In many countries around the world, LGBTQI people face discrimination, violence and other serious human rights abuses simply for being who they are. Private, consensual, same-sex sexual activity between adults is still illegal in 63 jurisdictions, with punishments ranging from arrest and imprisonment to whipping and, in 12 countries, the death penalty.

Even in countries where LGBTQI identities are not directly criminalised, members of the community face additional legal barriers or are targeted by a range of laws. Public order and vagrancy laws are used to harass, arrest and prosecute trans people, while gender expression and identity is criminalised in 14 jurisdictions through “crossdressing”, “impersonation” and “disguise” laws.

In many countries where LGBTQI people struggle to access their human rights, they are also socially and economically excluded because of their sexual or gender identity, and so cannot access the support they need if they are being harassed or persecuted through the legal system. Jayna Kothari, the Executive Director of the Centre for Law and Policy Research (CLPR) in India said “If you need legal support, who are you going to go to? You don’t know lawyers, lawyers are probably not familiar with LGBTQI issues, they are probably going to be very judgmental and discriminatory themselves. And you don’t have money to pay for legal advice.”