Criminalisation
Through their domestic Constitutions and ratification of international treaties, many countries confirm the human rights of all citizens to equality under the law, to non-discrimination, to dignity, to privacy, to bodily integrity and autonomy, to engage in work in a freely chosen occupation, to freedom from degrading treatment, and to health. Despite those commitments and affirmations, however, severe barriers to access to health and justice are institutionalised and justified by penal code provisions that criminalise aspects of identity, behaviour, and choice for LGBTIQ people, for sex workers, and for adolescent girls and young women. Such barriers increase their vulnerability to violence, to poor health, to economic exclusion and to social stigma.
