While consensual same-sex acts are technically legal in the DRC, homophobia is deeply ingrained into the country’s culture. Many SGMs are arrested for violating Article 176 of the DRC’s legal code, which prohibits activities against public decency (ILGA World Report, 2019). Once arrested, many SGMs are subject to inhumane conditions and even rape (MOPREDS, et al). There have been several unsuccessful attempts to criminalize consensual same-sex acts in recent years (MOPREDS, et al). Furthermore, those dedicated to helping the LGBT community find it difficult to meet--organizations must officially register with the government, which denies proposals that reference the LGBT population (ILGA World Report, 2019). There are many cases of “corrective rape” of homosexual women by heterosexual men in the DRC (MOPREDS, et al).
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Marriage for Same-Sex Couples
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Civil Unions
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Joint Adoption
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Second Parent Adoption
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Employment Nondiscrimination Laws
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Broad Protections
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Criminalization of Violence
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Ban of Conversion Therapy
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Consensual Same-Sex Acts are Legal?
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Gender
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Max Penalty (Yrs in Prison)
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Autesserre, S. (2012). Dangerous Tales: Dominant Narratives on the Congo and Their Unintended Consequences.African Affairs, 111(443), 202-222. www.jstor.org/stable/41494485
Duroch, F., McRae, M., and Grais, R. (2011). Description and Consequences of Sexual Violence in Ituri Province, Democratic Republic of Congo. BMC International Health and Human Rights. http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-698X/11/5
MOPREDS, et al. (October 2017). Human Rights Violations Against Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) People in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/Treaties/CCPR/Shared%20Documents/COD/INT_CCPR_CSS_COD_29078_E.pdf
The World Bank. (2018). Congo, Dem. Rep. Data. https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL?locations=CD