{"id":28,"area":"Africa","region_name":"Sierra Leone","iso_2":"SL","region_sub":null,"legal_code_title":"Offences Against the Person Act from 1861","legal_code_title_citation_1":"Text of the law is available at: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1861/100/pdfs/ukpga_18610100_en.pdf","legal_code_title_citation_2":null,"legal_code_body":"Section 61 - “Whosoever shall be convicted of the abominable crime of buggery, committed either with mankind or with any animal, shall be liable, at the discretion of the court, to be kept in penal servitude for life or for any term not less than ten years.”","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":"Both the Being LGBT in West Africa report (at 63) and Kaleidoscope Trust’s Speaking Out (at 24) describe very hostile socio-political environments in Sierra Leone. \nIn April 2014, the Human Rights Committee made a strong clear statement to Sierra Leone in its first Concluding Observations for that State under the ICCPR: “The State party should review its Constitution and legislation to ensure that discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity is prohibited, including by decriminalizing sexual relations between consenting adults of the same sex, in order to bring its legislation into line with the Covenant. The State party should also take the necessary steps to put an end to the social stigmatisation of homosexuality and send a clear message that it does not tolerate any form of harassment, discrimination or violence against persons based on their sexual orientation or gender identity”. \nIn its 2nd UPR in January 2016 six States made recommendations to Sierra Leone (three Latin American, three European). Four of these urged the State to repeal the 1861 Act (decriminalise), while five contain language urging non-discrimination or anti-stigmatisation initiatives. The Sierra Leone delegation ‘noted’ (functionally rejected) all six recommendations.","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":true,"legal_code_differentiates_anal_sex_from_other_acts":null,"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)"}