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by Rosalind PetcheskyOriginally published by Zeteo I’m old enough to be Zohran’s bubbe. I was arrested with him and I can tell you, he’s a

Legal instruments are being waged in a new offensive against the trans community. By Bruna G. Benevides, originally published in Portuguese at Portal Catarinas. In

By Judith ButlerPublished at The Guardian As Trump delivers a series of devastating and appalling executive orders and public pronouncements every day, it has never been

We, Latin American and Caribbean feminists gathered at the 15th EFLAC, in El Salvador,  reaffirm our solidarity with our Nicaraguan comrades who,  for the last

A Meditation on Death, Killing, and Possibility I knew my body was healing from the surgery when I found myself ready to engage with the

By Françoise Girard On November 13, 2023, in New York City, I had the privilege of interviewing the brilliant Rosalind P. Petchesky, professor emerita of

The philosopher and gender theorist says the restriction of abortion rights is part of a project to restore patriarchy. By Alona Ferber The fallout from the

By Emil Edenborg In Vladimir Putin’s speech on February 24, announcing what would be a full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine (in his official Orwellian euphemism, a “special

Para acessar o artigo da The New Yorker Is a Civil War Ahead?

After more than two years in the making, the first volume of “Nossos Corpos por Nós Mesmas,” has arrived! The book, a Brazilian Portuguese adaptation of “Our Bodies, Ourselves,” covers topics including anatomy and sexuality, birth control, abortion, body image, safer sex and violence against women.

Last week’s rallies in London, Berlin, and Los Angeles against lockdown measures attracted both New Agers and far-right groups. We’ve seen before this overlap between the spiritual

Go to the conference website

COVID-19 encounters Black Lives Matter In June, however, another wave of protests swept over the global political landscape, also targetting State repression but carrying an

Investigate Dr. Sybrand de Vaal with regards to promoting harmful psychiatric practices with respect to Trans (including non-binary) children. This includes: * Examine his competency

We have updated our position to align with evolving international human rights law and standards, to make it as inclusive as possible, and to ensure it addresses the full range of barriers that impede access to safe abortion and the full range of human rights violations due to criminalization of abortion.

Thirty years ago, the philosopher Judith Butler*, now 64, published a book that revolutionised popular attitudes on gender. Gender Trouble, the work she is perhaps best known for, introduced ideas of gender as performance. It asked how we define “the category of women” and, as a consequence, who it is that feminism purports to fight for. Today, it is a foundational text on any gender studies reading list, and its arguments have long crossed over from the academy to popular culture. 

  Sylvia Tamale, author of Decolonization and Afro-Feminism, will be discussing her new book with Charmaine Pereira, writer and feminist scholar in Abuja, Nigeria. Host:

The Institute of Public Health Bengaluru invites all for the IPH Annual Oration Day Series. On Friday, August 28th, Prof. Gita Sen will deliver a

Rio de Janeiro,  August 21st,  2020 Open Letter addressed to Dr. Tlaleng Mofokeng as the new United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone

In May 2020, Katherine Cuellar Bravo, a young Colombian researcher from the public health field, has passed away. She was responsible for the Colombian case

Preamble 1. We, the undersigning individuals and organizations, have gathered from all over Latin America in joint work to accompany people and communities of faith

On December 3rd, sociologist Jacqueline Pitanguy became the target of a serious accusation by the Brazilian Minister of Family Women and Human Rights, Damares Alves,

Nairobi, November 14th, 2019. Gathered at the Nairobi Summit to celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of the International Conference in Population and Development (Cairo, 1994), the

This conversation was recorded on Sunday 24 June 2018 as part of the closing plenary of the symposium ‘Planetary Utopias: Hope, Desire and Imaginaries in

Text by Pedro Calvi, originally published at Comissão de Direitos Humanos, Minorias e Igualdade Racial, Câmara dos Deputados. In September, Brazil is due to submit

Report from Brazil to the United Nations describes a country that does not exist 213 pages. This is the extent of the report published this

Buenos Aires, July 31th, 2019 Thank you very much, Mr. Secretary, and good afternoon to all. We very much celebrate this space and hail the

by Marcelo Knobel* By making what the minister considers a “very small cut”, it will be impossible for universities to conduct daily operations at even

The recent measures against sociology and philosophy in public universities that have been announced by the minister of education, and supported by the president, clarify

By Larissa Arroyo Navarrete* The 25 April 2019 was a historical day for sexual and reproductives rights in Costa Rica. On this date, the Ministry

Une disposition qui pourrait aboutir à la criminalisation totale de l’avortement gagne du terrain au sein du Sénat brésilien. Un nouveau combat, essentiel à la

A provision that may lead to the complete criminalization of abortion is moving forward in the Brazilian Senate. Another major battle to preserve our rights

The National Association of Postgraduate Studies in Philosophy (ANPOF) and associations hereby signed vehemently repudiate declarations made by the President and the  Minister of Education

The associations hereby signed manifest their indignation and extreme concern with the recent statements made by the  President and Ministry of Education with regard to

Brazil’s National Council of Christian Churches (CONIC) expresses solidarity with young Christian Evangelical Camila Montovani who, after a series of threats, will have to leave

It has come to our attention that the facilitator of Agreed Conclusions for the 63rd session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW),

Recife, 15 March 2019. We are in a political moment marked by setbacks and by obscurantism against universities, which attack their finest traits: critical thinking,

This article was originally published in ProPublica. A pro-life license plate on a car in Montgomery, Ala. (William Widmer, special to ProPublica) 1973 U.S. Supreme Court

  In Tokyo, Japan during the Women’s March Source: Elika Takimoto on Twitter In Brasilia Source: Mídia Ninja In Natal, RN Source: @jptrindaade on Twitter

On Friday 8 March, millions of people around the world celebrate International Women’s Day, paying tribute to women’s achievements in the ongoing fight for equality.

Dear Expert Committee on the Selection and Use of Essential Medicines, We were very glad to learn that the WHO Maternal and Perinatal Health &

Call for Papers for a session at the Annual International Conference of the Royal Geographical Society with Institute of British Geographers (RGS-IBG), London 28-30 August

As SPW has been reporting monthly on how the Nicaraguan crisis develops, we report another sad event that targets feminist activists on 23 November. Activities

We share GATE’s Mauro Cabral personal note on this historic achievement: “Today, for the first time since the gender identity law in Argentina was passed

Friday, 3 August 2018 Morning session, from 8:20 am to 1:30 pm 08:30 am Ministry of Health Dra. Maria de Fátima Marinho de Souza Dra.

On August 14, after much debate, controversy and anti-Islamic accusations by the conservative sectors of Algerian society, the 2018 Health Act finally came into force

PRESS RELEASE 9 August 2018 – Argentina: no turning back By International Campaign for Women’s Right to Safe Abortion  Argentina’s Senate voted last night –

We, the undersigned, members of the academic community and civil society organizations, denounce the persecution suffered by advocates of the LGBTI+ community and demonstrate our

July 27 is Pride Day in Iran. It’s been the 9th following year that the 4th Friday of July (1st Fri of Mordad in Persian

The Trafficking of Persons (Prevention, Protection and Rehabilitation) Bill, introduced in 2016 by the Minister for Women and Child Development and approved in February 2018 by

Transnational anti-gender movements in Europe and Latin America create unlikely alliances by Sonia Corrêa, David Patternote and Roman Kuhar This is a paper originally published

New Global Health Guidelines a Victory for Transgender People – Human Rights Watch

In Italy too, academic freedom is under threat, and democracy along with it. Barely has the extreme right assumed power that its effects are already

Originally posted at BBC on May 15, 2018.  “Abortion is the prime cause of femicide in the world,” declare the black-and-white posters that have appeared

“Reject RKUHP that Criminalizes Women, Children, Indigenous Peoples and Marginalized Groups”  We are women, housewives, workers, students, students, activists, and survivors of sexual violence who

From the Latin American and Caribbean Network of Trans people (REDLACTRANS) we reject the transphobic violent attack suffered by the national coordinator of Barbados, Alexa

BRUSSELS, 24 November – The EPF Executive Committee has written to the Parliament of Brazil expressing its strong concern at a proposed constitutional amendment which

This letter was read at the closing session of the Special Meeting of the Presiding Officers of the Regional Conference on Population and Development in

Originally published at Amnesty International, on Oct 10, 2017. Available here. The recent Paraguayan Ministry of Education and Science resolution banning the dissemination and use

The Coalition of African Lesbians (CAL) invites its members, partners, allies, friends and fellow feminists to participate in a conversation on Abortion & Autonomy: Demanding full

September 28 has been a regional campaign for the decriminalization of abortion in Latin America and the Caribbean for over twenty years before being taken

Originally published at Pan Africa ILGA – International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association. The right to freedom of association under threat: 20 arrested

Call for Papers for the V. 14, n. 1, April-July 2018 Journalism and Gender Studies Editors: Cláudia Lago (School of Communications and Arts, University of

Montevideo, Uruguay ─ Fifty experts from 20 countries in Africa, the Americas and Europe, gathered at the first international convening on conscientious objection to abortion have concluded

Originally posted at Human Rights Watch, on August 21, 2017. Available here. August 17, 2017 Malawi Human Rights Commission Off Paul Kagame Road Private Bag

“We, Key Affected Populations living with or affected by HIV, proclaim that we are more than just numbers. We have essential needs that must be

Recognising 28 September as the Global Day of Action for Access to Safe and Legal Abortion, the Youth Coalition for Sexual and Reproductive Rights is

Here you can find the MPH prospectus, which gives a detailed overview of the programme with its leading global faculty and public health practitioners, experiential

The law on violence against women, including domestic violence, approved by the Tunisian parliament on July 26, 2017, is a landmark step for women’s rights,

Around 50 experts on legislation, academics, health professionals and activists around the world will gather at the international convening on “Conscientious Objection to Abortion; Strategies

Rainbow Fundraising offers LGBTQ organisations in the Western Balkans a comprehensive training package on resource development and mobilisation. Drawing on our long-term experience of trainings

Originally posted at Open Society, on April, 2017. Available here. Who are sex workers? Sex workers are female, male, or transgender adults who receive money

Text by Josh Jackman originally published at Pink News on May 05, 2017. Available here. Same-sex marriage is now permitted in Bermuda after a gay

Taiwan’s constitutional court this week paved the way for marriage equality in the country by striking down the legal definition of marriage as “between a man and a woman.”

Text by Marlise Richter* originally published at Daily Maverick on May 29, 2017. Available here.  I am writing to you now that my fingers can

The past ten years have witnessed tremendous advances for HIV and lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and intersex (LGBTI) rights globally, including the creation of an Independent Expert on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI) mandate at the UN Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights.

Pan Africa ILGA will be conducting a training for African LGBTI Activists on Human Rights Mechanisms from the 27th – 29th July 2017 in Accra,

Post by Sarah Ather* originally published at Kafila on May 05, 2017. Available here. My life has revolved around the concept of God. I have

How do we create new men in Africa? A process of consciousness raising, or the journey of men increasing their self-awareness of patriarchy or male domination, is required. The new man should be able to experience empathy, to care for others, show compassion and to discuss their emotions openly.

Summerschool on Health Law and Ethics 2017 28 June – 7 July 2017 The Erasmus Observatory on Health Law / Institute of Health Policy &

While it would be nice to report that the phrase is merely a malapropism, it is a very deliberate concept spawned by conservative religious groups. “Gender ideology” is becoming the catch-all metonym of a growing global movement opposing gender equality, abortion,

What is the state of activism in Africa today? How effective is activism in bringing about the transformations that are needed to improve the lives

Text by Marge Berer, originally published at International Campaign for Women’s Right to Safe Abortion on Mar 3, 2017. Available here. The story to date

Text by Kyle Knight published at Human Rights Watch, on February 16, 2017. Available here. More than 600 transgender people applied for civil service jobs

Originally posted at International Campaign for Women’s Right to Safe Abortion, on Mar 3, 2017. Available here. A judge in the city of Mercedes, Soriano, has

The Constitutional Court decision rejected claims made by conservative groups and individuals that allowing women access to abortion on request was unconstitutional. In its decision, the court reaffirmed that women’s access to abortion is protected within their constitutional rights to liberty, personality, and privacy.

A petition was filed today, 7 March 2017, with the Brazilian Supreme Court which calls for the decriminalization of abortion on request up to 12 weeks of pregnancy. The petition was filed by the Socialism and Freedom Party (PSOL), with support from Anis – Institute of Bioethics.

Text by Essar Batool [1] published at AWID, on Feb 22, 2017. Available here. In 2016, the Indian-occupied state of Kashmir once again erupted in

Submit by March 15, 2017. We recognize that the entrenched practice of organizing the world into the sex binary and gender binary has alarming and

Originally posted at TGEU, on Feb 8, 2017. Available here. This is a review of some of the European editions of the National Geographic Special

As we resist Trump’s potential anti-LGBTQ orders, it’s important to remember that even though Trump is himself transphobic and homophobic, he can get on the side of LGBTQ rights when it’s convenient.

