Grenada

Lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LBTI) people in Grenada face legal, social, and economic barriers to full inclusion and enjoyment of their human rights. In spite of some positive developments regionally, Grenada’s punitive laws, policies, and practices continue to contribute to pervasive stigma and discrimination, which often lead to hate crime, abuse by the police, torture, and ill-treatment, and family and community violence towards these constituencies.

The State party has a very open-ended provision – Section 431 with a penalty of ten years imprisonment, criminalising “unnatural connexion”, which has been interpreted in the past to include consensual same-sex conduct between men.

There is no legal recognition of trans identities and no place within the law for intersex people.

In 2010, during its first Universal Periodic Review (UPR) cycle, Grenada rejected recommendations to eliminate discrimination on the basis of sexuality; the country also refused to amend laws that may discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.

The CEDAW Committee provided no SOGIESC-focused observations in the 51st Session. The List of Issues also did not ask any pertinent questions related to LBTI people.

The Committee put forth a few general observations and recommendations that can be applicable to LBTI people:

(a) to establish an accessible complaints mechanism so that women can report discrimination and violations of their rights;

(b) to adopt a comprehensive strategy to eliminate negative stereotypes and adverse traditional beliefs and practices that cause discrimination;

(c) to collect and compile data on violence against women, disaggregated by sex, age and relationship between the victim and perpetrator, and carry out an in-depth analysis for policy design;

(d) to provide care, support as well as programmes for women and girls to be “reintegrated into society” if they wish to leave “prostitution”;

(e) to improve SRHR services by ensuring free and adequate access to contraceptives, decriminalising abortions, providing HIV/AIDS-related care.