Part I Experiences of being lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex in the Asia Pacific States have the legal obligation under international human rights law to safeguard the human rights of all persons, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity or intersex status. Criminalizing private sexual relationships between consenting adults, whether the relationships are same-sex or different-sex, is a violation of the right to privacy and a form of discrimination. In addition to violating basic rights, this criminalization legitimizes hostile attitudes towards LGBTI people, feeding stigma, violence and discrimination in areas such as education, employment, housing and health care.112 2.3. SAFETY AND VIOLENCE The existence of criminal laws against lesbian, gay and bisexual people increases the risk of violence but, even where there are no criminal laws, lesbian, gay and bisexual people encounter significantly greater risks of being subjected to violence than other people. Individually and as a group, lesbian, gay and bisexual people are marginalised and often targeted for violence on the basis of their sexual orientation alone. The High Commissioner for Human Rights has reported that UN human rights mechanisms continue to receive reports from all regions of homophobic violence: both physical violence, including murder, beatings, kidnapping and sexual assault; and psychological violence, including threats, coercion and the arbitrary deprivation of liberty, such as forced psychiatric incarceration. Violence can occur in public settings, including by religious extremists, paramilitary groups and extreme nationalists, or in family and community settings. The High Commissioner for Human Rights reported that homophobic violence: … is often particularly brutal, and in some instances characterized by levels of cruelty exceeding that of other hate crimes. Violent acts include deep knife cuts, anal rape and genital mutilation, as well as stoning and dismemberment.113 Well-documented studies in many countries and regions have revealed high levels of murder based on sexual orientation. The Government of Brazil, which reports annually on homophobic violence, recorded 310 murders in 2012 alone.114 The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights reported 594 haterelated killings of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons in the 25 States members of the Organization of American States between January 2013 and March 2014.115 The High Commissioner for Human Rights reported that ‘hate-motivated killings’ of lesbian, gay and bisexual people have been documented in all regions.116 He instanced the report on a visit to Mexico by the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions who noted ‘grotesque homicides’ perpetrated with broad impunity, allegedly at times ‘with the suspected complicity of investigative authorities’.117 112 OHCHR, Information sheet: Frequently Asked Questions: Sexual orientation, gender identity and intersex status in the Pacific, August 2015, p. 2; at www.ohchr.org/Documents/Publications/UNFE_PacificCampaignInfoSheet-Aug2015.pdf. 113 High Commissioner for Human Rights, Discrimination and violence against individuals based on their sexual orientation and gender identity, 4 May 2015, A/HRC/29/23, paras. 21-23; at www.un.org/en/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/HRC/29/23&referer=/ english/&Lang=E. See Chapter 3 for discussion of the differences between what is often public violence against gay men and transgender women and frequent private violence against lesbian and bisexual women and transgender men. 114 Brazil, Department of Human Rights, Second report on homophobic violence in Brazil (2012), June 2013; referred to in High Commissioner for Human Rights, Discrimination and violence against individuals based on their sexual orientation and gender identity, 4 May 2015, A/HRC/29/23, para 27. 115 Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Press release 153/14, 2014, p. 1; referred to in High Commissioner for Human Rights, Discrimination and violence against individuals based on their sexual orientation and gender identity, 4 May 2015, A/ HRC/29/23, para. 27. 116 High Commissioner for Human Rights, Discrimination and violence against individuals based on their sexual orientation and gender identity, 4 May 2015, A/HRC/29/23, para. 26. 117 Report of the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, April 2014, A/HRC/26/36/Add.1 1, para. 85. Chapter 2: Being lesbian, gay and bisexual in the Asia Pacific | 35