The Indonesian province of Aceh has begun to enforce a law [BBC report] based on Sharia law [BBC backgrounder] which bans homosexual sex as well as adultery. Both locals and foreigners may now be punished with “100 strokes of the cane” upon proof that they engaged in an outlawed liaison. The law was passed in 2014, and despite facing opposition by international and domestic rights groups, the Aceh region has the right to enforce different laws [JURIST report] from the rest of the country since reaching an agreement with the national government in 2001 to end a separatist movement.

Individuals who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) [JURIST news archive] continue to struggle against discriminatory laws [JURIST forum] throughout the world. In September Human Rights Watch criticized [JURIST report] the top Malaysian court for reinstating a law that bans a man from “posing” as a woman. Also in September 12 United Nations agencies published a joint statement [JURIST report] urging states to end violence and discrimination toward LGBT individuals. Abuses toward the LGBT population are human rights abuses impacting society as a whole, the UN agencies said. The UN has increasingly paid attention to this issue, and held the first ministerial meeting on LGBT rights [JURIST report] in September 2013.