“All Five Fingers Are Not the Same”: Discrimination on Grounds of Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation in Sri Lanka

In Sri Lanka, ideas about the way men and women should look and act are deeply entrenched. Those who challenge gender norms—including many lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) people—may face a range of abuses from state officials and private individuals that compromise the quality and safety of their daily lives, and their ability to access services that are central to their realizing basic human rights.

This report, based on interviews that Human Rights Watch conducted in four Sri Lankan cities between October 2015 and January 2016 with 61 LGBTI people, focuses primarily on abuses experienced by transgender people—including arbitrary detention, mistreatment, and discrimination accessing health care, employment, and housing. The report also includes examples of discrimination and abuse experienced by individuals based on actual or perceived sexual orientation, many of which are related to a lack of acceptance of gender non-conformity.

It discusses such abuses within a broader legal landscape that fails to recognize the gender identity of transgender people without abusive requirements; makes same-sex relations between consenting adults a criminal offense; and enables a range of abuses against LGBTI people.

Finally, the report outlines reform measures that the government of President Maithripala Sirisena should take—alongside implementing transitional justice mechanisms and security sector reform and adopting a new constitution—to protect the human rights of LGBTI people so they can live free of violence and discrimination.