Section 377

"The following content was contributed by a guest blogger. The opinions expressed or implied herein may not be the opinions of Green Communities Consulting." 

By Silvia Lawrence

When I tell friends at home that I’m working in human rights for Myanmar, most of their reactions include something along the lines of “Oh Myanmar, that’s awesome! Haven’t there been all sorts of great improvements there? Maybe I should make a trip soon…” And they aren’t wrong. Numerous international sanctions have been lifted, President Obama made a highly publicized visit to the country, President Thein Sein enjoyed heavy rumors of a Nobel Peace Prize nod and was recently awarded the International Crisis Group’s prestigious “In Pursuit of Peace” award, and Myanmar topped several lists for best travel destinations  in 2012 and 2013. Myanmar seems to be rocking its international media presence these days.

          

Kandawgyi Lake Photo by Jonathan Rhodes

            Well, sort of. As encouraging as all the optimism surrounding Myanmar is, news reports haven’t ignored continuing humanitarian crises such as the forced displacement of the Rohingya and other violence against Muslims, and continued difficulties in resolving conflicts in the Kachin State. Moreover, human rights violations persist on a wider scale than often makes international news, particularly in discrimination against minority populations such as LGBT people in Myanmar.

            A former British colony, Myanmar continues to use many of the laws and penalties outlined in the Penal Code imposed by the British on its colonies. One of these, Section 377, implicitly prohibits homosexual behaviour, stating:

            “Whoever voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animals shall be punished with transportation for life, or with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to 10 years, and shall be liable to fine.”

            While LGBT people in Myanmar are rarely formally charged under Section 377, the mere existence of the law undermines their legal status and has been used by police as an excuse to detain and harass people displaying what are perceived to be physical or behavioural markers of being transgender or homosexual. Indeed, cases of police picking up transgender people under the threat of charging them with 377 or similar laws and then sexually abusing them before releasing them are not uncommon.  Section 377 also carries wider implications such as inhibiting social and healthcare development, including HIV/AIDS prevention. (Read more about Section 377 here)

             While many other former British colonies left with Section 377 of the Penal Code have raised advocacy against the law, with current cases being heard in Indian and Singaporean courts, Myanmar has shown little interest in addressing it. Moreover, Section 377 of the Penal Code is merely one example of discriminatory laws in Myanmar. And while many may look to international pressure for a more thorough reform of Myanmar’s legislation, the State has yet to sign or ratify key UN treaties protecting human rights such as the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Convention Against Torture. Such steps of course take time, but they point to the long road Myanmar has yet to travel toward development and reform.