Later on, the issue of systematic discrimination against minorities was addressed in international treaties such as the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. We know these instruments have provided an important legal framework for the fight against different forms of abuse and violence against women and ethnic minorities. Here again the international community did not consider it necessary to bestow such protection on lesbians and gays. The sole exception is the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, which includes some protection for same sex couples. Homosexuality is a crime in almost half the world's countries Amnesty International has counted at least 83 countries where homosexuality is explicitly condemned in the criminal code.
Sanctions range from imprisonment to death.
No country in the world guarantees equal rights for lesbians Most States discriminate systematically against lesbians and gays in their laws, regulations, policies and services. The vast majority of them do not provide legal recognition of same sex couples nor do they grant them legal protection of any kind. As feminists, we believe that lesbians should be entitled to the protection afforded in international human rights instruments including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and the Convention and subsequent Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees. We believe the rights and freedoms of lesbians cannot be dissociated from the rights and freedoms of all women and all human beings. Yet the Beijing Declaration and the Platform for Action contain no provisions to explicitly recognize lesbians as having the same rights as other women on the planet.