Originally published at Institute of Development Studies (IDS) by Priliantina Bebasari, on February 6, 2017. Available here.  I attended an event by UN Women Indonesia

Transgender Europe (TGEU) calls on the National Geographic to publish a response[1] to the European trans community who has been negatively affected by the translation,

A Lebanese judge challenged the legal basis of the arrest of men for same-sex conduct, declaring in a Metn court ruling last week that “homosexuality is a personal choice, not a criminal offence”.

My own sense is that Trump unleashed a rage that has several objects and several causes, and we should probably be skeptical of those who claim to know the true cause and the exclusive object. The condition of economic devastation and disappointment, the loss of hope in the face of an economic future brought on by economic

Supreme Court on Monday issued a verdict requesting to provide citizenship to gender and sexual minority under the Others (O) category. The Ministry of Home Affairs has already begun providing citizenship on the basis of identity but there are still obstacles in the districts.

Once more, Happy New Year! There have been so many things we have been working on during the last months of 2016 that we want

The Committee on the Rights of the Child issued its new General Comment on Adolescents. Among other advancements, the new general comment: Recognizes that states

SC allows abortion of 24-week foetus, but why should women go to court in the first place? The Supreme Court on Monday permitted a woman

Barbaros Şansal, a Turkish fashion designer and LGBTI activist, is being held in pre-trial detention, as his request of appeal has been rejected. According to Amnesty International, which has launched an urgent action appeal, he is accused of ‘inciting the public to hatred or hostility’ for a video message and tweet he shared on social media on New Year’s Eve. In this clip, Şansal reportedly criticized people for celebrating the New Year at a time of large scale detention of journalists and widespread corruption.

The International Association for the Study of Sexuality, Culture and Society (IASSCS) opens the Call for Applications for its XI Biennual Conference, to be held

After every major LGBT rights group in America campaigned in support of Donald Trump’s opponent Hillary Clinton, it came as little surprise that Trump won

Text by Fida Hussnain, originally publish at The Nation, on Jan 10, 2017. Available here.  LAHORE –  The Lahore High Court yesterday allowed a petition

Newspapers and web-based news sites have carried a flurry of responses to the new abortion bill in Malawi, and has led the country’s president to deny

Yesterday, the European Parliament adopted a new comprehensive report on fundamental rights in the EU. The report assesses how fundamental rights are implemented in the

Andrew Mroczek and Juan José Barboza-Gubo created a series of photographs called “Canon.” It’s a symbolic name — a way of re-writing traditional laws in Peru to

Text by Nadje Al-Ali, Zahra Ali and Isabel Marler, originally published by Jadaliyya, on Dec 9, 2016. Avaliable here. After a long delay, the United

In 2006, a Polish woman named Justyna heard a rumor about a new abortion pill. The thirty-year-old mother of three was eleven weeks along in a

In September 2016, psychologist and blogger Letícia Bahia and photographer Julia Rodrigues launched the campaign Mamilo Livre (Free Nipple), featuring print portraits of both men and women with bare chests, aiming to challenge objectification of women’s breasts and advocate individual sovereignty over one’s body. As the campaign encouraged people to print photos from the campaign’s website and post them in public spaces, the posters were seen in many Brazilian cities.

It’s been 26 years since abortion was decriminalised in Belgium on medical grounds up to 12 weeks of pregnancy. It was an enormous breakthrough, allowing women the autonomy to decide their life course. But 26 years later, abortion remains in the penal code as a crime against family order and public morals. Because it continues to be a criminal offence, the stigma remains, affecting the approaches a woman needs to make to obtain an abortion,

A close vote on November 21, 2016, by a United Nations General Assembly committee affirming that the newly appointed UN expert to address violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity should continue his work is a victory for human rights, Human Rights Watch said today.

Does Ethiopia have an organized feminist movement? Yes. But its performance has been mixed. Unless deliberate, consciously sustained and strategic steps are taken at the level of institution building, resource allocation and leadership, gender equality may take another 100 years to be achieved. A strong women’s movement is indispensable to catalyze change.

Text by Stephen Wood, Lukas Berredo and Carla LaGata published at Institute of Development Studies on Nov 18, 2016. Available here. In the three months following the

Originally posted at International Campaign for Women’s Right to Safe Abortion, on Nov 17, 20116. Available here. Women denied the right to an abortion are

Originally published at Human Rights Watch on Oct 10, 2016. Available here: Human Rights Watch (Banjul) – Nigeria’s Same Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Act, 2013 (SSMPA)

In fact, “gender ideology” is an invention of the right. It’s a hodgepodge of disparate ideas developed by a diverse group of thinkers over the past 50 years, linked mainly in the minds of its opponents. It doesn’t really exist beyond its creators’ manifestos and protest banners, but it’s already helped them score some very real victories.

Kerala is an enigma. With its high social indices of literacy, sex ratio and low female infanticides, it projects the image of a progressive state, one way ahead of the others. But ask the women who actually live there and they will have a different story to tell.

Originally posted by the International Campaign for Women’s Right to Safe Abortion on 02/11/2016. Available at: https://www.safeabortionwomensright.org/news/unsafe-abortion-prevention-and-care-a-practical-guideline-for-health-workers-in-lao-pdr/. The following statement was made by Prof Dr

Originally posted by the International Campaign for Women’s Right to Safe Abortion on 02/11/2016. Available at: https://www.safeabortionwomensright.org/news/changes-in-the-law-on-abortion-statement-by-the-womens-resource-center-armenia/  A number of changes were made in the

Within South Africa, more than 20 years post democracy, the legal provisions on reproductive health and sexual orientation have been recognisable gains. It is a challenge though that these legal rights are not well realised and the struggles of many girls, young women and gender queer people remain unrealised in reproductive justice.

During the peace plebiscite campaign, opposition to the so-called gender ideology became pivotal in uniting the extreme right, various Christian organizations and some sectors behind

The current law, called the Mother and Child Health Act, permits abortions only if the woman or her spouse has a genetic mental or physical disorder; the woman has an infectious disease; the pregnancy is the result of rape, quasi-rape, or incest; or when the pregnancy is seriously detrimental to the woman’s health.

Source: Frida Fund Are you a young, feminist group from the Global South? Are you working towards creating a more gender-just world? We would love

This workshop will bring together key scholars working across different disciplines in order to examine how gender is constructed in new wars and the consequences and/or advantages of new gender relations. It seeks to bring together emerging work on the formation, contestation and transformation of gender relations in new wars.

Here is the latest edition (Vol. 9 (IV) July- August 2016) of our bi-monthly newsletter – covering significant UN updates, international events, national judgments and policy related developments relating to gender, sexuality and culture that took place in the months of July and August.

Psychologists drew historically from theories of social Darwinism and eugenics to espouse the hierarchical categorisation of people into race groups. African people were posited as the least human of all.

A long-established conservative media frames the terms of abortion politics in Ireland. The pro-choice activism challenges dominant discourses with the inclusivity and diversity of the movement exemplifying how to put intersectionality into practice.

There might be many reasons, but the main one is the unconditional defense of the radicalization of democracy and the promotion of human rights, both in Brazil and abroad. What does that have to do with BRICS?

Originally posted at the Sexual Rights Initiative’s website in 2016. Human Rights Council adopts resolution on preventable maternal mortality and morbidity and human rights in the

Read the full article on American Quarterly When thousands of Colombians protested on August 10 to demand the resignation of the country’s openly gay education

Listening carefully to the at times homophobic and hateful commentary about homosexuality among Africans, a social critique of the international community and the local elite is heard. Dislike of homosexuality is used to protest at the levels of inequality and how corrupt African leaders continue to be supported by the West. The white savior complex ruins rather than helps the cause of LGBTI rights in Africa.

Originally posted by Maneo Mohale at Bitch Media on 19/09/2016. Available at: https://www.bitchmedia.org/article/magic/contradiction-resilience-and-creativity-black-feminism-south-africa Maneo Mohale is the 2016 Bitch Media Writing Fellow in Global Feminism.

Originally posted by Srilatha Batliwala, Geetanjali Misra and Nafisa Ferdous at Open Demoracy on 03/10/2016. Available at: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/5050/to-build-feminist-futures-suspend-judgment/ As feminist thinkers and activists, we must

In Mexico and in Latin America the intersex community faces similar problems to those faced by intersex people elsewhere in the world, with some local quirks. Medical protocols still include genital mutilation, and these practices are justified as necessary to “normalize” genital appearance and so avoid problems in social interactions.

Originally posted by Clare Coultas at the LSE blog on 14/09/2016. Available at: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/africaatlse/2016/09/14/subverting-love-stories/  LSE’s Clare Coultas questions the portrayal of love in global sexual

In an effort to ensure that ARASA partner civil society organisations (CSOs) have improved capacity to advocate and strengthen capacities of other CSOs, ARASA implements

Women’s Health and Equal Rights Initiative (WHER) has launched its first issue of Empower newsletter, aimed at promoting a deeper conceptual understanding of gender and

China’s interactions with the global South have been the subject of much attention and study from both inside and outside the country. Yet issues of gender and sexuality have been largely ignored.

From sex to race, classification is a tool of oppression. Particularly examining abuse directed at Caster Semenya, this article looks ahead this week’s AWID International Forum’s theme ‘Bodily Integrity and Freedoms’.

Originally posted by Laurent Ribabeau Dimas at Francetvinfo on 19/08/2016, translated to English by SPW.’s team  Tunisia is the only Arab country to authorize the

Originally published at the International Campaign for Women’s Right to Safe Abortion’s website on 30/08/2016 Available at: https://www.safeabortionwomensright.org/news/supported-by-anis-anadep-files-petition-to-the-brazilian-supreme-court-for-protection-of-rights-violated-during-the-zika-virus-public-health-emergency/ A judicial constitutional review was filed before the

  The  most commented sport modalities of the Rio Olympics were the gender relations obstacle course competition, racism target shooting and out-of-closet leaping by Fernando Seffner[1]

Counting money on a bed is taboo in my family. Growing up, I never fully understood why but I suspected it was another one of our countless every day South American customs that ensured we were in right relationship with the spirit world.

As the women’s 800m approaches, headlines about Caster Semenya proliferate — once again, seven years after she won the World Championship in the 800m and became a news headline, we have been saturated with “debates” about her presence on the track. This year, these stories unfold in striking contrast with those celebrating other athletes who dominate their events.

Please note that this post contains distressing images. It intersperses quotations about intersex infants and children with quotations about the bodies of public figures. Body

The Independent Women’s Forum has leveraged its “non-partisan” brand to become an aggressive player in Republican politics. Read the full article on The Nation.

On 16 August, the Supreme Court of Justice of Tucumán in Argentina finally ordered that “Belén”, the young woman unjustly convicted of homicide after having had a miscarriage, should be released from prison, in the face of growing criticism by dozens of feminist, human rights, political and social organizations and the UN Human Rights Committee.

UN agencies supporting women’s rights have been asked today to send “a strong signal” to governments around the world by passing a resolution at this year’s UN General Assembly in September to make International Safe Abortion Day an official UN day. An Open Letter was sent to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the heads of UN Women, UN Development Programme, World Health Organization, UN Population Fund, UN Children’s Fund, UNAIDS, and UNESCO today.

Originally by Human Rights Watch, posted on 10/08/2016. Available at: https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/08/11/indonesia-lgbt-crisis-exposed-official-bias (Jakarta) – The Indonesian government stoked an unprecedented attack on the security and rights

Originally by Human Rights Watch, posted on 15/08/2016. Available at: https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/08/15/sri-lanka-challenging-gender-norms-brings-abuse  (New York) – Transgender people and others who do not conform to social expectations about

A law in Belize criminalizing same-sex intimacy was ruled unconstitutional by the country’s Supreme Court. The challenge to Section 53 of the Belize Criminal Code, which banned “carnal intercourse against the order of nature” and disproportionately affected gay men, was brought by Caleb Orozco

The last days of the government of Hosni Mubarak and the turbulent revolution that followed were tense, occasionally gut-wrenching times for many in Egypt. But

Originally posted at the RHM (Reproductive Health Matters)Journal in 2016:  The forthcoming issue of RHM, which is produced in partnership with CREA, and co-edited with

While the international media were busy highlighting the Stanford rape and Brazil gang-rape cases, another gang-rape, followed by murder, of a 14 year-old girl named Yuyun happened in Indonesia. It was an atrocity as severe, despite the lack of international coverage.

Ending AIDS by 2030 is redundant rhetoric. It is meaningless without investment in community participation. Code red for action.

