South Sudan

South Sudan criminalizes “carnal knowledge against the order of nature,” with a maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment. This legislation, a relic of British colonialism, remained in the country’s criminal code once South Sudan’s independence was fully established in 2011. In addition, “any male person who dresses or is attired in the fashion of a woman” in public can be punished with up to three months imprisonment if convicted. 

Same-sex marriage is not legally recognized, and a heteronormative definition of marriage is inscribed in the constitution that was adopted in 2011. Article 15 of the Constitution of South Sudan on the right to found a family holds that “every person of marriageable age shall have the right to marry a person of a different sex and to found a family according to their respective family laws.”

The Non-Governmental Organisations Act, introduced in 2016, declares that organizations may not contravene the country’s sovereignty or its institutions and laws. Civil society organizations that support gender diversity or LGBTIQ equality may not be permitted to operate in South Sudan, as they would be in conflict with the existing law. Access for All, a community-based organization supportive of LGBTIQ people’s human rights, was reportedly intimidated into closing its doors in 2017. Security forces raided the organization’s premises and detained staff members but later released them without charge, according to the organization’s executive director, who later left the country. Organizations are not able to openly work on LGBTIQ issues in South Sudan, although a few organizations address these issues in some of their programming. 

According to the U.S. State Department’s 2023 human rights report, LGBTIQ people “reported security forces routinely harassed and sometimes arrested, detained, tortured, and beat them” and even posted “public flyers in resettlement camps seeking the location of LGBTQI+ persons,” leading many openly LGBTIQ people to flee the country. Queer refugees in South Sudan, many of whom fled persecution in neighboring countries, face severe insecurity and discrimination even within refugee camps intended to provide protection. They report physical attacks, sexual violence, threats, and harassment from fellow refugees, host communities, and—in some cases—camp authorities, with little access to effective protection or accountability. First-person accounts further describe systematic exclusion from aid, housing, and livelihoods, forcing many to conceal their identities to survive.