Young Peoples and Human Rights Ghana

Nigerian Gay Man Lashed 20 Times For Sodomy: Report BAUCHI, Nigeria (AP) — A young man convicted of sodomy was whipped 20 times Thursday in a northern Nigerian Shariah court. Though Mubarak Ibrahim was found guilty under Shariah law, it is the first conviction of a gay man in Nigeria since President Goodluck Jonathan signed a bill that further criminalizes homosexuality under the West African nation's Western-style penal code. Activists believe the new law has whipped up homophobia and endangers gay people in a country where lynchings and mob justice are common. But the Muslim Rights Concern group on Thursday said it was "the other way round as the practice of homosexualism and lesbianism is most capable of instigating widespread hatred and turning society upside down." It praised Jonathan for resisting pressures from Western powers that have condemned

New anti-homosexuality legislation in Nigeria is a serious blow to the country's response to HIV http://www.aidsalliance.org/NewsDetails.aspx?Id=291672   14 January 2013   On 13 January 2014, it was reported that President of Nigeria,  Goodluck Jonathan, had signed the Same Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Bill into law. The International HIV/AIDS Alliance is deeply concerned by the severely negative impact the new legislation will have on the HIV response in Nigeria. The Act will seriously impact the ability of men who have sex with men and transgender people to access life saving and essential HIV treatment and prevention services and also poses a serious threat to all organisations providing such services. The HIV epidemic is one of the most formidable challenges Nigeria is facing today.  Over 3.4 million Nigerians live with HIV, making Nigeria the country with the second largest population of people living with HIV in the World. Men who have sex

January 3, 2014 A 19-year-old second year student of the Emit Electronic Institute in Accra has hanged himself in his room at the Old Habitat residential area within the Assin Fosu Municipality. Gideon Bansah left no suicide note but the motive behind his action was believed to be a rift he had with his father on that day. Briefing  The Mirror ,  the Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Kwabena Owusu-Bempah, the Assin Fosu District Commander of the Ghana Police Service, said Bansah was found hanging on a nylon sponge in his room. ASP Owusu-Bempah said Bansah travelled from school to Assin Fosu on Thursday, December 12 and later left for town in the evening but never returned to the house until the following morning. He said when Bansah returned home, his father was said to have rebuked him and advised him not to engage in those nocturnal escapades again. According to the district commander, Bansah, apparently not satisfied with the father’s rebuke, entered hi