Women, girls and femme-presenting people are more than flamenco dancers and brides. And thanks to a a new update by Apple and a freshly-approved emoji proposal from Google, they may finally

Originally posted by Caroline Reilly at Bitch Media on 21/07/2016.  by Caroline Reilly Published on July 21, 2016 at 11:21am We explored this topic—in part—because

Originally posted at the International Campaign for Women’s Right to Safe Abortion‘s website on 08/08/2016. Available at: https://www.safeabortionwomensright.org/news/cedaw-calls-on-philippines-to-provide-contraception-and-allow-safe-abortion-in-some-circumstances-then-president-duterte-announces-full-implementation-of-2012-rh-law/ Philippines President Duterte has announced the full implementation

The “Save the Women” Civic Committee has tabled a draft law in the Sejm, lower house of the Polish parliament, liberalizing the anti-abortion legislation in force in Poland since 1993. The draft law allows abortion on request until the 12th week of pregnancy, and improves access to contraception and sexuality education, After that abortion would be permissible along the same rules as those in effect today.

Trans organisations signing this letter, and the activist networks they represent, celebrate the Resolution [on Protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and

France is the 1st ever country to be reprimanded for IGM by 3 different UN treaty bodies, having previously been reprimanded by the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) in February 2016, and by the Committee against Torture (CAT) in May.

There’s a global push to remove “gender identity disorder” from the list of mental illnesses. But many transgender people in Japan aren’t on board with the idea. J. Lester Feder reports from Osaka.

The Gay and Lesbian Coalition of Kenya (GALCK) is the national umbrella body for SOGIE organizations representing various lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex voices

A Pride event in Uganda has been broken up by police as at least two LGBT+ activists are arrested. Pride Uganda tweeted that the small gathering in Kampala had been raided by police, as prominent LGBT+ activist Frank Mugisha also tweeted that he had been arrested.

From the start of the coup attempt by military officials on Friday through to the government’s crackdown in response, women’s voices have been almost entirely absent. Images

Originally posted by Susana T. Freid at Open Demoracy on 22/07/2016. Available at: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/5050/crosstalk-linking-across-areas-of-criminalization/  In a moment of global attacks on civil society, an intersectional

The on-going political conservative trends that has brought us the Brazilian “soft coup”, BREXIT and the candidacy of Donald Trump has also resulted in an increase in reactionary politics across the political spectrum, even among “radicals” and “progressives”. In Brazil, this has been recently manifest in attacks against

Presentation by Alejandro Brito from Letra S (México) at the pre IAC seminar organized by Ford Foundation Seminar in Durban on Challenging Criminalization Globally. The

Originally posted by the Government of the Netherlands on 14/07/16. Available at: https://www.government.nl/latest/news/2016/07/14/international-coalition-launched-for-lgbti-equal-rights  In Uruguay on Wednesday an international coalition was launched for equal rights

Gabriel Hoosain Khan, an LGBT activist from South Africa muses about the distance of UN bodies in Geneva from the realities of the world that we (or at least some of us) live in or know about. He says – “In Geneva it might be possible

Originally posted by at the Youth Coalition’s website. Available at: https://www.youthcoalition.org/abortion-rights/call-for-submissions-global-day-of-action-for-access-to-safe-and-legal-abortion-watchdog/  Recognizing 28 September as the Global Day of Action for Access to Safe and

In discussions around why young Syrian men join armed groups (such as ISIS or Jabhat al-Nusra) in Syria, it often boils down to two main theories: that of sectarianism, the ancient, seemingly perpetual divide between Sunni and Shia Muslims, or that of Islam being a ‘religion of violence’.

A senior Iranian health official warned Wednesday that sexual transmission of HIV/AIDS was on the rise, in part because of taboos about discussing sex. As part of its efforts against HIV/AIDS, the government has for the first time set up centres to provide assistance to prostitutes, including checks for sexually transmitted diseases, education on prevention and free contraceptives.

Originally posted at the OAS’ website on 25/07/2016. Available at: https://www.oas.org/en/iachr/media_center/PReleases/2016/097.asp  Washington, D.C. — The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) welcomes the recent creation

Originally posted by ЛГБТ Аман түүх at lgbtamantuukh on 04/07/2016. Available at: https://lgbtamantuukh.wordpress.com/2016/07/04/welcome-to-the-lgbt-oral-histories-of-mongolia-project/  Sponsored by the LGBT Centre (Mongolia)’s Youth Leadership Program, Batchimeg S. and

Originally posted by Melissa Fischer at Open Democracy on 20/07/2016. Available at: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/opendemocracyuk/performing-beyond-gendered-zombie-economy/ Contemporary performance can provide a way of understanding as well as re-imagining

The June 2017 issue of Health and Human Rights includes a special section on the intersections between abortion and human rights, and in particular the use of legal mobilization

Gates, who is worth $80 billion, specialises in top-down technicist quick-fixes, which often backfire on the economic shooting range of extreme corporate influence and neoliberal policies. On Sunday, Gates will get even richer, in terms of the moral legitimacy bestowed by the Mandela Lecture.

Originally posted by Mic Jordyn Taylor at Business Insider on 18/07/2016. Available at: https://www.businessinsider.com/researchers-calculated-the-economic-cost-of-homophobia-2016-7 DURBAN, South Africa — Homophobia exacts a devastating emotional toll. But

The UN Human Rights Committee has released a report slamming the state of abortion rights in Argentina and criticizing President Mauricio Macri’s decision to strike down key articles of the Broadcast Media Law and its subsequent effects on freedom of expression on 15 July.

Twenty-one members of the right-wing Nationalist Republican Alliance (Arena) in El Salvador submitted a motion on 11 July to the parliament for debate on 14 July to reform Article 133 of the Penal Code, increasing the penalty for women who cause or consent to an abortion from up to eight years in prison to a minimum of 30 years and a maximum of 50 years.

Against the backdrop of the EU referendum campaign, London-based Romanian women sex workers are using EU law to challenge the police and fight for their rights.

 Under Operation Nexus, the Met are monitoring Romanian sex workers, rounding them up and ordering them to leave the country because they claim that sex work doesn’t count as legitimate employment.

Originally posted by Peter Sarosi at the Drug Reporter on 01/07/2016. Available at: https://drogriporter.hu/en/pride-and-prejudice-sex-workers-are-excluded-from-budapest-pride/  The Pride movement is about fighting social exclusion and discrimination –

Source: http://www.genderjustice.org.za/news-item/applications-mati-2016-now-open/

In what was described as a dramatic milestone by human rights activists working on the promotion and protection of human rights on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity, members of the United Nations at the 32 session of the Human Rights Council voted a resolution that provides a new mandate for an independent expert that will be responsible for reporting violence suffered by people on the grounds of their real or perceived sexual orientation and gender identity, globally.

Originally posted at GATE’s website on 04/07/20216. Available at: http://gate.ngo/gate-statement-on-the-un-sogi-mandate/  On June 30, 2016, the United Nations Human Rights Council approved a historic resolution creating

Originally posted at https://lgbt-ep.eu/press-releases/un-body-votes-for-independent-expert-on-lgbt-discrimination/ In a 23 against 18 vote (6 abstentions)*, the United Nations Human Rights council voted in favour of a resolution condemning

The ‘natural’ separation of men and women in these spaces arose less than 200 years ago, as part of a pervasive ideology of separation and dominance.

In a defining vote, the United Nations Human Rights Council adopted a resolution on “Protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation, and gender identity”, to mandate the appointment of an Independent Expert on the subject.

The person appointed to this new role will be responsible for monitoring “violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.”

The Supreme Court Wednesday declined to examine all over again a plea filed against validity of IPC Section 377, which makes homosexuality a criminal offence punishable with a sentence up to life term. The joint petition has been filed by some prominent gay personalities — celebrity chef and restaurateur Ritu Dalmia, hotelier Aman Nath and dancer N S Johar, among others.

“Do you live with your husband, too?” the second-year medical student asked, innocently enough. It was our first visit with this patient, a healthy middle-aged African American woman. We were just chatting, trying to get to know her, and I had picked up on little clues in our conversation that had already led me to conclude that there was no husband in the picture. The medical student, though, didn’t seem to have picked up on this and, I thought, was trying to get at her sexual history by asking, instead, about her husband.

The Passport Administration at Cairo International Airport banned this morning feminist activist and woman human rights defender (WHRD) Mozn Hassan from traveling during completion of her departure procedures from Cairo to Beirut, and she was informed verbally that the travel ban had been issued by the Egyptian General Prosecutor based on the request of the investigative judge.

The Master of Public Health (MPH) is calling for international application for the academic year of 2017-18. In January 2005, James P Grant School of Public

We are delighted to request your help in developing a ‘story’ about your movement – the story of its history, vision, strategies, and achievements for

If we really want to clean up sexual expression among adults, let’s adopt a new standard: consent.

On 13 June over 150 feminist activists mourned the murder and erasure of artist Ana Mendieta. We were there for our sisters who did not survive.

Early reports suggest that Mateen pledged allegiance to “Islamic State” while launching his shooting spree. We will know more in the days to come. I am grateful to those who are righteously rushing in to defend Muslims from the inevitable backlash and deplorable discrimination in the shell-shocked wake of this massacre. However, I would also ask them not to do so by downplaying the harsh realities of Islamist political ideology and the way it purveys hatred against many groups, including gays.

The drumbeats have started. Almost immediately after a mass shooting that left over fifty people dead on Latin night in a Florida gay nightclub, Pulse, the news shifted to the identity of the shooter himself. As soon as his name and the fact that his father immigrated (long ago) from Afghanistan was announced, the narrative began unfolding as Naeem Mohaiemen put it, on cue: This must be a terrorist attack.

By Orinam Jun 13 2016 A makeshift memorial with flowers and handprints rests in a parking lot near the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Fla. source:

This is a late chronicle for several reasons. The obvious one is that it has already been more than 10 days since May 17, the International Day against Transphobia (and other wrongly called ‘phobias’ as they have nothing to do with personal pathologies but rather are social devices to preserve privileges).

Originally posted at the SRI’s website on 2016. Available at: https://www.sexualrightsinitative.org/2016/hrc/sri-calls-for-political-and-legal-framing-that-recognizes-full-range-of-sexual-rights/  The Sexual Rights Initiative (SRI) is a coalition of organizations from Canada, Poland, India,

The fourth issue of Kohl: a Journal for Body and Gender Research is calling for papers to be published in December 2016. In addition to

Two different protests, two different countries, but the same continent and the same cause: violence against women in “macho” Latin America.

In Indonesia, where abortion is illegal, many women undergo unsafe abortions putting their lives at risk. Other times, they are forced by doctors to engage in sexual intercourse in exchange for an abortion.

To the development community on International Day of Action for Women’s Health: don’t curtail our rights by legitimising conservative religious ideologies.

Nauru’s government has updated its archaic criminal code, striking same-sex relations and suicide off the list of crimes.

Mainstream activism engaging with the politics of gender and sexual-identity tends more often than not to be labelled LGBT, homosexual, gay or queer activism. This

In June 2011, the South African government, with support from Brazil and Norway, led in the adoption of a historic resolution on sexual orientation and

DAWN is happy to make available these Regional Advocacy Tools on sexual and reproductive health and rights that have been part of our contribution to feminist mobilization for the 20th year review of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD). We engaged in this important review process at regional and global levels, through analysis and advocacy, and working with partners and colleagues in civil society and governments.

Originally from the OAS’s website. Posted on 23/05/2016. Available at: https://www.oas.org/en/iachr/media_center/PReleases/2016/069.asp Washington, D.C. – The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) is going through a

On the eve of the giant annual anti-abortion protest on Parliament Hill, the Justin Trudeau government has quietly removed a restriction that prevented federal foreign aid dollars being used for abortion services in other countries.

Seychelles’ National Assembly has passed an amendment to the penal code that decriminalizes the act of sodomy. Out of 28 members present for the vote, 14 voted in favour while the other half abstained. Four members were not present for the vote.

Originally from TGEU’s website, posted on 17/05/2016. Available at: https://tgeu.org/idahot2016statement/ On this International Day against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHOT) [1], with a special focus on

In this interview with STATUS/الوضع host Katty Alhayek, journalist and author Rafia Zakaria discusses her articles on ISIS and women, and the challenges that she faces when sharing her perspective on these issues with a wider audience.

This anthology is the first time that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) migrants and refugees in South Africa have shared their stories and

Originally posted on 13/05/2016 on the INTERNATIONAL CAMPAIGN FOR WOMEN’S RIGHT TO SAFE ABORTION’s website. Available at: https://www.safeabortionwomensright.org/news/ansirh-in-their-own-words-experiences-of-women-denied-abortions/  Even in countries with legal abortion, many

Malta is for now the EU’s last country where abortion is banned in all cases. While some are beginning to call for a public debate on women’s reproductive rights, the topic of abortion remains a highly sensitive issue in the archipelago.

