Indian state AIDS body wants to legalise gay sex

	Tweet

The Indian government’s HIV/AIDS control body is backing demands for homosexuality to be legalised, saying that making it a crime is driving infections underground and hampering efforts to curb the virus.

The National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) filed a statement in the Delhi High Court on Wednesday supporting a petition by a local AIDS charity demanding that a 145-year-old law criminalising homosexuality be scrapped.

Many of India’s homosexuals hide their sexual orientation because of harassment by authorities, although arrests are rare. 

"It (the law) can adversely contribute to pushing the infection underground and make risky sexual practices go unnoticed and unaddressed,” NACO said in the statement.

NACO said gays lacked safe places to meet and used public places such as railway stations which left them vulnerable to abuse by police, forcing them into hiding with poor access to condoms, health care and safe-sex information.

“The fear of harassment by law enforcement agencies leads to sex being hurried, leaving partners without the notion to consider safer sex practices,” it added.

In May, UNAIDS said there were an estimated 5.7 million Indians living with the disease at the end of 2005, more than any other country and ahead of South Africa’s 5.5 million cases.

Homosexuals, like prostitutes and injecting drug users, are considered high-risk groups. There are 2.5 million practising male homosexuals in India, NACO said, of whom around eight percent are thought to be HIV positive.

The anti-homosexuality law framed by British colonial rulers in 1861 makes gay sex punishable by up to 10 years in jail.

Activists say homosexuals fight an uphill struggle in a country where public hugging and kissing even among heterosexuals invites angry stares, lewd comments and even beatings.

“For the prevention of HIV/AIDS it is essential that there should be an enabling environment where the people involved in risky behaviour may be encouraged not to conceal information so that there are provided total access to services,” said NACO. 

RELATED STORIES:
Opioids and cannabinoids influence mobility of spermatozoids   Exposure to Dioxins Influences Male Reproductive System   Intoxication important in determining when some men commit sexual aggression   A New Line of Defense Against Sexual Assault   Obese men have less semen, more sperm abnormalities, and should lose weight before trying for a baby   Few Women Seek Help for Sexual Issues After Cancer Treatment, but Many Want It   Laptop Wi-Fi said to nuke sperm, but caveats abound   Tadalafil May Effectively Treat Symptoms of BPH-LUTS in Addition to Erectile Dysfunction   Fewer high school students having sex: report   Family rejection of LGB children linked to poor health in early childhood   For Many Men, A Correlation Between Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms and Sexual Dysfunction   Erectile dysfunction treatments do not appear to damage vision over 6 months   Weight doesn’t hamper women’s sexual activity   Sexual behaviour at work still a problem shows new study from Rotman School   Sex problems vex men long after prostate surgery

Comments

[ + Post Your Own ]

Now you're in the public comment zone. What follows is not Armenian Medical Network's stuff; it comes from other people and we don't vouch for it. A reminder: By using this Web site you agree to accept our Terms of Service. Click here to read the Rules of Engagement.

There are no comments for this entry yet. [ + Comment here + ]