ILGA_State_Sponsored_Homophobia_2012

Violence and safety beyond the law
The report that follows is a compilation of laws criminalizing same sex activities amongst
consenting adults, which, unfortunately, are still in place in 78 countries in the world. We are
mindful, however, that even in those countries where some kind of protection is provided,
violence is still a major plague in the daily lives of many LGBTI people. The case study below
aims at raising awareness of the issue of safety of LGBTI people in Brazil. Although Brazil
benefits from some kind of positive legislation for LGBTI people, the reality shows that
violence, and too often murders, still prevail. Unfortunately, this situation of violence against
LGBTI is common in many of those countries that do not criminalize homosexuality and
therefore that do not appear in the report.
We are hoping this new addition to the report will become a regular feature in editions to
come and this year we would like to thank Sonia Correa, Irina Bacci, Roger Raupp and
Eduardo Piza de Mello for their outstanding contribution.
Homophobia and impunity in Brazil
by Irina Bacci, Secretary General of the Brazilian Association of Lesbians, Gays, Bisexual,
Transvestites and transsexuals (ABGLT)
Sonia Onufer Corrêa, co-chair of Sexuality Policy Watch,
Eduardo Piza Gomes de Mello, Lawyer, Specialist in Public Law and
director of Gadvs – Group of Lawyers for Sexual Diversity of São Paulo,
Roger Raupp Rios, Doctor in Law (UFRGS) and Federal Judge in Porto Alegre.
University Teacher (UniRitter),
Brazil is today the sixth world economy, having surpassed developed countries like Great
Britain. There are also projections that the economy will overtake France in mid-2015,
according to studies by the International Monetary Fund and the West L.B.
A country that less than 15 years ago needed financial help from the International Monetary
Fund to pay its foreign debt, currently lends money to the same institution. The country's
economic development has led many of its companies to build great infrastructures in
various countries of Latin America, Africa and the Middle East.
This positive picture sees also the appearance of a new social class emerged in Brazil as a
result of the redistributive social policies by the Lula government in the last eight years. But this
reality is not effective enough to promote the improvement of the living conditions of the
Brazilian people.
The Human Development Report 2011, released in November last year (2011) by the United
Nations Development Programme (UNDP) ranks Brazil in the 84th position among the 187
countries assessed by the index. The index is used as a benchmark of quality of life and
development without relying solely on economic indexes.
Consequently, it can be used also in relation to human rights violations in Brazil, which
currently affect thousands of landless rural workers, indigenous peoples, women victims of
violence because of gender differences and the violation of their reproductive rights, the
discrimination against the black population which represents half of the population and
many other marginalized and under-assisted social groups .
State-Sponsored Homophobia – May 2012
ILGA – The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association - www.ilga.org
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