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Lesbians in India |
12ÌýJun 2008 |
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The difficultiesÌýthey have to face.
Back in Victorian times, when homosexuality was made a criminal offence in Britain, it was also criminalised in India, then under British control. It’s 40 years since homosexuality was decriminalised in Britain but it remains an offence in India - under section 377 of the Indian Penal Code - and anyone engaging in homosexual acts, whether male or female, risks imprisonment.ÌýHomosexuals can also be harassed, attacked, blackmailed, and lose their jobs, housing rights and family property. As a result, gay and lesbian suicides are not unknown. In May last year, for instance, two married women lovers near Chennai, set fire to themselves after their families tried to separate them. They appeared to have died hugging each other. Attempts are now being made to change the law in India, but the subject is still widely taboo. So how do gay women cope in India? Clare Jenkins reports.
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