Publication: Charting a Programmatic Roadmap for Sexual Minority Groups in India
Loading...
Published
2012-07
ISSN
Date
2014-04-22
Author(s)
Editor(s)
Abstract
Discrimination and stigma are constant companions in the life of the rainbow people. Apart from the demand for decriminalization, the main issues that confront the community are discrimination and violence, recognition of alternative family structures, adoption and property rights, and access to social security measures including identity documentation, welfare schemes, and education and health services. In order to establish a realistic plan for their inclusion into state provided services and liberties, it was important to understand what prevents them from doing so at this time, and to develop a carefully crafted roadmap for actions that the State, community and other stakeholders can program into their day-to-day work. Sexual minorities have fought a long battle against discrimination. Criminalization of Hijra and homosexuals took place during the colonial period and Lord Macaulay drafted the now infamous section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) according to the law, voluntary carnal intercourse against the order of nature could be punished by imprisonment. Laws such as section 377 have long been removed in most western democracies, although they persist in many post-colonial countries in Asia and Africa. In 2009, the Delhi High Court also read down the law, legalizing same sex consensual homosexual activities between adults. This judgment is unfortunately now challenged at the Supreme Court of India which is currently hearing the arguments of either side. The decriminalization of the community remains a fundamental issue which needs resolution if the community is to attain its rightful due. Continued advocacy on the part of the community and education of its people in the implications of the 2009 High Court judgment are important steps.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“World Bank. 2012. Charting a Programmatic Roadmap for Sexual Minority Groups in India. South Asia Human Development Sector report
no. 55;. © http://hdl.handle.net/10986/17984 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
Digital Object Identifier
Associated URLs
Associated content
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Related items
Showing items related by metadata.
Publication The Economic Cost of Stigma and the Exclusion of LGBT People : A Case Study of India(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2014-10-03)Human rights and equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people are usually considered through a social, cultural, or ethical lens, but equality and inclusion of LGBT people are also economic development issues. This report develops a model to estimate the economic cost of stigma; negative attitudes toward LGBT people and the exclusion of LGBT people in social institutions such as education, employment, families, and health care. The model is applied to a case study of India. Three major findings emerge from this report. First, there is clear evidence of stigma and exclusion exists for LGBT people in India. Data on public opinion from 2006 shows that 41 percent of Indians would not want a homosexual neighbor, and 64 percent believe that homosexuality is never justified. Negative attitudes have diminished over time, however. Second, the effects of stigma and exclusion are potentially costly to economies. A conceptual model links exclusion of LGBT people and economic development through (1) lower productivity and lower output as a result of employment discrimination and constraints on labor supply; (2) inefficient investment in human capital because of lower returns to education and discrimination in educational settings; (3) lost output as a result of health disparities that are linked to exclusion; and (4) social and health services required to address the effects of exclusion that might be better spent elsewhere. Third and lastly, in India, existing research does not allow for a precise estimate of the cost of LGBT exclusion, but the cost could be substantial. The loss of labor productivity and output because of employment discrimination and the loss of life years due to early death or disability will reduce the economic output of the Indian economy. With better research on the lived experiences of LGBT people, researchers could use existing analytical tools to estimate the total cost of LGBT exclusion.Publication Women's Voice and Agency : The Role of Legal Institutions and Women's Movements(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2014)Global events like the Beijing Women s Conference of 1995 have resulted in the creation of strong international frameworks that set standards for women s rights around the world. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the Beijing Platform for Action, and other international norms define the scope of universal rights for women and girls, and have opened new spaces for regional and national legal reform. Bottom-up engagement with these international laws and institutions by local and transnational women s movements has catalyzed widespread changes in lawmaking and transformed standard-setting documents into tools for reform. The following paper discusses four important pillars of women s voice and agency (while recognizing that there are others which are beyond the scope of this review): freedom from the risk of violence; freedom of movement; freedom to make decisions on family formation and the freedom to shape policy. It will examine the ways in which these freedoms impact women s voice and the ways in which women are working to reform law and policy to ensure these four freedoms