As the world federation of LGBTI organisations, we strongly believe that gender diversity is not – and should never be – a pathology.

Very soon after Professor Rezaul Karim Siddque of Rajshahi Univeristy was hacked to death in the morning of April 23, 2016, I wrote my feelings, my frustrations, my concerns and my fears. From all the information we received, Professor Karim appeared to be a quiet man, a man who was of a peaceful nature, a lover of music and a committed teacher.

Fernanda Doz Costa, researcher on the Americas, reports from a protest outside a court in Argentina where “Belen” returns after being sentenced to eight years following a miscarriage.

Belén’s troubling abortion case in Tucumán, Argentina, demonstrates how institutions meant to care for and protect us instead regularly violate our rights—including the right to health, confidentiality, and due process.

Originally from: https://lgbt-ep.eu/press-releases/european-parliament-speaks-out-against-online-homo-and-transphobic-hate-speech/ In a report adopted yesterday, the European Parliament expresses its concern over online homo- and transphobic hate speech, and calls for strong

The Colombian Constitutional Court ended years of uncertainty for same-sex couples and bolstered the rights of LGBT people when it upheld the validity of same-sex marriage on April 28, 2016, Human Rights Watch said today.

The stories in this book are based upon the writings of intersex participants at the First Intersex National Meeting in Nepal, held on 8-9 February 2016 in Kathmandu. The meeting took place with support from the UNDP as part of the “Being LGBTI in Asia” program.

In Bangladesh, two LGBT rights activists, including the editor of Roopbaan, the country’s first LGBT magazine, were hacked to death this morning in a flat in the country’s capital, Dhaka.

In an interview a few years back, Canadian feminist and pro-choice activist Joyce Arthur drew a convincing parallel between the movement for women’s right to access safe and legal abortion and sex workers’ movements for their rights and decriminalisation of sex work.

Police in Dhaka, Bangladesh, today arrested four LGBT rights activists taking part in a traditional procession to celebrate the Bengali New Year.

Read New Yorker‘s article, authored by James Carroll, on Pope Francis’s latest apostolic exhortation, “Amoris Laetitia” (“The Joy of Love”).

The world is talking about tax this week, so here’s another tax story for you. Asana Abugre has a small shop in Accra, Ghana where she makes and sells batiks and tie-dyed textiles. Asana pays her taxes regularly. Women like her, working in markets across the city, sometimes pay up to 37% of their income in tax.

South Korean activist prostitutes said on Thursday they would appeal to the United Nations to win back their right to work after the Constitutional Court rejected a petition to overturn a law that punishes sex workers.

Colombia’s highest court on Thursday ruled that same-sex couples have the right to marry.Colombia’s constitutional court issued its 6-3 ruling nearly nine months after it held a hearing on whether to extend nuptials to gays and lesbians.

Arabic media training position is a 12- month, part-time staff position, with the possibility of renewal of contract for another year and/or increase in work hours. The position is responsible for leading OutRight’s Arabic media sensitivity program, which aims at reaching out to Arabic media outlets and journalists to provide them with a better understanding around sexual orientation, gender identity, and LGBTI rights violations in the Middle East and North Africa.

To fight Zika we must fight poverty and powerlessness and ensure that women enjoy their rights.

Originally posted on 31/03/2016 at GATE. Available at: http://gate.ngo/2016/03/31/gate-statement-on-the-international-trans-day-of-visibility-2016/ Today, March 31st, Global Action for Trans* Equality (GATE) calls for collective and critical reflection as

Originally posted at The Perchy Bird on 01/04/2016. Available at: https://theperchybird.wordpress.com/2016/04/01/same-sex-weddings-begin-in-greenland-today/ Greenland’s same-sex marriage law went into effect today (April 1st). The marriage bill, which

The rise of Zika and its troubling possible link to head deformities in babies have certainly reignited the debate over Brazil’s abortion law.

Our sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) are not only negatively affected by climate change but opportunities to realise SRHR offer a way to help mitigate the effects of and adapt to climate change.

On Wednesday, I became illegal in my home state. I can’t go home to see my mother or my sister or my uncle or my friends from high school. I can’t go back to my favorite restaurant. Because the systematic eradication of transgender people from North Carolina is now the law of the land.

Even Western babies can be nurtured in the bellies of foreign women — each one paid to endure pregnancy and the pangs of childbirth. Those arrangements, facilitated by the global surrogacy industry, have boomed in the past decade.
But there are signs that this trade in surrogate services is up against a formidable backlash.

Dozens of transgender women, including asylum seekers who have come to the United States seeking protection from abuse in their home countries, are locked up in jails or prison-like immigration detention centers across the country at any point in time, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Many have been subjected to sexual assault and ill-treatment in detention, while others are held in indefinite solitary confinement.

The World Psychiatric Association (WPA) recognises the universality of same-sex expression, across cultures. It holds the position that a same-sex sexual orientation per se does not imply objective psychological dysfunction or impairment in judgement, stability, or vocational capabilities.

Eyes gouged out for insolence, moms selling daughters to pimps, girls showered with maggots — if it happened in a Cambodian brothel, the story is never too shocking for Westerners to believe.

Originally published by Amnesty International on 18/03/2016. Available at: https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/press-release/2016/03/norway-historic-breakthrough-for-transgender-rights/ Key legal reforms proposed by the Norwegian Ministry of Health today mark an important breakthrough

Originally posted at SIGNS. Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society invites submissions for a special issue titled “Displacement,” slated for publication in spring

Marina” got pregnant at the age of 20 when she was living in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Abortion is illegal in the country, except in rare circumstances, but she knew she had to terminate. “I was young and ambitious,” said the now-31-year-old, who describes herself as upper middle-class. “I had so many career and travel plans. I couldn’t just become a mother at that point.”

Originally posted on Open Democracy by Susana T Fried and Alice Welbourn on 29/02/2016. Available at: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/5050/confinement-of-eve-resolving-ebola-zika-and-hiv-with-women-s-bodi/ There are parallels between three major newsworthy viruses,

It’s not just young girls and big bad wolves. Lies and misconceptions about sex work can hurt women and keep negative stereotypes alive.

The Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice is proud to announce a new call for proposals for the second cycle of the Intersex Human Rights Fund,

Norway’s healthcare ministry on Friday proposed allowing people to legally change their gender without the need for any surgery, hormone treatment or sterilisation, a move hailed by Amnesty International

Rightwing groups surrounded hotel in Lviv where about 70 participants in the equality festival had gathered.

Originally posted on QZ on 15/03/2016. Available at: https://qz.com/africa/639763/nigerian-lawmakers-voted-down-a-women-equality-bill-citing-the-bible-and-sharia-law Nigerian lawmakers on Tuesday (Mar.15), voted against a gender and equal opportunities bill (pdf). The bill,

In a new report launched in the European Parliament today, the EU’s Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) highlights that prevailing negative attitudes towards LGBT people endanger their fundamental rights and hamper efforts to counter discrimination and hate crime.

The government of Uganda should stop impeding access to medical abortion and reproductive health services, according to the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights—a regional body charged with ensuring African states comply with their human rights obligations under regional and international human rights treaties.

Originally published on ReproHealthLaw Blog on 10/03/2016. Available at: https://reprohealthlaw.wordpress.com/2016/03/10/guyana-midwives-nurses-pharmacists-can-provide-abortion-pill/ In Guyana, Madam Justice Roxane George has interpreted its Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act of

Yesterday, 17 March, the House of Deputies of the Chilean Congress passed the abortion law reform bill tabled by President Michelle Bachelet and her coalition colleagues over one year ago, following a heated debate.

The Zika virus outbreak and the increase of babies being born with birth defects seemingly linked to the mosquito-transmitted disease have generated a series of prescriptions from governments of the most affected countries about what people need to do and not do. These include asking women to delay pregnancies—until 2018 in El Salvador, for example.

Every month RESURJ – a global alliance of feminists – members share and reflect on some news highlights affecting sexual and reproductive, environmental and economic

The UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has published this week two General Comments: General Comment 22 on sexual and reproductive health and

When I think about LGBT rights in Lebanon, a swinging pendulum comes to mind. Slow progress met with backlash and arbitrary detention. Article 534 of the penal code, a remnant from French colonization, criminalizes same-sex relationship; similar laws of indecency also criminalize transgender populations.

The State has a responsibility for protecting the LGBTI community from violence, a UN expert said on Wednesday, adding that he hopes that the Supreme Court of India makes an “enlightened” and “progressive” decision on the matter.

Originally published on HRW on 08/03/2016. Available at: https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/03/08/dispatches-life-and-death-papua-new-guinea Papua New Guinea (PNG) is a dangerous place to be pregnant. It has one of the

Originally published on: https://lgbt-ep.eu/recent-news/european-parliament-demands-protection-lgbti-refugees-also-from-safe-countries/ Today, the European Parliament adopted a report on the situation of women refugees and asylum seekers in the EU, paying particular

GENEVA (8 March 2016) – The right to sexual and reproductive health is not only an integral part of the general right to health but fundamentally linked to the enjoyment of many other human rights, including the rights to education, work and equality, as well as the rights to life, privacy and freedom from torture, and individual autonomy, UN experts have said in an authoritative new legal commentary.

Originally published on Mamba online on 03/03/2016. Available at: https://www.mambaonline.com/2016/03/03/sa-minister-justice-calls-africa-accept-lgbti-people/ South Africa’s Minister of Justice has called on African nations to accept the human rights

Though funding for LGBTQ activism in West Africa has historically focused on gay men and other men who have sex with men (MSM), the scan shows that more broad-based LGBTQ organizations are emerging. Several of these nascent groups are led by queer-identified women and gender non-conforming people.

The Boston Globe’s investigation busted open a massive Catholic Church scandal in the United States 14 years ago. But in remote parts of South America, GlobalPost discovered that the church practice of reassigning child abusers to another parish, instead of defrocking them, has continued.

The human rights of LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer) people have reached centre stage. Curative petitions have been referred to a Constitution Bench with observations by Chief Justice of India (CJI) T.S. Thakur that “the issues sought to be raised are of considerable importance and public interest …”.

After careful consideration, AWID’s Board of Directors has decided to postpone the AWID Forum due to current uncertainty around the Zika virus situation in Brazil.

Originally published on IciHaiti on 02/02/2016. Available at: https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-16494-icihaiti-justice-abortion-legalized-in-the-new-penal-code.html During a restitution workshop of the draft of the new Code of Criminal Procedure which will

Retrieved from: http://www.lgbt-ep.eu/press-releases/strasbourg-court-family-reunification-rights-also-count-for-same-sex-couples/ Yesterday, the Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) ruled that refusing same-sex couples residence permits with the purpose of family reunification

Read the article by Piyapa Praditpan and Kamheang Chaturachinda examining the situation of Thai women who, despite abortion being legal since the 1950s, continue to die from unsafe abortion.

Same-sex couples will soon be able to adopt children in Portugal after lawmakers voted to overturn a presidential veto, with parliament also removing some abortion restrictions Wednesday.

Writing for the first time about being a sex worker, the author says the industry has taught her feminism and empowerment.

Chilean health officials on Thursday for the first time expressed their opposition to so-called conversion therapy. Agence France-Presse reported the Chilean Ministry of Health made the statement to the Movement for Homosexual Integration and Liberation, an LGBT advocacy group in the South American country.

Originally published on AWID. Available at: http://www.awid.org/news-and-analysis/lohana-berkins-travesti-rage-always#sthash.NHwWZ69A.dpuf Argentinean trans* activist, Lohana Berkins, died in Buenos Aires on February 5, 2016. AWID joins the voices and hearts remembering Lohana,

The LGBTQ community in Argentina, and the region at large continues to mourn the loss of one of its most vocal and compassionate leaders. Lohana Berkins, founding president of The Association for the Fight for Travesti and Transexual Identity (ALITT) passed away last week after a long period of hospitalization.

It dawns. She leaves behind a dominant world angered by her smile, an enemy world that is not ours, a passage from silence to speech; lives crossed, names and identities that no longer pay with their bodies, under a sky that heals as it challenges us. It is dawning in tears and, accompanied, Lohana Berkins dies in Buenos Aires.

Laughter, solidarity, and conviviality were in the air at a quietly remarkable event in a Nairobi hotel on February 12. Yet the subject matter discussed at the event was anything but light: depression and suicide, public stripping and rape. The Gay and Lesbian Coalition of Kenya (GALCK) was presenting its new report, “Research on the Lived Realities of Lesbian, Bisexual and Queer Women in Kenya.”

