Pakistan

Same-sex sexual activity is prohibited under the Penal Code 1860, which criminalises acts of ‘carnal knowledge against the order of nature’. This provision carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. Only men are criminalised under this law. While there is a possibility that same-sex activity is prohibited by the Zina provisions of the Hudood Ordinance 1979, which criminalise all sexual conduct outside of marriage with the death penalty, there is no evidence that these laws are levied against LGBT people and this interpretation of the law is contested.

The Penal Code 1860 was introduced by the British during the colonial period, in which the English criminal law was imposed upon Pakistan. Pakistan retained the provision upon independence and continues to criminalise same-sex sexual activity today.

There is some evidence of the law being enforced in recent years, with LGBT people occasionally being subject to arrest, however almost all reported cases involve allegations that those involved were getting married. There have been consistent reports of discrimination and violence being committed against LGBT people in recent years, including murder, rape, assault, and the denial of basic rights and services. Transgender women are particularly vulnerable to violence and abuse.

2023

In May, the Federal Shariat Court struck down sections 2(f), 3, and 7 of the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act (see below), which provided for the ‘X’ gender marker on national identity cards as well as inheritance rights. The case was brought by religious fundamentalists who claimed that the law was contrary to Islamic principles, which the Court upheld.

2022

According to the US Department of State, in May, a challenge by the Federal Shariat Court to the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, passed in 2018 (see below), resulted in the National Database and Registration Agency halting the ‘X’ gender marker on national identity cards. After backlash, this decision was reversed in September.

2018

Pakistan’s Parliament passed the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act in May. This law grants the country’s transgender citizens fundamental rights. It allows people to have an ‘X’ gender marker on official documents, including national IDs, passports and driver’s licenses. The legislation also prohibits discrimination in schools, at work, on public transport and while receiving medical care.

2012

In September, the Supreme Court of Pakistan affirmed that transgender citizens should be given equal basic rights as all citizens, including employment and inheritance rights.

2011

In November, the Supreme Court of Pakistan ordered the Election Commission of Pakistan to collect data from the hijra community, a traditional gender non-conforming community, and register them as voters.

2009

In December, the Supreme Court of Pakistan ruled that the country’s hijra community should be issued with national identity cards showing their distinct gender.

2025

Local media reported that in August, a private party was shut down and police arrested 50-60 trans people for promoting “obscene material”. The case was dismissed by a magistrate due to there being no evidence of criminal conduct.

2020

In August it was reported that the Lahore High Court had issued an arrest warrant for a trans man accused of entering into a ‘same-sex marriage’ with a cisgender woman. The man had declared in July that he had undergone gender affirming surgery.

ILGA World reported in its Identities Under Arrest report that in October, two lesbian women were arrested after being reported by family and friends for their relationship and alleged plans to get married.

2017

The US Department of State report stated that the government rarely prosecuted cases against LGBT people.

2015

In its 2015 State-Sponsored Homophobia report, ILGA World stated that they are not aware of contemporaneous evidence that consensual same-sex sexual activity has been targeted for the death penalty.

In June, Pakistan’s Express Tribune reported that police arrested two men in the Jaffarabad district of Balochistan after they allegedly carried out an alleged “secret marriage.”

2013

According to one article in August, a boy was arrested after being discovered having sex with another boy in a field. The boy’s family allegedly attempted to bribe the police, but the police would not accept the bribe. The same article claimed that whilst many arrests occur: “[i]n almost all cases charges will be dropped.”

In December, a TV reporter entered a couple’s house, accusing them of being gay. The news segment was filmed with phrases such as “[LGBT are] worthy of stoning” running over the top of the clip. The couple were arrested by police, although it is not known under what offence they were charged.

2011

In November, the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, relying on information provided by the Neengar Society, suggested that ten prosecutions have taken place under section 377 in the city of Multan, two of which resulted in a ten year prison sentence for those convicted.

2010 

43 people were arrested in May when the police suspected a gay marriage was taking place. One of those accused of getting married told police it was a birthday party, however both were arrested and charged under section 377.

