Violence against LGBT people - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Outside the West, many countries, particularly those where the dominant religion is
Islam, most
African countries (excluding
South Africa), some
Asian countries (excluding
Japan and
Taiwan), and some former-Communist countries in
Eastern Europe and
Central Asia, such as
Russia,
Albania,
Kosovo and
Bosnia and Herzegovina, are currently very dangerous for LGBT people because of
discrimination against homosexuals which influences both discriminatory legislation and physical violence.
[3]
In
Europe, the
European Union's
Employment Equality Framework Directive and
Charter of Fundamental Rights offer some protection against sexuality-based discrimination.
Historically, state-sanctioned persecution of homosexuals was mostly limited to
male homosexuality, termed "
sodomy". During the medieval and early modern period, the penalty for sodomy was usually death. During the modern period (from the 19th century to the mid-20th century) in the Western world, the penalty was usually a fine or imprisonment.
As of 2009, there remain under 80 countries worldwide where homosexual acts remain illegal (notably throughout the
Middle East,
Central Asia and in most of
Africa, but also in some of the
Caribbean and
Oceania) including five that carry the
death penalty.
[4]
