Case No. UKUT-00092-(IAC)

) demonstrates that it is inaccurate to suggest that the law criminalising homosexual sex is rarely used. There has been a steady stream of crimes reported / accepted / detected for the offence of buggery from 2011 onwards. T his includes a 600% increase of buggery crimes reported between 2016 (4) to 2017 (24). (ix) St Lucia’ s only prominent LG BT organisation ‘United and Strong’ is an activist non-governmental organisation with very limited resources. It operates discreetly and does not publicise its operations. It does not function as a support agency. Individuals within United and Strong have however been openly cri tical of the government’s approach to sexual minorities. (x) In order to live in St Lucia safely, this appellant would have no alternative but to live discreetly. Given the country’s small size and the nature and extent of homophobic discrimination and victimisation across St Lucia, internal relocation fr om the appellant’s home in the north-w est of St Lucia elsewhere would not be safe or reasonable. Legal framework and government / societal discrimination 32.In two responses to information requests dated 18 December 2017 and 2 November 2018, the respondent summarised his understanding of the country background materials on how LGBT persons are treated in St Lucia. The respondent accepts that consensual same-sex activity is illegal. The 2018 information request makes reference to the US State Department’s Country Report on Human Rights Practices for 2017, which says this: “Consensual same sex sexual activity is illegal under indecency statutes, and some same sex sexual activity between men is also illegal under anal intercourse laws. Indecency statutes carry a maximum penalty of five years’ imprisonment, and anal intercourse carries a maximum penalty of ten years in prison. No legislation protects persons from discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. While the indecency statutes and anal intercourse laws were rarely enforced, there was widespread social discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) persons in the deeply conservative society. The few openly LGBTI persons faced daily verbal harassment. Civil society groups received reports that LGBTI persons were denied access to rental homes or were forced to leave rental homes and were denied jobs or left jobs due to a hostile work environment. There were few reported incidents of violence or abuse during the year. ” 33.Section 132 of the Criminal Code No 9 of 2004 in St Lucia states that a person is liable to up to ten years imprisonment if they commit an act of gross indecency. Section 133 defines buggery as “sexual intercourse per anus by a male person with another male person”. By section 133(1) a person who commits buggery commits an offence and is liable on conviction on indictment for (a) life, if committed with force and without the consent of the other person (b) ten years, in any other case.34.It is not disputed that same-sex sexual activity is illegal in St Lucia and consensual buggery is punishable by imprisonment. There is no anti-discrimination legislation based on sexual orientation or gender identity. 35.The respondent’s position is that in practice gay people are not arrested and prosecuted for homosexual activities. The US State Department refers to these laws as being rarely enforced. There is support for this in a 2018 Human Rights Watch (HRW) Report, Paradise Lost – the Plight of LGBT people in the Eastern Caribbean. This states: “