Country Overview
Malawi
At a glance
Same-sex Relations for Men Legal Throughout the Country?
Same-sex Relations for Women Legal Throughout the Country?
Legal Gender Recognition Possible?
LGBTI Orgs Able to Register?
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Malawi criminalizes same-sex relations under a penal code that uses the language of, “carnal knowledge against the order of nature” and “gross indecency.” There is a maximum penalty of fourteen years’ imprisonment with corporal punishment. Both men and women are criminalized under the law. In addition to potentially being punished by laws that criminalize same-sex activity, trans people may also face prosecution under a law criminalizing “idle and disorderly persons” with a maximum penalty of six months imprisonment and a fine. Malawi has made international headlines with the arrests of same-sex couples, including in 2010 when a gay couple was sentenced to 14 years in 2012 after being convicted on sodomy and indecency charges.
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