Inclusive development: The impact of embracing sexual and gender minorities

Decriminalization Efforts Across the Globe

Last year, Dominica joined other Caribbean nations like Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, and St. Kitts and Nevis, in declaring colonial-era legacy laws on “buggery” and “indecency”, which criminalized consensual same-sex relations among adults, as unconstitutional. Similarly, in South Asia, Bhutan decriminalized same-sex conduct in 2021, and Sri Lanka’s supreme court supported decriminalizing homosexuality in 2023. These changes reflect a growing recognition of the need for legal reforms to support all individuals.
 

The Impact of Criminalization

When laws penalize individuals based on their personal relationships, it can hinder their ability to fully contribute to their communities. In countries with such laws, the impacts on health, employment, and education are profound. Criminalization fosters discrimination and exclusion, often pushing lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) individuals into informal economies or causing them to hide their identities at work, leading to lost productivity, innovation, and opportunity. Research also indicates that decriminalization can lower crime rates and positively affect drivers of economic development like access to education, health, and decent work.
 

Current Challenges and Statistics

Sadly, many roadblocks remain. The Equality of Opportunity for Sexual and Gender Minorities 2024 (EQOSOGI) report finds that over 35 percent of the 64 countries analyzed criminalize same-sex sexual activity or gender expression, affecting 1.3 billion people in these countries (figure 1). Twenty-two countries criminalize same-sex sexual activities between consenting adults, eight criminalize gender expression and identity, and twenty-five have legal provisions against vagrancy or public morals which indirectly target sexual and gender minorities. No country explicitly criminalizes intersex persons.
 

Figure 1. Explicit or implicit criminalization of SOGIESC-related behavior and expression, EQOSOGI 2024 countries

EQOSOGI Report Insights

EQOSOGI, using a similar methodology to Women, Business and the Law, highlights how inclusive policies are linked to better economic outcomes. The EQOSOGI report scores the regulatory environment in each country based on the presence or absence of SOGIESC-specific laws, regulations, and policies, providing an overview of equality of opportunity for sexual and gender minorities across six indicator sets (Decriminalization, Access to Education, Access to Labor Markets, Access to Services and Social Protection, Civil and Political Inclusion, and Protection from Hate Crimes). The report finds that, on average, the 64 countries studied offer low to moderate levels of equality of opportunity for sexual and gender minorities, highlighting an urgent need for reform.  
 

Economic Correlations and Development Outcomes

The intrinsic connections between equality of opportunity for sexual and gender minorities and development outcomes build a compelling case for countries to design more inclusive policies. The report finds that wealthier countries tend to be more inclusive of sexual and gender minorities across all six indicator sets, with a statistically significant positive correlation between per capita real gross domestic product and overall EQOSOGI scores. The consistency of this pattern across all indicator sets suggests that economic prosperity is associated with greater inclusion of sexual and gender minorities.
 

Good Practices for Inclusion

When exploring the associations between EQOSOGI scores and human capital or voice and accountability, the report finds that these two development outcomes are associated with more inclusive environments for sexual and gender minorities. The findings — although purely descriptive — illustrate the connections among education and skills, voice and accountability, and the environments supportive of sexual and gender minorities, hence stressing the importance of promoting greater inclusion of gender and sexual minorities in international development.

Other good practices that countries may adopt in order to increase the inclusion of sexual and gender minorities and reduce poverty include designing inclusive and accessible personal identification (ID) systems, which are essential for ensuring equal participation in social and economic activities, and improving access to government services and benefits. Of the 64 countries analyzed, only 27 allow an individual to obtain a new ID card or passport after gender reassignment. And just about half of these (13) allow legal gender recognition on a self-identification basis, without requiring surgeries or lengthy administrative processes. A good example is Pakistan’s Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act that provides for gender recognition on a self-identification basis.
 

Beyond Decriminalization: Comprehensive Protections and Collaboration Needed

While decriminalization is a crucial first step, it must be accompanied by laws and policies that address broader issues of discrimination, access to healthcare, education, and employment protections. Forty-four percent of the countries studied prohibit discrimination in employment on one or more SOGIESC grounds. For example, Ecuador legally prohibits unequal treatment in the recruitment process based on a person’s gender identity or sexual orientation. The Revised Labor Code of Mongolia prohibits unfair dismissal of an employee based on sexual orientation or gender identity and expression, and South Africa’s Employment Equity Amendment Act provides for equal remuneration for work of equal value regardless of sexual orientation.

To achieve social change, collaboration between legislators and CSOs is extremely important. Yet, SOGIESC-related organizations are not legally allowed to register or do not operate in practice in 15 countries, and in 10 countries, laws and regulations can be used to limit the operation of such organizations on grounds like public morals and national security. Ensuring that CSOs can operate freely helps them fulfil their role of fostering social inclusion and participation — which are essential components of the sustainable development process.
 

Conclusion

The World Bank remains committed to supporting countries in their efforts to create more inclusive legal and economic environments. With the release of the EQOSOGI report, we hope to foster meaningful change and to encourage governments, businesses, and civil society to read the report and understand the data showing the broad benefits of embracing and uplifting people in all their diversity to create a healthier, more productive, and more innovative workforce. The findings of this report are a call to action, as a first step towards the design of more inclusive policies for sexual and gender minorities.

Explore country profiles, analyze the scores in depth by region, or look at associations with development outcomes with the EQOSOGI dashboard!