Scott Long: ISIS kills gays: A history of violence

Hands shove them forward, bound and blindfolded. Then comes the step when the stone beneath them stops and nothing is there. The photographs appall but they have the solidity of things you can see; they suggest but cannot summon the feel of one terrifying lurch in darkness when all that’s solid falls away. Death is what happens when […]
Read moreScott Long: Why I am not Charlie
There is no “but” about what happened at Charlie Hebdo yesterday. Some people published some cartoons, and some other people killed them for it. Words and pictures can be beautiful or vile, pleasing or enraging, inspiring or offensive; but they exist on a different plane from physical violence, whether you want to call that plane spirit or imagination or […]
Read moreSexual politics in Post Soviet countries, by Anna Kirey and Yana Sitnikova

1. Part 1 – Intro and overview of the region 2. Part 2 – ‘Propaganda’ legislation and regulation of sexuality in the region 3. Part 3 – Trans issues
Read moreWorking Paper, No. 6 – Some thoughts for Sexuality Policy Watch on The Global Gender Gap Report 2009, by Kate Bedford
In late 2009, the World Economic Forum (WEF) launched its new report on the Global Gender Gap Index, which gained immediate visibility in both global and national media. In this Working Paper, Kate Bedford, from the Kent Law School (Canterbury, UK), critically examine the report from a critical feminist perspective. She identifies positive aspects but […]
Read moreSexuality politics in 2014: A brief retrospective
April – In a landmark decision, Indian Supreme Court allowed transgender people to identify as a third gender and directed the central and state governments to give full legal recognition to them. In May/June – SPW highlighted the inspiring decision by the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights that published resolution in its 55th […]
Read moreScott Long: Dozens arrested for “perversion” in a huge raid in Cairo
At about 10 PM last night, December 7, police carried out a massive raid on ahammam (bathhouse) in the Ramsis area of Cairo, not far from the main railway station. They arrested many men — dozens, reportedly — and hauled them, stripped naked like concentration-camp inmates, to the trucks. Someone living nearby who watched the assault wrote on social media that “police together […]
Read moreSexual and reproductive rights global landscape in November 2014
Among the main events in November, we highlight the Men Engage Symposium, held in Delhi, in which SPW was present with the participation of our members, Gloria Careaga, and our working partner Akshay Khana. Click here to watch the sessions. At the abortion frontline, SPW highlights the survey reported by Reality Check of which the […]
Read moreWorking Paper, No.5 – Pope’s visit to Brazil, by Washington Castilhos
In 2007, the Pope’s visit to Brazil mobilized groups in opposition to the Vatican’s moral dogmatism. In support of these groups, SPW, in close collaboration with CLAM, has produced short articles to illuminate the larger social and political context within which the Pope’s visit occurred. This series of articles comprises the SPW 5th Working Paper […]
Read moreNew Publication: The Role of Global-Level Advocacy in Addressing HIV among Key Population
The report The Role of Global-Level Advocacy in Addressing HIV among Key Population, published by Global Network of People living with HIV, examines the role of global-level advocacy in addressing HIV among key populations, including people living with HIV (PLHIV), people who inject drugs, sex workers, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people. The […]
Read moreTransnational LGBT Activism by Ryan Thoreson
SPW recommends Transnational LGBT Activism, by Ryan Thoreson, in which the author discusses how the idea of LGBT human rights is defined by international activists who establish what and who qualifies for protection. Click here to buy it.
Read moreSpecial Working Paper – Sexual Minorities, by Rosalind Petchesky
The position paper The Language of ‘Sexual Minorities’ and the Politics of Identity, written by Rosalind Petchesky, in collaboration with Sonia Corrêa, Ignacio Saiz and Hossam Baghat, SPW’s members, highlights issues of terminology concerning sexuality and gender, and other aspects. Click here to read it.
Read moreSexual and reproductive rights global landscape in October 2014
In October the 10th anniversary of SUR Journal – International Journal on Human Right was marked by the publication of its 20th issue that comprises 55 articles examining the challenges and successes of the humans rights movement around the world. The issue includes an article of SPW co-chair, Sonia Corrêa, anlyzing sexual politics in the […]
Read more“Rugged vaginas” and “vulnerable rectums”: the sexual identity, epidemiology, and law of the global hiv epidemic
SPW recommends Aziza Ahmed’s article – published on Columbia Journal of Gender and law – “Rugged vaginas” and “vulnerable rectums”: the sexual identity, epidemiology, and law of the global hiv epidemic, in which the author reflects on “our reliance on identity politics in building movements to respond to the HIV epidemic”. Read it here.
Read moreSexual and reproductive rights global landscapes in September 2014

One main highlight of the period concerns the politics of abortion in Brazil. Despite the tragic deaths of two women caused by illegal and unsafe abortions and its prominence in the national press, the topic has not been addressed by the main competitors for the presidency in the elections underway. SPW commented and collected information […]
Read moreUkrainian book on LGBT rights
The ABC on LGBT rights was developed by the Insight public organization with the support of the Norwegian Helsinki Committee. The publication is a part of a program on information and education work with human rights defenders and activists, which are interested in minority rights in the Ukraine. Click here to read the English version.
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