2023

The US Department of State reported that LGBT people rarely revealed their sexual orientation or gender identity in public, and although there were communities of openly transgender people, they were marginalised and ostracised by society, and frequently targeted by violence and harassment, including by militants. Violence and discrimination often went unreported, and police generally took little action against complaints.

In March, local media reported that law enforcement in the central police station of Balochistan’s capital Quetta restricted trans people from “roaming the streets after midnight”, blaming them for attracting crime.

2022

In February, the Islamabad police established the Tahafuz Police Khidmat Markaz and Reporting Center to handle cases perpetuated against trans individuals. The Islamabad Transgender Protection Unit reported 44 complaints were filed, with more than half the complaints involving violence or harassment against trans persons.

The US Department of State reported that although there were policy improvements including transgender rights education in police training, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa saw an increase in violence against trans persons. Trans activists complained police did not act against targeted attacks on the community and remained indifferent despite several protests. In March, five transgender persons suffered critical injuries when a man opened fired at them in the Upper Chania area of Mansehra District. The transgender union later staged a protest and demanded authorities to control the increasing violence in Mansehra District. On March 17, men riding motorcycles opened fire on the vehicle of several transgender persons near the city museum in Mardan, killing one and injuring another. Also in March, two transgender persons were killed in two separate shooting incidents in Peshawar and Mardan Districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

2021

According to the US Department of State, in Punjab, unidentified assailants shot two trans people in February, while the bodies of murdered trans people were identified in April and August. In Karachi, armed men entered the house of a 65-year-old trans woman in April, where they shot and killed her. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan expressed concern that violence against the transgender community in Karachi was growing.

According to a NGO submission to the Universal Periodic Review, 20 trans people were killed in Pakistan in 2021, with perpetrators evading justice. The same submission reported on gang violence, sexual violence, familial abuse, and police abuse, among other forms of violence and discrimination.

2020

In July, a video was shared online depicting men assaulting a group of transgender women, who were raped at gunpoint.

In December, the LGBTIQ+ Intergroup of the European Parliament wrote to the Pakistani Government expressing concern at the increasing attacks against the transgender community, including murders, and an attack against transgender rights defender Nayyab Ali.

2019

In April, unidentified assailants stabbed and killed a transgender person in Karachi. This followed the death and torture of an elderly member of the trans community in March.

2018

In December, 18 INGOs were reportedly denied registration and told to shut down operations for allegedly ‘promoting homosexuality’.

2017

The US Department of State report noted that violence and discrimination persisted against LGBT people with impunity as police generally refused to take action. For instance, in Karachi, Sindh Police were slow or reluctant to investigate crimes committed against transgender women, including two murders in August and two gang rapes in September.

2015

In April, armed men in Swabi reportedly abducted and gang-raped a trans woman after killing two others in a pre-dawn incident while a group of transgender persons were returning home after performing a music and dance show at a wedding party. 

Three transgender women were murdered in a drive-by shooting on the evening of 8 May. Almas Bobby, a Pakistani trans activist, told Pakistan’s Dawn News that “the attackers could be those who did not like the presence of transgenders in the locality.” 

In May, terror suspects in Karachi revealed in a police investigation that they wanted to kill gay people and those who were “promoting homosexuality at the behest of America”. 

2014

In May, a Lahore paramedic confessed to killing three gay men whom he met online. Authorities suspended one senior officer allegedly involved in the attack, and the police department launched an investigation.

In July, the UK Home Office’s Country Information and Guidance report on Pakistan stated that: “Widespread and systematic discrimination against LGBT persons in Pakistan… persist[s], including harassment and violence… No effective protection is provided by the authorities.” The document also stated that: “Gay rights activists and other individuals who openly campaign for gay rights in Pakistan would be at real risk of persecution from societal actors.”

2013

A popular gay website was blocked in September, despite it containing no pornography. A spokesman of the PTA (Pakistan’s internet regulator) gave reasons for the censorship: “We blocked the website under the law because its content was against Islam and norms of Pakistani society.”

For the first time in the country’s history, several transgender women ran for public office in the May general election.

2012 

A qualitative study published in BMC International Health and Human Rights found that “the transgender community is socially excluded by Pakistani society which is leading them to indulge in commercial sex and putting their lives at risk.”

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