Originally published on 76 crimes on 23/02/2016. Available at: https://76crimes.com/2016/02/23/victory-in-tunisia-activist-group-shams-wins-in-court/# Shams, the Tunisian group pushing for the decriminalization of homosexuality, has won its legal challenge

Originally posted by the International Campaign for Women’s Right to Safe Abortion on 15/02/2016. Available at: https://us12.campaign-archive.com/?u=c02a095d6213ac4bd2aed2e81&id=29c2a05981&e=869b0d4585 WHO predicts up to four million cases of

Originally published on Catholics for Choice. Available at: https://www.catholicsforchoice.org/news/pr/2016/PopeandPatriarchMisrepresent.asp On his way to Mexico, Pope Francis, head of the Roman Catholic church, met with Russian

South Dakota has moved one step closer to becoming the first US state to bar transgender youth from the bathrooms where they are safe and comfortable.

Originally published on IDS’s website. Available at: https://www.ids.ac.uk/news/new-ids-research-reveals-impact-of-militarism-on-violence-against-women-in-gaza This year’s 16 Days Against Gender-based Violence campaign focuses specifically on the relationship between militarism and the

Originally published on The Guardian on 11/02/2016. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2016/feb/11/guatemala-feminist-lesbian-sandra-moran Sandra Moran, the first openly gay member of Congress in Guatemala, says LGBT rights don’t

Originally published in The Guardian on 10/02/2016. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2016/feb/10/intersex-human-rights-lgbti-chile-argentina-uganda-costa-rica A landmark directive in Chile last month said doctors should stop ‘normalisation’ surgery, but tackling

With a growing number of older people in the world, it is time for Reproductive Health Matters to look more closely at the sexual and reproductive health of people in this different stage of life.

 Employment discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people is a prevalent but silent issue in Thailand, said experts at a national level meeting to discuss issues related to discrimination in the workplace based on sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression (SOGIE) or intersex status.

Conservative estimates would place us at 2% of any population. In India that’s a delightful 2.5 crores who are potentially criminal for indulging in sexual intercourse with other adults of the same sex, as per the perverse Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code.

The country’s Ministry of Health recommended last week that women should avoid becoming pregnant until 2018. But local feminist groups say this guidance doesn’t reflect the needs of Salvadoran women, especially where reproductive health is concerned.

Today, Brazil’s attention is focused on a different type of birth defect: microcephaly, in which a child is born with an abnormally small skull. Microcephaly, which can severely impact a child’s development, is being linked to a massive outbreak of the Zika virus, a mosquito-borne illness first discovered in Africa in the 1940s.

On Jan. 18, the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights (ACHPR) launched a continental campaign for the decriminalization of abortion in Africa to bring attention to unsafe abortion which significantly threatens women’s and girls’ sexual and reproductive health and rights.

A new report indicates transgender women in Central America remain particularly vulnerable to discrimination and violence.

Last week in Jakarta, I met leaders of the Support Group and Resource Center on Gender and Sexuality Studies at the University of Indonesia, who were brimming with confidence about their work with lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people.

When Mozambique’s human rights record was reviewed before the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva this week, the government’s inconsistency on homosexuality was in full view.

Planned Parenthood has been cleared of accusations of selling human tissue, after covert videos released last year prompted the investigation. A Houston grand jury instead

This article is based on some of the research that I have conducted over the past two years on women’s activism in Egypt, Lebanon, and Jordan, from independence until the Arab uprisings. I collected over one hundred personal narratives from middle class women activists of different generations.

AWID is an international, feminist, membership organisation committed to achieving gender equality, sustainable development and women’s human rights.

Women were at the forefront of the pro-democracy protests in Libya in 2011, which, after escalating into civil war, culminated in the ousting of dictator Muammar Gaddafi. But in the years that have followed, as state institutions have crumbled and insecurity prevails, women have struggled to have their voices heard.

Are you a women’s human rights defender?  Do you want to increase your understanding of women’s human rights, and learn how to use the UN

A new report published by the Equal Rights Trust exposes the extent of discrimination and inequality experienced by groups including women; persons with disabilities; lesbian, gay and bisexual persons; and persons living with HIV in Solomon Islands.

The first openly LGBT person elected to Guatemala’s Congress took office last week. Sandra Morán, a lesbian woman who is a member of Convergencia, a left-leaning political movement that advocates on behalf of indigenous Guatemalans and other underrepresented groups in the Central American country, was sworn in on Jan. 14.

Horrifying images posted on social media for all the world to see show men accused of homosexuality thrown off high buildings, stoned to death, or shot in the head by extremist groups, including the Islamic State (known as ISIS) in Iraq, Syria and Libya.

The Chilean Ministry of Health has issued instructions to its national health sector to stop “normalising” medical interventions on intersex infants and children. This guidance is a global first: the first time that a health ministry has shown leadership in taking this step without legislation or legal action.

Originally published by the UN on 18/01/2016. Available at: https://www.ohchr.org/en/stories/2016/01/peru-compensates-woman-historic-un-human-rights-abortion-case In 2001, a 17-year-old Peruvian girl, named K.L., was 14 weeks pregnant when doctors at

In the last several months, there have been a number of rape allegations involving sex workers in the news. Most recently, a number of sex workers accused porn star James Deen of rape. Several websites have since dropped Deen, including Kink.com. Also, Jonathan “War Machine” Koppenhaver is facing 34 counts of rape, kidnapping, and attempted murder (among others) against his ex-girlfriend and porn star Christy Mack, which reportedly left her with 18 broken bones and a ruptured liver, and her friend, Corey Thomas.

International Campaign for Women’s Right to Safe Abortion’s roundup from 2015.

Originally published by Michael K Lavers on 20/12/2015 on Washington Blade. Available at: https://www.washingtonblade.com/2015/12/20/slovenian-voters-reject-same-sex-marriage-law/ Slovenian voters on Sunday rejected a law that extended marriage rights

This tribute is to Fatema Mernissi: mentor, insightful teacher, organic intellectual, incisive feminist, powerful voice, charismatic presence, craftswoman, generous host, and friend.

Around 40 percent of women in the West Bank have had abortions, though the procedure remains illegal in Palestine. So guess where they go.

authoritarianism Deadline: March 1, 2016 Decolonial and postcolonial approaches have long informed and animated feminist scholarship and activism, but often not at once nor in

Butler’s insight into the lives and deaths of transgender women in 2015 penetrates beyond the surface details of their deaths. Her perspective illustrates a startling reality about the real cause of violence against trans women, and the fatal importance of an intersectional approach to the liberation of transgender people.

I will critically discuss the campaign for (full) criminalisation of marital rape to call attention to ways by which this campaign reduces a potentially tranformatory agenda on gender, sexuality and marriage, to one of law, crime and punishment.

The 13th AWID International Forum (Bahia, Brazil) will be a historic global gathering of women’s rights and social justice activists and movements. Click here for registration.

Originally published on Washington Blade on 10/12/2015. Available at: https://www.washingtonblade.com/2015/12/10/puerto-rico-court-issues-historic-adoption-ruling/ A Puerto Rico court on Wednesday ruled for the first time that a same-sex couple

Below is an edited excerpt from Manu S.Pillai’s forthcoming book from Harper Collins, The Ivory Throne: Chronicles of the House of Travancore. The book throws interesting light on gender and political power in the matrilineal royal houses, and offers tantalizing hints about the pre-colonial roots of brahminical patriarchy in the region.

Today in Sierra Leone, the country’s parliament voted unanimously in favor of a new abortion law that will make safe abortion legal. According to the World Health Organization, Sierra Leone has the highest maternal mortality rate in the world, including significant contribution from unsafe abortion.

When a local politician from Tokyo’s Ebisu district last week condemned media coverage of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights issues and called gay people “abnormal” on Twitter, it came as a reminder of times past. It was just five years ago when Tokyo’s governor publicly called gay people “deficient.”

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights today is publishing a regional report on the violence perpetrated against lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and intersex (LGBTI) persons or those perceived as LGBTI.

NI attorney general considers appealing against judgment that could see women being allowed terminations in cases of fatal foetal abnormalities, rape and incestt. Read more

Originally published at Intersex Day. Available at: https://intersexday.org/en/mauro-cabral-marks-bodies/ Mauro Cabral draws a line between the marks on his flesh and the words that clinicians use

I have absolutely no problems with flag filters on Facebook. Or for that matter, profile-picture revolutions that happen all too often. I’m not, in the least bit indignant about such a competitive exhibitionism of feeling – indexed through a currency of memes and emoticons. In an age of such mass-production of violence (‘terroristic’ or ‘humanitarian’), it is no surprise that the event of mourning must become a symptom of the incompatibility between ‘act’ and ‘response’.

In the end of October, seven million young people had to sit and think about the persistence of violence against women in Brazil. This was the essay theme of the National High School Exam (ENEM) — a Brazilian standardized test that is mandatory to compete for a place in the country’s public universities.

Read Aljazeera‘s article highlighting the ongoing discussion within the National Women’s Studies Association (NWSA), the largest academic feminist organisation in North America, about a resolution

A new abortion bill proposed by an ultraconservative Brazilian lawmaker would unravel decades of hard-fought reproductive rights gains by women in this country, activists say.

In 2014, Rihanna, a 22 year-old transgender woman living in Kampala, Uganda was arrested and jailed under Section 145 of the Ugandan Penal Code Act for having “carnal knowledge against the order of nature” — or simply put, for being LGBTQ.

Originally published by TGEU at http://tgeu.org/how-many-trans-people-need-to-die-for-europe-to-take-action/ Every year on November 20, the trans community remembers and mourns those trans people who lost their lives to

2005–2015: reflecting on ten years of Sex workers’ rights in Europe Monday 30 November 2015 · 15:00 – 17:00 European Parliament · Paul Henri Spaak

Originally published at Verso Books on 16/11/2015. Available at: https://www.versobooks.com/en-gb/blogs/news/2337-mourning-becomes-the-law-judith-butler-from-paris Letter from Judith Butler, Paris, Saturday 14th November I am in Paris and passed near

Originally published at Washington Blade on 16/11/2015. Available at: https://www.washingtonblade.com/2015/11/16/same-sex-marriage-becomes-legal-in-ireland/#sthash.RwkaAUmE.dpuf   Ireland on Monday became the latest country to officially extend marriage rights to same-sex

In this article I ask why leading institutions of global capitalism have begun to take activist stances against homophobia, and why they have done so now. I want to understand the terms on which the figure of the queer has come to be adopted as an object of concern for the development industry.

AWID spoke with Sergia Galván, Executive Director of Colectiva Mujer y Salud [Women and Health’s Collective] from the Dominican Republic, on the realities faced by women with regard to their sexual rights and reproductive health.

The new issue of Jacobin was released. “Uneven and Combined” takes on questions of development in the Global South, the (less than emancipatory) rise of

Originally published on Today I Found Out in November, 2013. Available at http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2013/11/first-british-surgeon-perform-successful-c-section-woman-disguised-man/ Today I found out that James Barry, the first British surgeon to

Originally published at The English Collective of Prostitutes. Available at: http://prostitutescollective.net/2009/06/11/summary-of-the-new-zealand-prostitution-reform-act/ The Prostitution Reform Act (PRA) came into operation in New Zealand in June, 2003. 

The data in Coming Out of Concrete Closets sheds light on the ways in which systemic discrimination of LGBTQ communities—particularly low-income communities and communities of color—forms a dragnet of criminalization for the most marginalized. (Shutterstock)

Originally published on The Guardian on 02/11/2015. Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2015/nov/02/myanmar-womens-fight-against-verbal-taboo-symbolises-wider-rights-battle Lack of sex education for women perpetuates gender inequality in Myanmar but activists addressing such

Originally published on The Washington Blade on 02/11/2015. Available at: https://www.washingtonblade.com/2015/11/02/northern-ireland-lawmakers-back-same-sex-marriage/#sthash.uT9vpYIS.dpuf Northern Ireland lawmakers on Monday for the first time voted in favor of marriage

Read New York Times’ article “On Being Queer in the Caribbean“, which reflects on the situation faced by gay and trans people in some Caribbean

Originally published in 2015 at: http://gsrc-mena.org/kohl/call-for-papers/ We are pleased to invite submissions for the third issue of Kohl: a Journal for Body and Gender Research,

Originally published on Jurist.org on 14/10/2015. Available at: https://www.jurist.org/commentary/2015/10/arvind-narrain-intersex-justice/ JURIST Guest Columnist Arvind Narrain of ARC International discusses the issues with assigning a gender to

Draconian new by-laws came into effect in Indonesia’s Aceh province last week, mandating harsh punishments for gambling and adultery, and the option of 100 lashes for gay people “caught” having sex.

