Outright International: Tajikistan country page

The report states that same-sex relations for both men and women have been legal throughout Tajikistan since 1998, that legal gender recognition is possible, and that LGBTI organisations are able to register. It states, however, that the country does not offer any form of non-discrimination protection on the grounds of sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression or sex characteristics. The report states that civil society reports violence against LGBTIQ people is carried out on a daily basis, with ECOM (Eurasian Coalition on Health, Rights, Gender and Sexual Diversity) recording 25 cases of human rights violations against LGBT people in 2023. It states that police have subjected LGBT individuals to arbitrary arrests and other forms of violence, including blackmail, extortion and sexual assault. The report states that in 2017 the government reportedly created a special registry of over 300 “proven” LGBT persons, which, while purportedly aimed at protection and infection control, exposed LGBT individuals to increased risks of violence and persecution. It states that law enforcement has used Article 125 of the Criminal Code (intentional transmission of HIV) to detain and extort LGBT people and to force them to out others. The report states that there is no transparent procedure for legal gender recognition, but that at least two trans men and one trans woman were able to change their gender markers in 2023 through a court procedure. It states that in 2021 the Williams Institute ranked Tajikistan the second-worst out of 175 countries for average social acceptance of LGBTI people between 2017 and 2020, that the government dissolved over 700 NGOs including “Equal Opportunity” (the only NGO working on LGBTIQ equality), and that an Outright grantee’s 2024 needs assessment found 58 per cent of LBQ respondents do not feel safe and 72 per cent reported a need for mental-health services in the past year.