St Lucia

Legal Code Summary

Criminal Code, No. 9 from 2004

Legal Code Text

Section 133 - “A person who commits buggery commits an offence and is liable on conviction on indictment to imprisonment for: (a) life, if committed with force and without the consent of the other person; (b) ten years, in any other case. Any person who attempts to commit buggery [...] commits an offence and is liable to imprisonment for five years. In this section ‘buggery’ means sexual intercourse per anus by a male person with another male person.”

Section 132 - “Any person who commits an act of gross indecency with another person commits an offence and is liable on conviction on indictment to imprisonment for ten years or on summary conviction to five years. [...] In this section “gross indecency” is an act other than sexual intercourse (whether natural or unnatural) by a person involving the use of the genital organs for the purpose of arousing or gratifying sexual desire.”

ILGA Analysis & Notes

At its 1st cycle UPR in January 2011, St Lucia received eight recommendations. It accepted two which both concerned investigation and protection of SOGI-related human rights defenders. Having asserted that non-discrimination in the Constitution was inclusive of all St Lucians, the delegation made an interesting comment during its Interactive Dialogue: “Matters regarding how a society interacts, what principles it is governed by and how it will evolve in the future clearly reveal a need for advocacy and changes in attitude of certain sectors of society. The question remains, however, whether such advocacy should be the role of the Government, or whether it should be carried out by those who believe they are discriminated against” (para. 65). In its 2nd cycle UPR in November 2015, the State revealed that it was “considering enacting ordinary legislation addressing discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation”, as suggested by the Constitutional Reform Commission, referencing its 2006 Labour Code that already outlaws such discrimination (para. 18). Furthermore, the delegation indicated that “all Saint Lucians, including LGBT persons, were afforded full protection under the Constitution”, and that judicial redress was afforded to “any individual” regardless of sexual orientation (para. 19). Saint Lucia received a total of 13 SOGI-related recommendations. All recommendations to repeal laws criminalising same-sex consensual acts or legislation that may otherwise discriminate against LGBT people were rejected. Only three recommendations (and one in part) were accepted, all of them referring to awareness-raising campaigns and “strengthening the fight” against discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. As a member of the General Assembly of the Organisation of American States (OAS), Saint Lucia has joined the resolutions on Human Rights, Sexual Orientation, and Gender Identity and Expression adopted by this body since 2008 (see all OAS-GA Resolutions since 2008). However, in 2013, Saint Lucia announced it would insert a footnote to that year’s resolution (fn. 7). The following year, Saint Lucia inserted a footnote that reads as follows: “Saint Lucia is unable to join consensus on the approval of this resolution since we are of the view that the term ‘gender expression’ is one that is not thoroughly defined or accepted internationally. Moreover, not only is the expression heavily nuanced but most importantly it is currently not defined in domestic law” (fn. 12). Saint Lucia inserted no footnote in the 2016 resolution (there was no resolution in 2015). Local human rights organisations called on political parties “to make a full position statement on the issue of LGBT discrimination”, after a video showing the Minister of Tourism using a derogatory word sparked outrage on social media. In fact, in 2015, the interplay of buggery laws and tourism had been the subject of a special report by Telesur. The 2016 US Department of State Human Rights Report explains that there was widespread social discrimination against LGBTI persons in the deeply conservative Saint Lucian society during 2015, and that the few openly LGBTI persons faced daily verbal harassment. However, very few incidents of violence or abuse appear to have been reported, mainly due to reluctance to report for fear of retribution or reprisal. No progress had been made in the investigation of the killing of Marvin Anthony Augustin, which appears to have been a hate crime. Furthermore, in terms of economic, social and cultural rights, LGBTI persons were denied access to rental homes or were forced to leave rental homes, and were denied jobs or left jobs due to a hostile work environment. Despite this adverse environment, several courageous activists publicly shared their stories of survival in Saint Lucia (see among others, Jessica St Rose and Donavan Monerville).