Current Version
| Region | Malawi |
| Issue | Censorship of LGBT issues |
| Status | Imprisonment as punishment |
| Start Date | 1973 |
| End Date | Feb 7, 2011 |
| Description | In 1973, President Hastings Banda implemented a reform to the Penal Code which added a clause to Section 180 against idle persons. The clause explicitly prohibited men from wearing long hair. While often viewed as a response to the growing hippy movement, the law has in practice also been used to persecute transgender women, who are denied legal gender recognition, who decide to grow their hair long to express their gender. The law would be repealed in 2011. |
| Sources | https://web.archive.org/web/20120303065942/http://www.iglhrc.org/binary-data/ATTACHMENT/file/000/000/488-1.pdf https://media.malawilii.org/files/legislation/akn-mw-act-1929-22-eng-2014-12-31.pdf https://www.southernafricalitigationcentre.org/malawi-challenging-refusal-of-admission-to-school/ https://www.businessmalawi.com/files/ACB/Malawi-Penal-Code-Criminal-Law.pdf https://www.humandignitytrust.org/country-profile/malawi/ |
Revision History (1)
created by DaisyGeekyTrans
Helpful?
0 | Original entry | |
|---|---|
| Status | Imprisonment as punishment |
| Start Date | 1973 |
| End Date | Feb 7, 2011 |
| Description | In 1973, President Hastings Banda implemented a reform to the Penal Code which added a clause to Section 180 against idle persons. The clause explicitly prohibited men from wearing long hair. While often viewed as a response to the growing hippy movement, the law has in practice also been used to persecute transgender women, who are denied legal gender recognition, who decide to grow their hair long to express their gender. The law would be repealed in 2011. |
| Sources | https://web.archive.org/web/20120303065942/http://www.iglhrc.org/binary-data/ATTACHMENT/file/000/000/488-1.pdf https://media.malawilii.org/files/legislation/akn-mw-act-1929-22-eng-2014-12-31.pdf https://www.southernafricalitigationcentre.org/malawi-challenging-refusal-of-admission-to-school/ https://www.businessmalawi.com/files/ACB/Malawi-Penal-Code-Criminal-Law.pdf https://www.humandignitytrust.org/country-profile/malawi/ |