Criminalization and rhetorical nondiscrimination: Sex work and sexual diversity politics in Rwanda

Abstract Sex that is considered nonnormative or undesirable is often subject to state sanction. In Rwanda in 2009 there was an effort to criminalize sex work and same-sex sex, but ultimately only the criminalization of sex work occurred. What explains these different outcomes? Although both groups are at higher risk for HIV transmission because of social stigma, these concerns were not sufficient. The political salience of the human rights argument that nondiscrimination is an essential government commitment in postgenocide Rwanda was used to reject criminalizing same-sex sex. However, neither politicians nor most civil society activists thought this human rights argument was applicable to sex work. Although criminalizing lgbt people was considered socially divisive, criminalizing sex work was considered necessary. Understanding these different outcomes reveals the limitations of human rights arguments on the regulation of sex in East Africa.