- published: 04 May 2016
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Section 377 refers to the section of the penal code in several former British colonies that criminalizes buggery and other homosexual acts. The law was introduced by British colonial authorities in the British Raj and was used as the model for sodomy laws in many other British colonies, in many cases to the extent of having not only the same or similar language but the same section number. The prohibition is currently in section 377 of the Penal Codes of India, Malaysia, Singapore, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar (Burma), Maldives and Jamaica and is the model for similarly worded laws that remain in force in Bhutan, Brunei, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Tonga, Tuvalu, Western Samoa, Malawi, Mauritius, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Ghana, Gambia, Botswana, Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia. It was the model for repealed laws in Australia, Fiji, Hong Kong, and New Zealand.