Around the world
Since its launching, in 2006, the Sexuality Policy Watch website has circulated relevant information on sexual politics trends, events and actors around the world. This investment has resulted in a rich archive of global and national sexual politics.
One main feature of this database is that it is not confined to specific areas or issues. It encompasses information on abortion, sexual and reproductive rights, sex work, sexual violence, gender and women’s rights, HIV and AIDs; and emphasizes materials and analysis that contribute to locate these issues in relation to the political economy of sexuality. Since 2013, key facts, events and trends are selected and highlighted in monthly announcements.
Public Attitudes towards Homosexuality and Gay Rights across Time and Countries
A new study finds that residents in 90% of all surveyed countries have become more accepting of homosexuality over the past 20 years. The study examines the responses to 2000 questions asked in hundreds of surveys since 1981. Each included questions about attitudes regarding lesbians and gay men in 10 to 52 countries. In 98% of the […]
Read moreWhy I’m Disturbed by Screening for Intersex Traits in Utero
by Claudia Astorino March 11, 2015 – 1:20 pm As an avid proponent of reproductive rights, I strongly feel that safe, legal abortion must be accessible for everyone, including trans* people, gender-nonconforming people, and intersex folks like me. That being said, I’m concerned—disturbed, really—by an increasingly common feature of prenatal care that’s affecting my community: […]
Read moreCSW59 DECLARATION: A WEAK DOCUMENT TO ADDRESS THE WOMEN’ S AND GIRLS CHALLENGES
Women’s, Feminists and other civil society NGOs from Latin America and the Caribbean launched a statement criticizing the Political Declaration approved by Members States Monday 9 march in United Nations, in the 59 period of Sessions of the Commission on the Social Status of Women (CSW). Learn more.
Read moreIran birth drive ‘turns women into baby-making machines’
Draft laws aimed at boosting the birth rate in Iran reduce women to “baby-making machines”, the rights group Amnesty International warns. One proposal outlaws voluntary sterilisation and promoting birth control, while another makes it harder for women without babies to get jobs. Amnesty says the two laws would set women’s rights in Iran back by […]
Read moreTake Action on April 12!
In response to An Urgent Calling for Global Action: Protest in Front of Chinese Embassies for Detained Chinese Feminists, we are going to launch a protest at the Mongkok pedestrian zone to demand the immediate release of the Chinese feminists. On 21 March in Hong Kong, we launched a protest to the Liaison Office of […]
Read moreStatement on the Political Declaration on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women
Organizations of the International Sexual and Reproductive Rights Coalition (ISRRC) launched a statement highlighting that, despite progress achieved toward gender equality and the realization of the human rights of women and girls since Beijing 1995, many of the gains that women and girls have made are under threat and face unprecedented challenges.Read it here.
Read moreWomen Deserve to Know About HIV Prevention Medication Too
by Anna Forbes and Manju Chatani and Dázon Dixon Diallo March 10, 2015 – 1:05 pm In 2012, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the use of the antiretroviral medication Truvada as the first form of PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis), a pill to protect against getting HIV. To date, the United States is the […]
Read moreThe majority of sex workers enjoy their job – why should we find that surprising?
Selling sex is not inherently harmful or dangerous. Criminalising it would be Prevalent discourse would have you believe that sex workers are problems to deal with, or victims to ‘save’. But that couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, when you ask sex workers about their job satisfaction and working conditions – as a […]
Read moreIndia bans movie bringing an interview with murder girl victim of gang rape
An Indian Court has banned a movie in which one of the men convicted in the murder of a woman victim of a gan rape in 2012 blames her for the death. The case has sparked controversy across the world. SPW has gathered some news on the fact. Rape convict interview: Rajnath summons Tihar Director-General […]
Read moreMaking It More Affordable to Raise a Baby Won’t Make Abortion Demand Obsolete
by Amanda Marcotte March 3, 2015 – 9:39 am With their new paper, the Brookings Institution‘s researchers Richard V. Reeves and Joanna Venator set out to explain the dramatic difference in unintended childbearing rates between low-income and middle-class women, and how that discrepancy helps perpetuate inequality. Reeves and Venator certainly succeeded in this regard, showing how single middle-class […]
Read moreU.S. Push for Abstinence in Africa Is Seen as Failure Against H.I.V.
By DONALD G. McNEIL Jr. FEB. 26, 2015 SEATTLE — The $1.3 billion that the United States government has spent since 2005 encouraging Africans to avoid AIDS by practicing abstinence and fidelity did not measurably change sexual behavior and was largely wasted, according to a study presented on the last day of an AIDS conference […]
Read moreReproductive Health Matters Journal Call for Papers
Sexuality, sexual rights and sexual politics volume 23 number 46 november 2015 Sexuality is an integral component of human existence. Fulfilling sexuality and protecting sexual rights are instrumental to achieving the highest attainable level of sexual health. Although sexuality can be deemed personal and private, it is often subject to power relations in […]
Read moreAbortion and Reproductive Rights in Latin America: Implications for Democracy
We are pleased to present this report on women’s reproductive rights in Latin America. In recent decades, women throughout the region have made tremendous strides towards securing equal rights in almost every sphere. Yet a number of challenges remain. Lack of access to reproductive health services, comprehensive sexuality education, and contraception prevent women from fully […]
Read moreAbortion in Brazil: a matter of life and death
The day after Jandyra went for an abortion her body was found mutilated beyond recognition. Donna Bowater reports on the plight of millions of women who put their lives in the hands of gangs running dangerous clinics ‘They don’t have consciences – they are monsters. These clinics are not thinking about the wellbeing of the […]
Read moreChile’s Same-Sex Civil Unions Bill Gets Final Approval By Lawmakers
SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — Chilean lawmakers gave final approval on Wednesday to a bill that recognizes civil unions between same-sex couples. The legislation now goes to President Michelle Bachelet, who is expected to sign it. Government spokesman Alvaro Elizalde welcomed the bill’s passage as “a breakthrough that we are proud of as a government.” The […]
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