{"id":63,"area":"Latin America & Caribbean","region_name":"Barbados","iso_2":"BB","region_sub":null,"legal_code_title":"Sexual Offences Act from 1992, Chapter 154","legal_code_title_citation_1":"Text of the law is available at: https://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrc/docs/ngos/lgbti2.pdf","legal_code_title_citation_2":null,"legal_code_body":"Section 9 - “Any person who commits buggery is guilty of an offence and is liable on conviction on indictment to imprisonment for life.”\n\nSection 12 - “A person who commits an act of serious indecency on or towards another or incites another to commit that act with the person or with another person is guilty of an offence and, if committed on or towards a person 16 years of age or more or if the person incited is of 16 years of age or more, is liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term of 10 years. A person who commits an act of serious indecency with or towards a child under the age of 16 or incites the child under that age to such an act with him or another, is guilty of an offence and is liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term of 15 years. An act of “serious indecency” is an act, whether natural or unnatural by a person involving the use of the genital organs for the purpose of arousing or gratifying sexual desire.”","legal_code_body_citation_1":null,"legal_code_body_citation_2":null,"legal_code_body_citation_3":null,"legal_code_body_citation_4":null,"legal_code_ilga_comments":"At its 2nd cycle UPR in January 2013, Barbados received 13 SOGI-related recommendations. None of the recommendations that urged decriminalisation of same-sex sexual acts (7) were accepted. Barbados argued “because it is a democracy,” the Government “was hesitant to go against the wishes of its people” (para. 22). Furthermore, the delegation alleged that “prosecution [of same-sex sexual activity] could only occur if a minor was involved or a non-consenting adult”. Of the remaining recommendations, two related to discrimination were also rejected, and one accepted in part. \nThe three recommendations that were accepted urged the Government to protect “all human rights, including those LGBT [sic]”; to “protect the LGBT population from harassment, discrimination and violence”; and to provide “human rights education, including related to sexual orientation and gender identity, to all law enforcement officials.” Barbados’ next UPR cycle will take place in January 2018. \nAs a member of the General Assembly of the Organisation of American States (OAS), Barbados has joined the resolutions on Human Rights, Sexual Orientation, and Gender Identity and Expression adopted by that body since 2008 (see all OAS- GA Resolutions since 2008). However, since 2013 Barbados has included footnotes to these annual resolutions in an attempt to limit or reject their content, alleging “a number of the issues and terms contained therein are neither reflected in its national law nor the subject of national consensus”. \nThe 2015 Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) report on violence against LGBTI persons states that the so-called “gay panic” defence (defined as the attempt to justify the killing of a person by arguing that the violence was prompted by alleged same-sex sexual advances made by the victim) has been accepted by local courts in Barbados (see paras. 491, 494). \nIn May 2015, 76 Crimes published an article by lawyer and HIV activist Maurice Tomlinson that provides incisive insight into how national and institutional dialogues on SOGI-related issues are developing in Barbados, as well as a description of some recent institutional initiatives. A few months later, the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada published an updated report on the legal and living situation of “sexual minorities” in Barbados, including social attitudes towards bisexuality (see also previous report here). In early-2016, during debate on the Domestic Violence Amendment Bill, the Minister of Education declared that the time has come for Barbadians “to stop turning a blind eye and accept the fact that gay relationships were now part of Barbadian culture”. \nIn May 2016, Nation newspaper—one of the most widely read newspapers in Barbados— trivialised the rape of a person who was either a gender non-conforming woman or transgender man and referred to the crime as “male medicine”. B-GLAD, a local LGBT civil society organisation, condemned the piece stating that it was a “perfect example” of the lack of value placed on LGBT lives and more specifically of the lives of masculine-expressive lesbians in Barbados. UN Women also issued a statement showing concern about the article. Massive public outcry forced the newspaper to offer an apology. \nIn early-2017, a study was published probing public views in Barbados, Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago regarding the usefulness of the anti-gay laws in: reflecting moral standards, stopping ‘the spread of homosexuality’, importance in terms of public health, and effectiveness in protecting young people from abuse.","legal_code_ilga_comments_citation_1":null,"legal_code_ilga_comments_citation_2":null,"legal_code_ilga_comments_citation_3":null,"legal_code_ilga_comments_citation_4":null,"legal_code_ilga_comments_citation_5":null,"legal_code_ilga_comments_citation_6":null,"legal_code_scruff_comments":null,"prison_term_min_length":null,"prison_term_max_length":null,"prison_term_notes":null,"prison_term_not_specified":null,"prison_term_years":null,"prison_term_life":true,"prison_term_mandatory":null,"fine_min_amount":null,"fine_max_amount":null,"fine_currency":null,"fine_notes":null,"fine_not_specified":null,"fine_amount":null,"fine_mandatory":null,"penalty_death":false,"penalty_death_notes":null,"penalty_corporal_punishment":null,"penalty_corporal_punishment_notes":null,"penalty_hard_labor":null,"penalty_hard_labor_notes":null,"penalty_banishment":null,"legal_code_explicitly_references_same_sex_acts":null,"legal_code_explicitly_references_acts_against_nature":null,"legal_code_differentiates_anal_sex_from_other_acts":true,"legal_code_indicates_hiv_as_aggravating_factor":null,"legal_code_indicates_age_of_consent_homosexual_acts_over_18":null,"existing_laws_used_to_target_gays_but_not_anti_gay":null,"islamic_sharia_law":null,"islamic_sharia_law_notes":null,"laws_subregional_variance_or_contradiction":null,"laws_subregional_variance_or_contradiction_notes":null,"laws_not_specifically_homophobic":null,"laws_status_unclear":null,"laws_status_unclear_notes":null,"persecution_non_state_agents":null,"criminalization_under_consideration":null,"recently_decriminalized":null,"propaganda_law_under_consideration":null,"propaganda_law_title":null,"propaganda_law_title_citation_1":null,"propaganda_law_body":null,"propaganda_law_body_citation_1":null,"propaganda_law_ilga_comments":null,"legal_developments_2023_2024_summary":null,"legal_developments_2023_2024_citations":"ILGA World, Laws On Us: A Global Overview of Legal Progress and Backtracking on SOGIESC, 1st Ed. (Geneva, May 2024) (country not referenced in Ch.1/2 narrative).","status_change_type":"Unchanged (not mentioned in 2024 report)"}