Originally published on HRW on 26/10/2015. Available at: https://www.hrw.org/news/2015/10/26/dispatches-kenyan-president-stepping-forward-lgbt-rights   Neela Ghoshal Senior Researcher, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Rights Program NeelaGhoshal Kenya’s President Uhuru

Originally published by IDS on 22/10/2015. Available at: https://www.ids.ac.uk/news/crucial-new-insights-on-sexuality-and-the-sustainable-development-goals 22 October 2015 If the global commitment to eradicate inequality for all people is truly unequivocal,

Originally published on: http://www.rhmjournal.org.uk/journal/call-papers/ Reproductive Rights Matters – volume 24   number 47   may/june 2016  In this issue of the journal, we are hoping to

Global Action for Trans Equality (GATE) met with Dainius Pūras, the United Nations  Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the

Originally published on ASTRAEA’s website. Available at: http://www.astraeafoundation.org/news/352/60/Astraea-Launches-the-World-s-First-Intersex-Human-Rights-Fund/d,home-news New York, New York, Oct 25, 2015 In a world where intersex activism has been resourced on

Originally published on NSWP on October 2015. Available at: http://www.nswp.org/news/call-abstracts-research-sex-work Research for Sex Work is a peer-reviewed international journal that incorporates community-led research and lived

The legal status of trans* individuals in India was discussed quite extensively in the 2014 case of National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) judgment by the Supreme Court of India.

Originally published on Equal Rights Trust on 2015. Available at: http://www.equalrightstrust.org/news/call-papers-16th-equal-rights-review-special-focus-intersectionality-promoting-equality The Equal Rights Trust is accepting papers for the sixteenth edition of its Equal

Originally posted on Stop IGM on 23/10/2015. Available at: https://stopigm.org/Intersex-Awareness-Day-2015-Intersex-Protest-outside-Zurich-Parliament/ On 26 October, Intersex People, Survivors, Partners, Families, Friends and Allies around the globe celebrate

Originally published on Reproductive Rights on 19/10/15. Available at: http://www.reproductiverights.org/press-room/iachr-holds-hearing-on-wrongful-imprisonment-of-salvadoran-women-who-miscarry 10.19.15 – (PRESS RELEASE) Reproductive rights advocates testified today in Washington, D.C. about the human rights violations

This Amnesty International’s collection of twelve essays explores the differences and similarities between social justice and human rights, providing divergent perspectives on whether and how

Sexual Rights Initiative presents an overview from the 30th session of the UN Human Rights Council. It includes resolutions, panels and discussions, statements and parallel

Originally posted on Washignton Blade on 12/10/2015. Available at: http://www.washingtonblade.com/2015/10/12/gay-couple-seeks-help-from-u-s-officials-in-surrogacy-case/#sthash.2hgFYVjF.dpuf Gordon “Bud” Lake and his husband are unable to take their daughter, Carmen Santos Lake,

Originally published on Paper Bird on 28/09/2015. Available at: http://paper-bird.net/2015/09/28/anusbook-forensic-exams-tunisia/ by Scott Long “Tests of shame! Till when?” Campaign by the Tunisian group Damj Join

The 13th issue of NSWP’s quarterly newsletter ‘Sex Work Digest’ covers the period July – September 2015. Features in this issue include: Decriminalisation updates from

Originally published on Daily IO on 30/09/2015. Available at: http://www.dailyo.in/politics/modi-us-visit-mark-zuckerberg-silicon-valley-facebook-digital-india-democracy-vhp-rss-branding/story/1/6529.html Shiv Visvanathan @ShivVisvanathan   If Facebook has face value, Modi’s interview with Mark Zuckerberg at

The Arab Foundation for Freedoms and Equality is happy to announce its call for applications to its Social Change Program. The Program aims to develop the

DAWN is excited to announce the forthcoming 5th DAWN Training Institute (DTI) for young feminists working for gender, economic, political and ecological justice. The DTI

On 29 September 2015, 12 UN entities (ILO, OHCHR, UNAIDS Secretariat, UNDP, UNESCO, UNFPA, UNHCR, UNICEF, UNODC, UN Women, WFP and WHO) released an unprecedented

Join the Youth Health and Rights Coalition and Evidence to Action on Monday, September 28th from 9 am – 10:30 am EDT for a webinar, “Putting

Originally published on Rewire on 16/09/2015. Available at: https://rewirenewsgroup.com/2015/09/16/polling-abortion-rarely-abortion/ by Amanda Marcotte At this point, I’ve given up all hope that anyone will ever construct

When law enforcement targets sex workers and the websites they use, mainstream outlets and organizations tend to give them a pass. But with the raid on Rentboy.com, that script has flipped.

Research and Policy Associate Location: Global | Organization: AIDS-Free World | Deadline: 11 September 2015 You will be responsible for producing written materials on pertinent

With his latest comments, Pope Francis has built a shiny new smokescreen to distract from the grave and immoral harms caused by the Vatican’s opposition to abortion and women’s equality.

Distinguished Committee Members: I wish to thank the Committee for the opportunity to deliver this brief statement on behalf of over fifty human rights organizations

Deadline for applications is 5 October 2015. Click here to learn more about the Coalition for Sexual and Bodily Rights in Muslim Societies and to

By Yasmin Nair August 25, 2015 Originally published on: http://www.yasminnair.net/content/rentboy-sex-panics-feminism-and-more We woke up to the news that Rentboy, a popular online male escort service, has been

Originally published on IDS. Available at: http://www.ids.ac.uk/opinion/being-transgender-in-the-workplace-is-difficult-in-vietnam-or-anywhere The White House’s naming of a transgender person as the new outreach and recruitment director at the Office

Originally published on: http://www.justice.gov/usao-edny/pr/largest-online-male-escort-service-raided on 25/08/2015. A criminal complaint was unsealed today in federal court in Brooklyn charging the CEO of Rentboy.com, Jeffrey Hurant, and

Tuesday 15 September 2015 16:00 to 18:00 Westminster Kingsway College, Soho Centre, Peter Street, London Register to attend The interaction of law and poverty is

Originally published no Paper Bird on 23/08/2015. Available at: http://paper-bird.net/2015/08/23/the-un-security-council-terrible-idea/ By Scott Long   I. Questions On August 18, the Islamic State (also known as ISIS

Originally published on IDS. Available at: https://www.ids.ac.uk/opinion/intersectionality-of-sexuality-inequality-and-poverty I recently had the pleasure (and challenge) of being part of a team of Research Assistants working for

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights is preparing a report of practical recommendations on how to create and maintain the space for civil society

The Young Feminist Fund is the only youth-led fund focused exclusively on supporting global young feminist activism to advance social justice movements and agendas. FRIDA

Originally published on DailyIO on 09/08/2015. Available at: https://www.dailyo.in/politics/narendra-modi-porn-ban-yoga-baba-ramdev-homosexuality-valentines-day-5557 Shiv Visvanathan @ShivVisvanathan   Narendra Modi’s economic and technological policies might have limited impact despite the

PORTUGAL: DIARY OF A PARLIAMENTARY SELL-OUT  BY THE RIGHT-WING MAJORITY PARTIES    by Duarte Vilar Executive Director, Associação para o Planeamento da Família (APF), Portugal

Originally published by Center For Reproductive Rights on 05/08/2015. Available at: https://reproductiverights.org/chiles-health-commission-moves-abortion-bill-forward/ 08.05.15 – (PRESS RELEASE) This evening the Health Commission of Chile agreed to advance a

“We speak to this issue from experience and evidence. Having many years of experience between us of work on sexuality-related human rights, we are seized by

by Sebastian Kohn July 28th, 2015, published originally at Open Society.  Amnesty International seems poised to support the decriminalization of sex work—a move that would improve

Exclusive: Hollywood stars have taken offence at Amnesty’s latest proposal to decriminalise sex work, but the human rights organisation tells Radhika Sanghani there’s been a

Of course I cried. I cried because these nine antiquarian arbiters in funeral garb – five of them anyway, each looking about as forward-thinking and progressive as a constipated grandparent – informed me at last that I am part of this Great Community they help to govern.

Everybody on earth knows that last week a deal on Iran’s nuclear program was announced. Everybody also knows that this apparent step toward peace launched a new stage in an old war: of propaganda.

Human Rights Committee Open Hearing on Article 6 – The Right to Life to develop a General Comment Geneva, 14 July 2015 HERE ARE SOME OF THE

Originally posted on Buzzfeed on 24/07/2015. Available at: http://www.buzzfeed.com/jinamoore/abortion-rights-billboard-censored-ahead-of-obamas-kenya-vis#.esP8rrLX6 Reproductive health advocates say they were told Kenyan officials insisted on the removal of the billboard

Originally posted on Maravipost in 2015. Available at: http://www.maravipost.com/national/malawi-news/law-and-order/9316-unpacking-malawi-special-law-commission-final-review%E2%80%99-findings-and-recommendations-on-abortion-law.html The current position of the law is that abortion is illegal in Malawi except where it

The Master of Public Health (MPH/James P Grant School of Public Health) is calling for applications for the academic year of 2016-17. In January 2005,

 Developing creative campaigning strategies Call for Consultancy Objective: Support LGBT organisations, especially in the global South and East to develop and implement innovative public campaigning

Retrieved from www.transactivists.org in 2015. London, July 16th 2015 Dear friends, I am very honored to receive this award, which I accept understanding it as

Originally published on Paper Bird on 20/07/2015. Available at: http://paper-bird.net/2015/07/20/gay-hanging-in-iran/ I. Everybody on earth knows that last week a deal on Iran’s nuclear program was announced.

In early July, UN Human Rights Council adopted the resolution concerning the protection of the family, whose text points that the family is the natural and

AWID Women Human Rights Defenders – Program Coordinator This position is primarily responsible for implementation of the WHRD strategy toward AWID’s 2016 International Forum, as

Originally published on Bully Bloggers on 20/06/2015. Available at: https://bullybloggers.wordpress.com/2015/06/20/the-republic-of-love/ By Anne Mulhall On the complex achievement of the same sex marriage referendum in Ireland

The curious case of Rachel Dolezal and the Circassian ladies of yore show just how meaningless the notion of race is. Read Al Jazeera’s article.

The Poland “abortion drone” is causing a splash in the media and excited buzz in the reproductive rights community, but it has also become a source of misinformation and anxiety.

Aswat Collective has condemned the arrest of two Moroccan homossexuals accused of “Homosexuality ” and “breach of public modesty”. Click here to read the Statement.

After living in the shadows, thousands of Nicaraguan sex workers have broken their silence, won support from state institutions and gained new respect for their rights.

Originally published on the Global Post on 12/06/2015. Available at: http://www.globalpost.com/article/6580371/2015/06/12/anti-lgbt-groups-making-inroads-across-east-africa Kenyan gay and lesbian organizations demonstrate outside the Nigerian High Commission in Nairobi on February

Paraguay denies respect to older persons in the Americas The 45th General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS) adopted the Inter-American Convention on

Originally published on http://trans-fusion.blogspot.com.br/2015/06/terfs-of-times.html   This week’s Sunday Review section of the New York Times has as its headline article an opinion piece by feminist

Originally published on The Global Post on 04/06/2015. Available at:  http://www.globalpost.com/article/6571484/2015/06/04/indonesias-unique-religious-and-political-culture-makes-strange Faisal Riza is a national organizer for the Organisasi Perubahan Sosial Indonesia (the Organization for Social Change,

Originally published on Reality Check on 11/06/2015. Available at: http://rhrealitycheck.org/article/2015/06/11/abortion-rates-alone-dont-tell-us-need-know-state-reproductive-wellness/ by Steph Herold, Sea Change Program June 11, 2015 – 11:33 am   While a

Originally published on Queerty on 15/06/2015. Available at: http://www.queerty.com/mexico-legalizes-gay-marriage-20150615   Mexico’s Supreme Court has effectively legalized same-sex marriage after finding that state laws restricting marriage

Originally published on Morocco World News on 16/06/2015. Available at: http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2015/06/160745/moroccan-magazine-under-fire-for-cover-asking-should-we-burn-homosexuals/ Rabat – Weekly magazine Maroc-Hebdo has come under fire after it ran a cover

Originally published on Jadaliyya in 2015. Available at: http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/21613/new-texts-out-now_kenneth-m.-cuno-modernizing-marr Kenneth M. Cuno, Modernizing Marriage: Family, Ideology, and Law in Nineteenth- and Early Twentieth-Century Egypt. Syracuse: Syracuse

The Coalition of African Lesbians [CAL] invites all its members, partners and friends to submit contributions for a publication celebrating ten years of collective feminist

Originally published on Al Jazeera on 10/06/2015. Available at: https://www.aljazeera.com/program/people-power/2015/6/10/canadas-lost-women An investigation into the abuse and exploitation of aboriginal women in Canada and the authorities’

Reproductive Health Matters has extended the deadline of the  Call  it has launched for Papers on Sexuality/Sexual Rights/ Sexual Politics.

