It will hand down its judgment in June. The challenge raises similar legal issues as the one pending at the Kenya High Court, which is due for a decision in May.
Sections of India and Botswana’s laws were inspired by England’s King Henry VIII’s prohibition on oral and anal sex, also known as the Anti-Buggery Act of 1533. Many former British colonies in sub-Saharan Africa inherited penal codes like Botswana’s. In most former colonies, these include separate prohibitions on “carnal knowledge” and on “gross indecency” . Great Britain itself criminalised “gross indecency” – a euphemism for all forms of same-sex intimacy – in 1885. This was drafted into penal codes in Canada, South Pacific colonies, Northern Nigeria, British East Africa, and Botswana.
The prohibition of same sex relations also contributes to increased HIV infection rates as fear of mistreatment discourages gays and lesbians from getting tested and accessing health care.
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