Gay Travel Advisory
Qatar
Legal Code Summary
Penal Code Law No. 11 from 2004
Sources
- Text of the law is available at: https://www.unodc.org/res/cld/document/qat/penal-code_11_2004_html/2014_Penal_Code_Law_11_2004_26.pdf
Legal Code Text
Article 285 - “Whoever copulates with a male over sixteen years of age without compulsion, duress or ruse shall be punished with imprisonment for a term up to seven years. The same penalty shall apply to the male for his consent. The penalty shall be life imprisonment or a prison term not exceeding fifteen years if the offender is one of those previously mentioned in the second Paragraph of Article 279 of the present Law.”
Article 296 - “Whoever commits the following offences shall be punished with imprisonment for a term of no less than one year and no more than three years: [...] Leading, instigating or seducing a male by in any way to commit sodomy or dissipation; Inducing or seducing a male or a female in any way to commit illegal or immoral actions.”
ILGA Analysis & Notes
Sexual acts with a female over the age of 16 are prohibited by Article 281, while sexual acts with a male are prohibited by article 281 and 285. The penalty is up to seven years imprisonment for both female and male acts.
Sources
- See Amnesty International, “Love, hate and the law: decriminalizing homosexuality” at 51, available at: http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/POL30/003/2008/en/d77d0d58-4cd3-11dd-bca2-bb9d43f3e059/pol300032008eng.html
2023-2024 Legal Developments
Continues to criminalise under Penal Code (Law No. 11, 2004) Arts. 285/296/298. Multiple 2023-24 enforcement incidents documented, including entrapment via dating apps and dress-code-related detentions.