A crime under international law?

Torgersson, Ebba LU (2020) LAGF03 20202
Department of Law
Faculty of Law
Abstract
People of sexual and gender minorities have for decades been discriminated, harassed and prosecuted in large parts of the world due to their sexual orientation or gender identity. Although the acceptance for these groups has increased over the past couple years, the problems still persists. Today, nearly 70 United Nation member states criminalize consensual same-sex sexual acts between adults, and at least six states implement death penalty for the same acts. Ever since the Rome Statute entered into force there has been a continuous debate on whether or not the LGBT+ community is protected from persecution under international criminal law. The paper aims to analyse in what ways the LGBT+ community can find protection from persecution under... (More)
People of sexual and gender minorities have for decades been discriminated, harassed and prosecuted in large parts of the world due to their sexual orientation or gender identity. Although the acceptance for these groups has increased over the past couple years, the problems still persists. Today, nearly 70 United Nation member states criminalize consensual same-sex sexual acts between adults, and at least six states implement death penalty for the same acts. Ever since the Rome Statute entered into force there has been a continuous debate on whether or not the LGBT+ community is protected from persecution under international criminal law. The paper aims to analyse in what ways the LGBT+ community can find protection from persecution under the Rome Statute, by looking at article 7(1)(h) of the Rome Statute, as well as other international courts and organs.

The study examines the most relevant arguments for including the LGBT+ community under article 7(1)(h) of the Rome Statute. The term “gender” and “other grounds that are universally recognized as impermissible under international law” will be studied to determine if the community could successfully find protection within one of these groups. Additionally, the paper will investigate how other international courts view the question of protecting the LBGT+ community under international law. It will further be examined to what extent the International Criminal Court can take lead from the judgements made by these courts.

The study concludes that the topic will continue to be highly topical until the International Criminal Court rules in the matter. While considering the uncertainty, several arguments point to the fact that people of sexual minorities are likely to find protection from persecution under article 7(1)(h) of the Rome Statute, whereas people of gender minorities are not as likely to find the same protection. (Less)
Abstract (Swedish)
Människor tillhörande sexuella minoriteter och könsminoriteter har i årtionden blivit diskriminerade, trakasserade och åtalade i stora delar av världen till följd av sin sexuella läggning eller könsidentitet. Även om acceptansen för dessa grupper har ökat under de senaste åren är problemen fortfararande närvarande. Idag är det kriminaliserat att ingå samtyckliga sexuella handlingar mellan två personer av samma kön i nästan 70 av FN:s medlemsländer, och i minst sex länder straffas dessa handlingar med döden. Frågan huruvida HBTQ+ personer är skyddade från förföljelse inom den internationella straffrätten är något som kontinuerligt har diskuterats sedan Romstadgan trädde ikraft. Uppsatsen undersöker vilka möjligheter HBTQ+ personer har att... (More)
Människor tillhörande sexuella minoriteter och könsminoriteter har i årtionden blivit diskriminerade, trakasserade och åtalade i stora delar av världen till följd av sin sexuella läggning eller könsidentitet. Även om acceptansen för dessa grupper har ökat under de senaste åren är problemen fortfararande närvarande. Idag är det kriminaliserat att ingå samtyckliga sexuella handlingar mellan två personer av samma kön i nästan 70 av FN:s medlemsländer, och i minst sex länder straffas dessa handlingar med döden. Frågan huruvida HBTQ+ personer är skyddade från förföljelse inom den internationella straffrätten är något som kontinuerligt har diskuterats sedan Romstadgan trädde ikraft. Uppsatsen undersöker vilka möjligheter HBTQ+ personer har att finna skydd från förföljelse under Romstadgan genom att dels analysera artikel 7(1)(h) i Romstadgan, dels titta på andra internationella domstolar och organ.

Studien examinerar de mest relevanta argumenten för att inkludera HBTQ+ personer under artikel 7(1)(h) i Romstadgan, och kollar därav närmare på i vilken utsträckning som gruppen kan finna skydd under grunderna: ”kön” och ”andra skäl som är universellt erkända som otillåtna enligt internationell rätt”. Utöver detta undersöker studien hur andra internationella domstolar ser på frågan om HBTQ+ personers rätt till skydd i den internationella rätten, samt även i vilken utsträckning den Internationella brottsmålsdomstolen kan ta ledning från dessa domar.

I uppsatsen dras slutsatsen att ämnet kommer fortsätta vara mycket aktuellt tills den Internationella brottsmålsdomstolen avgör frågan. Trots de osäkerheter som föreligger, pekar flera argument på det faktum att människor tillhörande sexuella minoriteter har stora möjligheter att finna skydd från förföljelse under artikel 7(1)(h) i Romstadgan, medan människor tillhörande könsminoriteter inte är lika troliga att finna samma skydd. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Torgersson, Ebba LU
supervisor
organization
course
LAGF03 20202
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
Public international law, Folkrätt, LGBT, Rome Statute, Article 7(1)(h)
language
English
id
9034035
date added to LUP
2021-02-09 10:58:21
date last changed
2021-02-09 10:58:21
@misc{9034035,
  abstract     = {{People of sexual and gender minorities have for decades been discriminated, harassed and prosecuted in large parts of the world due to their sexual orientation or gender identity. Although the acceptance for these groups has increased over the past couple years, the problems still persists. Today, nearly 70 United Nation member states criminalize consensual same-sex sexual acts between adults, and at least six states implement death penalty for the same acts. Ever since the Rome Statute entered into force there has been a continuous debate on whether or not the LGBT+ community is protected from persecution under international criminal law. The paper aims to analyse in what ways the LGBT+ community can find protection from persecution under the Rome Statute, by looking at article 7(1)(h) of the Rome Statute, as well as other international courts and organs. 

The study examines the most relevant arguments for including the LGBT+ community under article 7(1)(h) of the Rome Statute. The term “gender” and “other grounds that are universally recognized as impermissible under international law” will be studied to determine if the community could successfully find protection within one of these groups. Additionally, the paper will investigate how other international courts view the question of protecting the LBGT+ community under international law. It will further be examined to what extent the International Criminal Court can take lead from the judgements made by these courts. 

The study concludes that the topic will continue to be highly topical until the International Criminal Court rules in the matter. While considering the uncertainty, several arguments point to the fact that people of sexual minorities are likely to find protection from persecution under article 7(1)(h) of the Rome Statute, whereas people of gender minorities are not as likely to find the same protection.}},
  author       = {{Torgersson, Ebba}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Persecution based on sexual orientation or gender identity - A crime under international law?}},
  year         = {{2020}},
}