Originally published in The Advocate on 07/06/2015. Available at: https://www.advocate.com/politics/media/2015/06/07/ugandan-lesbian-covers-time-we-are-here-stay A leading Ugandan activist fighting for LGBT rights takes a powerful stance on the cover

Originally published on: http://www.madamasr.com/sections/politics/being-transgender-egypt Aisha* was sleeping when her apartment was raided. She and three other friends had just moved in when the police came by asking

Wednesday, 13 May 2015 Yesterday, the EU’s Fundamental Rights Agency launched a focus paper on the fundamental rights situation of intersex* people. The Council of

With panoramic views of both the city and its harbor, the Openbare Bibliotheek Amsterdam (OBA), proved to be an ideal place for me to take a break from working at either my home or office at Leiden University.

After decriminalizing abortion last December, Mozambique has once again taken an important step toward sexual rights by decriminalizing same-sexual relations between consenting adults. The change was celebrated by civil society in the African country.

This week General Muhammadu Buhari will be inaugurated as Nigerian’s president, a position he won by campaigning on a platform of change. But will that change include the people on the fringe of society, like lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals?

Originally published on Aljazeera on June/2015. Available at: http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/06/rules-clothing-label-discrimination-case-150601141831931.html Supreme Court rules in favour of Muslim woman who said clothing label denied her a job

The new design responds to what readers, writers and the team identified as necessary and desired changes in the look and feel. The primary objective

Abortion is legal in Canada and has been for over 30 years. There are no criminal laws restricting access to abortion or post-abortion care in Canada and it is a recognized essential medical procedure, required to be fully accessible and financially covered by provincial and territorial health insurance plans under the Canada Health Act.

After rounding up the interview, I turned off my voice recorder, thanked Li Yinhe, and asked her what she has been up to since retiring in 2012. She smiles, and without hesitation tells me she is working on some S&M novels. “Do you know what that is?” she asks.

TGEU, together with ARC International, would like to invite you to participate in a 3-day UN training, which will take place in Geneva, in the

Originally published on Rewire on 28/05/2015. Available at: http://rhrealitycheck.org/article/2015/05/28/taking-action-combat-state-sanctioned-violence-women-worldwide/ by Leila Hessini, Ipas / Global Fund for Women and Beatriz Galli May 28, 2015 –

Ireland became the first country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage through a national vote — a kind of paradoxical feat, considering the Catholic Church’s long-lasting influence on the county’s laws and beliefs.

Originally published on Paper Bird on 17/05/2015. Available at: Taken from: http://paper-bird.net/2015/05/17/tweet-for-egypt-on-idahot/ It’s the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, and Transphobia (IDAHOT, for short). Here’s

Taken from: http://labrys.kg/en/news/full/686.html [VIDEO]: https://www.facebook.com/LabrysKG/videos/vb.45614646315/10152771652191316/?type=1&theater May 17, 2015 in Bishkek, representative of the movement “Kalys” and “Kyrk Choro” illegally broke into the event of the LGBT organization

Originally published on Rewire on 14/05/2015. Available at: http://rhrealitycheck.org/article/2015/05/14/gop-fiddling-uterus-country-burns/ by Jodi Jacobson, Editor in Chief, RH Reality Check May 14, 2015 – 4:06 pm At

Written by Fernando D’Elio of Akahata (with input from Neha Sood of Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights) as part of the 2015 ILGA

Check Journal of Gender Studies‘ call for paper for its special edition “Gendering happiness: the power of pleasure”, which will be published in early 2017.

A new Swedish message to Russian submarines: ‘This way if you are gay.’ Late last year, Swedish authorities were perturbed by signs that a foreign

Scott Long writes about icons of sexual politics, revolution and social change read more

Originally published on Outrage Mag. Available at: http://outragemag.com/phl-accountable-for-violations-of-womens-rights-un-cedaw-committee/ The UN CEDAW released its findings on its inquiry on Manila EO 003 and E0 030, finding

Originally published on Feministinf on 07/05/2015. Available at: http://feministing.com/2015/05/07/gay-israeli-men-and-surrogate-babies-evacuated-from-nepal-mothers-left-behind/ After the magnitude 7.9 earthquake that hit Nepal on April 25th, international media has provided what

Originally published on Agence France-Presse, May 8th, 2015. Health Minister El Hossein Louardi came out in support of lifting Morocco’s ban on abortion, saying women

Read the article Women’s Funding Network’s Sex-Trafficking Study Is Junk Science, by Nick Pinto, on study regarding sex trafficking.

By Caribbean News Now. Link to original: http://bit.ly/lJJ2lt The Bahamas supports the United Nations Human Rights Council resolution passed last week that affirms equal rights

The deadline for applying to the 2016 AWID forum has been postponned to July 3rd, 2015. To submit a proposal to organise a session click

Originally published on Aljazeera on May/2015. Available at: http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2015/05/sex-food-scandal-central-african-republic-150505071049079.html French soldiers patrol a street in Bangui [AFP] Hisham Aidi* In late March, a report commissioned

Originally published on The Guardian on 07/05/2015. Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/may/07/france-criminal-inquiry-alleged-sex-abuse-french-soldiers-un-central-african-republic Prosecutors announce investigation into claims French soldiers raped children on peacekeeping operation in Central African

In Cape Town, South Africa, where abortion is legal, many women opt for underground procedures to end a pregnancy because of social stigma or lack

A new campaign created by Ogilvy Brazil for the NGO Life Support Group (GIV) spread posters throughout São Paulo carrying an actual HIV positive drop

Scott Long writes about the case involving a Libyan student whom police expelled from Egypt in 2008, after a complaint that he was gay, which

Originally published on Rewire on 30/04/2015. Available at: http://rhrealitycheck.org/article/2015/04/30/pope-francis-call-equal-pay-equal-work-toothless-promising/ by Erin Matson Sadly, the more Pope Francis speaks, the more things stay the same. (Philip Chidell

In April, 2015 Malta passed the Gender Identity, Gender Expression and Sex Characteristics (GIGESC) Act, which encompasses, in a new and radical combination, legal recognition,

On April 24th, 2015, the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights granted the Coalition of African Lesbians (CAL) formal observer status. There are many

Originally Published in Dawn, April 25th, 2015. Available at: http://www.dawn.com/news/1178106/sabeen-mahmud-a-profile Maleeha Hamid Siddiqui — Published Apr 25, 2015 06:41am   KARACHI: Peace activist and founder of

Originally from A paper bird. Posted on 18 April 2015 So they’re going to deport gay foreigners from Egypt. My phone started ringing a few

Realizing Demographic Dividend in Africa: the Critical Importance of Adolescents and Youth Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights February 8 – 12, 2016 | Accra,

A comment from GATE on the Maltese Act on Gender Identity, Gender Expression and Sex Characteristics. Available at GATE’s website.  In April, 2015 Malta passed

Originally published on The Independent  Jean Wyllys de Matos Santos does not pick the easy battles, nor does he pick the vote-winning ones.    

Originally published by Amnesty International. Available at: https://www.amnesty.org/en/articles/news/2015/04/china-release-on-bail-of-five-womens-rights-activists-an-incomplete-step 13 April 2015, 18:28 UTC The Chinese government must drop all charges against each of the five

The era of market reform has created a burgeoning Chinese middle class that craves not only increased consumption of goods and the freedom of self-expression,

Originally from GenderIT.org by Bishakha Datta I’m convinced we’re having the wrong conversation around digital porn. Late last year, the British government banned a bunch

Partaking in the effort to make sexual politics visible in the discipline of international relations (IR), Sexualities in World Politics offers ten essays edited by Manuela Lavinas Picq and Markus Thiel addressing how LGBTQ perspectives impact IR as a discipline, practice, and disciplinary practice.

The Coalition of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Travesti, Transgender, Transsexual and Intersex Organizations from Latin America and the Caribbean (LGBTTTI Coalition) that brings together groups from

Originally published on Key Correspondents   The day the military raided Amina Danait’s* village in Muguru na Nyori will forever remain etched in her mind. Soldiers

The Coalition of African Lesbians, the Gay and Lesbian Archives and the Centre for Indian Studies of the University of Witwatersrand, in partnership with Sexuality

Originally published on Reality Check on 09/04/2015. Available at: https://rewirenewsgroup.com/2015/04/09/white-house-takes-stance-reparative-therapy/ A letter posted Wednesday to WhiteHouse.gov thanked visitors for signing a petition in support of banning

Originally published on The New York Times on 05/04/2015. Available at: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/06/world/asia/chinese-womens-rights-activists-fall-afoul-of-officials.html By ANDREW JACOBS APRIL 5, 2015   BEIJING — The young Chinese feminists shaved their

Originally published on Belfast Telegraph on 14/03/2015. Available at: http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/sunday-life/battle-over-the-unborn-antiabortion-protester-showed-me-foetus-doll-31066577.html BY PATRICIA DEVLIN – 14 MARCH 2015 Followed down the street and told my unborn

Originally published on Real Screen ok 09/12/2014. Available at: http://realscreen.com/2014/12/09/terror-attack-at-vessel-screening-in-sweden/#ixzz3Wf3Xvm5h Three masked men stormed a screening of SXSW-winning abortion documentary Vessel (pictured) in Sweden on

Dear Colleague, Join more than 1,000 policymakers, activists and practitioners, including young persons, people living with HIV & AIDS, with disabilities, and LGBQTI persons from

                 Applications are due on or before 30 April 2015. Applications will be evaluated and participants will be

Originally published on Standard Media. Available at: http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/article/2000155804/court-nullifies-section-outlawing-reckless-spread-of-hiv By Kamau Muthoni Kenya: The High Court has declared unconstitutional a section of the HIV and Aids

Originally from NYT, published on 15/03/2015. Available at: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/15/world/swedish-prostitution-law-targets-buyers-but-some-say-it-hurts-sellers.html By DAVID CROUCH MARCH 14, 2015 GOTHENBURG, Sweden — Not far from the Sticky Fingers nightclub, three Romanian

Originally posted on Rewire on 11/03/2015. Available at:  http://rhrealitycheck.org/article/2015/03/11/im-disturbed-screening-intersex-traits-utero/ by Claudia Astorino March 11, 2015 – 1:20 pm As an avid proponent of reproductive rights,

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

Originally published on BBC News. Available at: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-31828123 Draft laws aimed at boosting the birth rate in Iran reduce women to “baby-making machines”, the rights group

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

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

Originally published on Rewire on 10/03/2015. Available at: http://rhrealitycheck.org/article/2015/03/10/women-deserve-know-hiv-prevention-medication/ by Anna Forbes and Manju Chatani and Dázon Dixon Diallo March 10, 2015 – 1:05 pm In

Originally published on The Independent. Available at: http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/the-majority-of-sex-workers-enjoy-their-job–why-should-we-find-that-surprising-10083175.html Selling sex is not inherently harmful or dangerous. Criminalising it would be Prevalent discourse would have you believe

Originally published on Rewire on 03/03/2015. Available at: http://rhrealitycheck.org/article/2015/03/03/making-affordable-raise-baby-wont-make-abortion-demand-obsolete/ by Amanda Marcotte March 3, 2015 – 9:39 am With their new paper, the Brookings Institution‘s researchers

Originally published on NYT on 26/02/2015. Available at:  http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/27/health/american-hiv-battle-in-africa-said-to-falter.html?_r=0 By DONALD G. McNEIL Jr. FEB. 26, 2015   SEATTLE — The $1.3 billion that the United

Originally published at: http://www.rhmjournal.org.uk/authors/call-for-papers.php Sexuality, sexual rights and sexual politics volume 23   number 46   november 2015 Sexuality is an integral component of human existence.

Originally published on Jadaliyya on 26/01/2015. Available at: http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/20626/%E2%80%98a-distinctly-french-universalism%E2%80%99_translating-la%C3%AF by Muriam Haleh Davis It was impossible to avoid the discussion, despite my repeated protests. In Lyon,

Originally published on The Guardian on 01/02/2015. Available at:  http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/01/abortion-in-brazil-a-matter-of-life-and-death The day after Jandyra went for an abortion her body was found mutilated beyond recognition.

