Protecting non-heterosexual rights in Africa: reformed universalism, the African Charter and domestic constitutions in Africa

Ezeah, Fortune

Abstract

The right of non-heterosexual people to dignity, liberty and equality is an inviolable right that has gained momentum globally and has become a cornerstone of human rights movements around the world. But for non-heterosexual people in a majority of African states, freedom from discrimination, violence and prejudice is still a luxury that they cannot currently afford owing to deeply entrenched resistance to the recognition and protection of non-heterosexual rights in Africa. Developing effective legal frameworks for enshrining the rights of non-heterosexual people in Africa is, therefore, imperative to ensure the roll-back of oppressive homophobic laws, practices and policies in these African states.
This thesis proposes and develops the reformed universalism legal paradigm for protecting and advancing the rights of non-heterosexual people in Africa by addressing the resistance of African states to the imposition of ‘foreign’ values on them through international legal instruments. The reformed universalism paradigm embeds the universalism of the human rights of non-heterosexual people but utilises domestic and regional legal instruments in African states to protect these rights, thus ensuring that the rights are not considered as ‘foreign’ or internationally imposed by western powers. The thesis argues that the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights and the domestic constitutions of African states have adequate provisions from which derivative human rights of sexual minorities can be founded and espoused by the regional and domestic Courts in African states, notwithstanding the conservative leanings of the judiciaries in these states. The thesis further examines the implementation mechanisms necessary to institutionalise legal protection frameworks for non-heterosexual people in African states, focusing on the regulatory and policy imperatives required for the enforcement of non-heterosexual rights in these states.
The thesis adopts a blend of doctrinal and socio-legal research methodologies with a transnational study of the constitutions of all 54 African states to examine the amenability of these domestic constitutions to incorporating non-heterosexual rights. The thesis argues that despite staunch objections of African states, there are sufficient legal instruments within their domestic jurisdictions and at the regional level that can be utilised to protect non-heterosexual rights and these instruments can be effective to halt the pervasive homophobia in these African states if dutifully applied by the domestic and regional Courts.

Citation

Ezeah, F. Protecting non-heterosexual rights in Africa: reformed universalism, the African Charter and domestic constitutions in Africa. (Thesis). University of Hull. https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/4224498

• Thesis Type: Thesis
• Deposit Date: Dec 6, 2022
• Publicly Available Date: Feb 24, 2023
• Keywords: Law
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/4224498
• Additional Information: Law School, The University of Hull
• Award Date: Feb 1, 2022