are accessible to all.Publication "They Are Not Like Us" : Understanding Social Exclusion(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2014-02)Negative attitudes toward groups in society are widespread and underpin systematic processes of social exclusion that marginalize people and deny them opportunities and dignity. This paper looks at the processes underlying social exclusion. It uses data covering Eastern Europe and Central Asia to study the responses to a simple hypothetical survey question about which specific groups respondents would not like to have as neighbors. Unwelcoming attitudes toward groups such as immigrants, ethnic minorities, the poor, HIV+ individuals, and others are surprisingly common. These attitudes fall into three distinct clusters: intolerance for the poor and for different lifecycle stages; intolerance toward stigmatized attributes and behaviors; and intolerance toward specific identity groups. An empirical analysis of the determinants of attitudes shows that country-specific factors are far more important than socio-economic characteristics. These findings could have important implications for theories about exclusion and for the design of appropriate social inclusion policies. The authors argue that strategies to address social exclusion need to consider ways to change social norms, attitudes, and behaviors toward disadvantaged groups. The paper explores potential entry points for change within formal and informal institutions.Publication The Illusion of Inclusion : Women's Access to Rights in Northern Kenya(World Bank, Nairobi, 2008-12)This paper shows how official laws concerning justice for women, can be difficult to apply when they are not socially acknowledged, contextualized, or received, and therefore have minimal impact on women's lives. It demonstrates that the inclusion of women through international conventions, domestic legal reform, and gender quotas in participatory processes, is illusory. While these are all important instruments in women's empowerment, the paper calls upon access to justice practitioners and policy makers to place equal emphasis on fostering the practical implementation of laws and to emphasize opportunities for increased equality in informal systems.Publication Youth in the Maldives : Shaping a New Future for Young Women and Men through Engagement and Empowerment(Washington, DC, 2014-10-03)This report responds to the growing concern over issues facing Maldivian youth today, and specifically, to a request made by the Ministry of Youth and Sports to examine the status of youth in the Maldives. Such concerns are certainly warranted, particularly in light of a regional youth bulge which is taking place in South Asia, as well as an observed increase in at risk behavior such as youth drug use and membership in gangs. While a number of studies have sought to examine youth issues in the Maldives, a comprehensive and holistic assessment is lacking. This report was aimed at helping to fill this knowledge gap. This report examines issues affecting young people in the Maldives as they transition from adolescence to adulthood, and based on this analysis and a review of international good practice, recommends a number of actions for the Government s consideration. The analysis focused on youth experiences as they pertain to: health, education, labor, family structure, gangs and violence, and civic engagement and participation. A youth development framework, based on public health literature and adapted to the Maldives, serves as the organizing structure of the report. The report draws on original data collection and analysis, as well as an extensive review of existing literature. With regard to data collection, the study involved field-based research including a household survey and in-depth interviews, and focus-group discussions with youth and stakeholders in the Maldives.
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
Publication Lebanon Economic Monitor, Fall 2022(Washington, DC, 2022-11)The economy continues to contract, albeit at a somewhat slower pace. Public finances improved in 2021, but only because spending collapsed faster than revenue generation. Testament to the continued atrophy of Lebanon’s economy, the Lebanese Pound continues to depreciate sharply. The sharp deterioration in the currency continues to drive surging inflation, in triple digits since July 2020, impacting the poor and vulnerable the most. An unprecedented institutional vacuum will likely further delay any agreement on crisis resolution and much needed reforms; this includes prior actions as part of the April 2022 International Monetary Fund (IMF) staff-level agreement (SLA). Divergent views among key stakeholders on how to distribute the financial losses remains the main bottleneck for reaching an agreement on a comprehensive reform agenda. Lebanon needs to urgently adopt a domestic, equitable, and comprehensive solution that is predicated on: (i) addressing upfront the balance sheet impairments, (ii) restoring liquidity, and (iii) adhering to sound global practices of bail-in solutions based on a hierarchy of creditors (starting with banks’ shareholders) that protects small depositors.Publication Classroom Assessment to Support Foundational Literacy(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-03-21)This document focuses primarily on how classroom assessment activities can measure students’ literacy skills as they progress along a learning trajectory towards reading fluently and with comprehension by the end of primary school grades. The document addresses considerations regarding the design and implementation of early grade reading classroom assessment, provides examples of assessment activities from a variety of countries and contexts, and discusses the importance of incorporating classroom assessment practices into teacher training and professional development opportunities for teachers. The structure of the document is as follows. The first section presents definitions and addresses basic questions on classroom assessment. Section 2 covers the intersection between assessment and early grade reading by discussing how learning assessment can measure early grade reading skills following the reading learning trajectory. Section 3 compares some of the most common early grade literacy assessment tools with respect to the early grade reading skills and developmental phases. Section 4 of the document addresses teacher training considerations in developing, scoring, and using early grade reading assessment. Additional issues in assessing reading skills in the classroom and using assessment results to improve teaching and learning are reviewed in section 5. Throughout the document, country cases are presented to demonstrate how assessment activities can be implemented in the classroom in different contexts.Publication Argentina Country Climate and Development Report(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022-11)The Argentina Country Climate and Development Report (CCDR) explores opportunities and identifies trade-offs for aligning Argentina’s growth and poverty reduction policies with its commitments on, and its ability to withstand, climate change. It assesses how the country can: reduce its vulnerability to climate shocks through targeted public and private investments and adequation of social protection. The report also shows how Argentina can seize the benefits of a global decarbonization path to sustain a more robust economic growth through further development of Argentina’s potential for renewable energy, energy efficiency actions, the lithium value chain, as well as climate-smart agriculture (and land use) options. Given Argentina’s context, this CCDR focuses on win-win policies and investments, which have large co-benefits or can contribute to raising the country’s growth while helping to adapt the economy, also considering how human capital actions can accompany a just transition.Publication Digital Africa(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2023-03-13)All African countries need better and more jobs for their growing populations. "Digital Africa: Technological Transformation for Jobs" shows that broader use of productivity-enhancing, digital technologies by enterprises and households is imperative to generate such jobs, including for lower-skilled people. At the same time, it can support not only countries’ short-term objective of postpandemic economic recovery but also their vision of economic transformation with more inclusive growth. These outcomes are not automatic, however. Mobile internet availability has increased throughout the continent in recent years, but Africa’s uptake gap is the highest in the world. Areas with at least 3G mobile internet service now cover 84 percent of Africa’s population, but only 22 percent uses such services. And the average African business lags in the use of smartphones and computers as well as more sophisticated digital technologies that catalyze further productivity gains. Two issues explain the usage gap: affordability of these new technologies and willingness to use them. For the 40 percent of Africans below the extreme poverty line, mobile data plans alone would cost one-third of their incomes—in addition to the price of access devices, apps, and electricity. Data plans for small- and medium-size businesses are also more expensive than in other regions. Moreover, shortcomings in the quality of internet services—and in the supply of attractive, skills-appropriate apps that promote entrepreneurship and raise earnings—dampen people’s willingness to use them. For those countries already using these technologies, the development payoffs are significant. New empirical studies for this report add to the rapidly growing evidence that mobile internet availability directly raises enterprise productivity, increases jobs, and reduces poverty throughout Africa. To realize these and other benefits more widely, Africa’s countries must implement complementary and mutually reinforcing policies to strengthen both consumers’ ability to pay and willingness to use digital technologies. These interventions must prioritize productive use to generate large numbers of inclusive jobs in a region poised to benefit from a massive, youthful workforce—one projected to become the world’s largest by the end of this century.Publication World Development Report 2006(Washington, DC, 2005)This year’s Word Development Report (WDR), the twenty-eighth, looks at the role of equity in the development process. It defines equity in terms of two basic principles. The first is equal opportunities: that a person’s chances in life should be determined by his or her talents and efforts, rather than by pre-determined circumstances such as race, gender, social or family background. The second principle is the avoidance of extreme deprivation in outcomes, particularly in health, education and consumption levels. This principle thus includes the objective of poverty reduction. The report’s main message is that, in the long run, the pursuit of equity and the pursuit of economic prosperity are complementary. In addition to detailed chapters exploring these and related issues, the Report contains selected data from the World Development Indicators 2005‹an appendix of economic and social data for over 200 countries. This Report offers practical insights for policymakers, executives, scholars, and all those with an interest in economic development.