Originally published on Paper Bard on 27/01/2015. Available at: http://paper-bird.net/2015/01/27/isis-kills-gays-a-history-of-violence/ Hands shove them forward, bound and blindfolded. Then comes the step when the stone beneath them stops

Originally published on The Huffington Post on 29/01/2015. Available at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/29/chile-same-sex-civil-unions-_n_6569912.html SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — Chilean lawmakers gave final approval on Wednesday to a bill

Originally published on Rewire on 21/01/2015. Available at: http://rhrealitycheck.org/article/2015/01/21/pope-francis-remarks-birth-control-methods-offend-pro-choice-catholics/ by Martha Kempner January 21, 2015 – 1:15 pm Pope Francis, on his way home from his

Originally published by The Amnesty International on 22/01/2015. Available at: https://www.amnesty.org/en/articles/news/2015/01/el-salvador-pardon-woman-jailed-miscarriage-triumph-justice/ 22 January 2015, 00:00 UTC A pardon granted by El Salvador’s Parliamentary Assembly to a

Originally published on NYT on 20/01/2015. Available at:  http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/21/opinion/canadas-flawed-sex-trade-law.html By JULIE KAYE JAN. 20, 2015   Photo   CreditMark Blinch/The Canadian Press, via Associated Press EDMONTON,

Originally published on Paper Bird on 09/01/2015. Available at: http://paper-bird.net/2015/01/09/why-i-am-not-charlie/ There is no “but” about what happened at Charlie Hebdo yesterday. Some people published some cartoons, and some

Unicef has launched a position paper against discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Click here to read it..

Originally published on Rewire on 12/01/2015. Available at: http://rhrealitycheck.org/article/2015/01/12/latest-study-depo-provera-hiv-far-complex-headlines-suggest/ by Emily Bass January 12, 2015 – 5:47 pm A newly published study by Lauren Ralph et

Originally published on World Vietnam in January 2015. Available at: http://wordvietnam.com/news-latest/breaking/same-sex-marriage-now-legal-in-vietnam While Southeast Asia’s Muslim countries, Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei, take a dim view of homosexuality,

Originally published on NYT on 05/01/2015. Available at: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/06/opinion/egypts-appalling-crackdown-on-gays.html By THE EDITORIAL BOARD JAN. 5, 2015 Even if they were acquitted on the ludicrous charge of “debauchery,”

Originally published on Rewire on 05/01/2015. Available at:  http://rhrealitycheck.org/article/2015/01/05/anti-abortion-stigma-cultural-force-restricting-reproductive-rights/ by Morgan Meneses-Sheets January 5, 2015 – 10:51 am For too many people in this country,

DECEMBER 4, 2014 tags: Against Capital Punishment in India, Death Penalty, Nithari Case,Surinder Koli by Shuddhabrata Sengupta Taken from: http://kafila.org/2014/12/04/appeal-to-stay-the-execution-of-surinder-koli-concerned-women-individuals-and-groups/ Guest Post by Concerned Women, Womens’

Originally from Buzzfeed BuzzFeed LGBT editor Saeed Jones joins journalists Steven Thrasher and Dave Tuller to discuss sex, gay men, and what we are (and

Originally published on Paper Bird on 08/12/2014. Available at: Taken from: http://paper-bird.net/2014/12/08/dozens-arrested-cairo/ At about 10 PM last night, December 7, police carried out a massive raid on ahammam

Originally from:  http://kelinkenya.org/2014/12/announcement/ Women Living with HIV & their Lawyers Issuing a Press Statement after Filing their Case       Picture By: KELIN/Regina Mwanza 1.0

Published December 2014 in  http://arc-international.net/research-and-analysis/ As part of our commitment to community dialogue, self-reflection and strategic analysis, ARC commissioned two external evaluation reports in 2014:

Originally published on Rewire on 02/12/2014. Available at: http://rhrealitycheck.org/article/2014/12/02/activists-must-address-hiv-advocacy-using-reproductive-justice-framework/ by Melanie Medalle and Nerissa Irizarry December 2, 2014 – 1:33 pm In the United States,

Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society invites submissions for a special issue titled “Pleasure and Danger: Sexual Freedom and Feminism in the Twenty-First

“By now you have probably already heard of the harem of Tunisian sex-warrior slaves heading to Syria in order to give up their young bodies to the appetites of deprived rebels to fulfill jihad al-Nikkah — “Sexual Jihad” — and are coming back to the country with bellies full of Jihadi babies. Unfortunately for what seems to be that blind spot people have when it comes to stories on Muslims and sex, there doesn’t seem to be any evidence of Tunisian female warriors going to fight a holy sex war.”

Read Jadaliyya’s article Sexual Violence, Women’s Bodies, and Israeli Settler Colonialism, which reflects on the violence against Palestinian women

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

Members of the Indian LGBTQI community issued an open letter to the editors of Bangalore Mirror, after the journal reported the arrest of a married man

Originally published on CLAM on 29/10/2014. Available at: http://www.clam.org.br/EN/destaque/conteudo.asp?cod=11878 Every day women die of unsafe, illegal abortions. Two recent deaths provoked uproar in Brazil.Elisângela Barbosa, a

Originally published on Rewire on 22/10/2014. Available at: http://rhrealitycheck.org/article/2014/10/22/discussing-disabled-sexuality-radical-act/ by s.e. smith October 22, 2014 – 5:27 pm   On September 29, the American Academy of

The submissions are for the fifth volume, which will be published in the spring of 2015. The editorial team is seeking commentaries, research, reviews, art,

The World Association for Sexual Health has published the Declaration of Sexual Rights, in which it reaffirms that sexual rights must be respected, protected and fulfilled.

The meeting report for the Orientations and Identities: Sexuality and Human Rights on the Global Stage Conference, that took place in May, Los Angeles, has

First published on AWID. Available at http://www.awid.org/eng/News-Analysis/Friday-Files/The-Right-To-Autonomy-Over-Our-Bodies-And-Loves-The-Resolution-On-Human-Rights-Sexual-Orientation-And-Gender-Identity-Furthers-Dialogue#.VEGnWpTCCW0.facebook FRIDAY FILE – AWID spoke to Dawn Cavanagh* of the Coalition of African Lesbians (CAL) in South Africa and Sexual

STP, International Campaign Stop Trans Pathologization The International Day of Action for Trans Depathologization 2014, convened by STP, International Campaign Stop Trans Pathologization1, took place

The new issue of SUR – International Journal on Human Rights celebrates its 10th anniversary with 55 articles on the challenges and sucesses of the

International Women’s Rights Action Watch (IWRAW) Asia Pacific with the support of Masimanyane Women’s Support Center (South Africa) will be hosting a multi-country CEDAW shadow

Originally published on Political Research, on 06/10/2014. Available at: http://www.politicalresearch.org/2014/10/06/conversion-therapy-a-bigger-threat-to-africa-than-scott-lively/# By Kapya Kaoma, on October 6, 2014 Conversion therapy, also known as ex-gay or reparative therapy,

Originally published on NYT on 05/10/2014. Available at: Taken from: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/06/opinion/pedophilia-a-disorder-not-a-crime.html By MARGO KAPLAN OCT. 5, 2014 CAMDEN, N.J. — THINK back to your first childhood crush.

Originally from Reproductive Rights. Available at: http://www.reproductiverights.org/press-room/oas-links-abortion-restrictions-to-violence-against-women-calls-governments-to-decriminalize-abortion 10.03.14 – (PRESS RELEASE) For the first time ever a committee within the Organization of American States (OAS)—considered to be the United

Human rights groups are calling for a protest on 18 October 2014 in front of every Egyptian embassy around the world to protest against human

Every year, the Dutch ministry of Foreign Affairs awards the Human Rights Tulip to a human rights defender who promotes and supports human rights in

By Erin Matson, Editor at Large, RH Reality Check September 24, 2014 – 2:41 pm All over the country, from Denver to Minneapolis and beyond,

By Laurie Essig California’s enacting on Sunday of the “yes means yes” law is a victory for some campus feminist activists but an ill-conceived detour

By Lucy Jordan September 25, 2014 | 8:05 pm In late August, a 27-year-old woman named Jandira dos Santos Cruz went to a bus station

By Suzanne Trimel* The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) today applauded the United Nations’ top human rights body for approving a resolution

The Spanish government has decided to withdraw a bill that would only allow abortion in cases of rape or significant health risk to the mother or fetus. Read

UNITED NATIONS, Sep 19 2014 (IPS) – On the eve of a major U.N. special session on population and development, a delegation of religious leaders

By Marianne Thamm Three years ago South Africa and Brazil co-sponsored a historic resolution encouraging the UN to discuss discrimination and violence based on sexual

Unlawful Arrests Undermine Basic Freedoms, Rule of Law SEPTEMBER 9, 2014 (Beirut) – Egyptian authorities should immediately release seven men arrested on September 6, 2014,

(I had spent a week in Gujarat in February-March,2007 and published two reports in TEHELKA. Reproducing the first part to remind myself that it was

By Kathy Bougher September 2, 2014 – 7:24 pm Fundamentalist groups in El Salvador have escalated their media attacks against the “Freedom for the 17”

If you have followed the aftermath of the August 9 killing of 18-year-old Michael Brown, then you have most likely seen the image of his

By Ximena Casas, Planned Parenthood Global August 19, 2014 – 9:59 am In 2007, a 13-year-old Peruvian girl became pregnant as the result of being

American groups sent out a fundraising appeal over the weekend claiming LGBT people had been stoned to death. But Ugandan activists say there is no

KARACHI, Pakistan On Feb. 12, 1983, 200 women — activists and lawyers — marched to the Lahore High Court to petition against a law that

Photograph: Cathal Mcnaughton / Getty It sounded like a strawman, until it wasn’t. There is one thing that suicidal rape victims need: immediate assistance.But for

By Anna Forbes and Sarah Elspeth Patterson August 13, 2014 – 3:54 pm During the 2014 International AIDS conference, The Lancet medical journal released a

From legalising abortion to transsexual rights, marginalised groups have united to become a formidable force for change One tiny country has been blazing a liberal

The Sexual and Reproductive Justice Resource Center provides various country and regional specific resources related to Sexual and Reproductive Justice, developed by our members, partners and

At the VI Summit of President of BRICS We, the networks and the feminist movements of the global South, that gathered in Fortaleza, 14-16 July

Press Release 24th July 2014 For Immediate Release Transgender Group in Kenya wins Historic Court Battle Nairobi, Kenya, 24 July, 2014. – In a historic

Stigma and discrimination have always played a major role in the global AIDS epidemic, but they are getting renewed attention this year at the ongoing

Every morning we wake up to an updated butcher’s bill: one hundred, two hundred, four hundred, six hundred Palestinians killed by Israel’s war apparatus as of

Prostitutes are subject to repression, violence and abuse – even at the hands of law enforcement, research shows Prof Chris Beyrer speaks at the International

By Rashika Rakibullah Staff Writer Early last week, Indian authorities began preparations for the country’s 2014 general elections, a nine-phase, month-long event that will break

Alongside the ongoing 26th session of the Council, the Sexual Rights Initiative, in partnership with,Ipas, Amnesty International and UNAIDS, hosted a parallel event examining the

Read the joint statement delivered at the 13th session of the Open Working Group on the Sustainable Development Goals on behalf of 58 countries, focusing

The Nation‘s article underlines the gaps between Obama’s administration promises to cut funding to discredited HIV and pregnancy prevention programs in Uganda and the ongoing

At the International Conference on Human Rights (7 to 10 July 2013), the main outcome was the final report, which represents a unique platform to

Posted on 24 June 2014 Why is the Human Rights Campaign hanging out with the friends of homophobe Gary Bauer? Some background: HRC, the richest US

Amnesty International launched a public statement on the resolution presented by a group of countries at the UN Human Rights Council  aimet at “protecting the

Read New York Times article about a fierce battle raging in Egypt beyond that one between Islamists and military rulers: the battle “between the patriarchy

Danish parliamentarians passed a law which makes it the first European country where a requirement for ‘Gender Identity Disorder’ diagnosis or any psychological assessment/opinion is

New York Times brings an article on how new Indian government can adress the Section 377, upheld by the Supreme Court in december and which

LGBTTTI Coalition celebrates tha approval of the seventh resolution on human rigths, sexual orientation and gender identity and expression at the OAS 44th General Assembly.

In an article published by New York Times, Laurie Shrage writes about discrimination against people living with HIV. Read it.

Take a look at BuzzFeed‘s article about Zakhele Mbhele, the Africa’s first out gay black MP to join South Africa’s parliament.

As the pace of Brazilian presidential election campaign accelerates once again abortion rights are caught into the eye of the storm. Last week, the Ministry

The World Health Organization (WHO) has launched a statement aimed at contributing to the elimination of forced, coercive and otherwise involuntary sterilization. It reaffirms that

Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have reported a surge in human rights violations at Uganda since the passage of the Anti-Homosexuality Act in 2013.

An article from RH Reality Check shows how fundamentalist christians are reaching space on US state and federal governmemt. Read here.

Read Helen Clark (UNDP) statement highlighting LGBT rights as matter of concern to all working on human development. Click here.

According to World Health Organization, every day, approximately 800 women die from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth. From this total, 99% of the

Preliminary list of signatories and the statement in English and Spanish.

According to Alternet, Tennessee has become the first state in U.S. to pass a law criminalizing women for their pregnancy outcomes. Click here to learn

Article by Aljazeera highlights the difficult choices Brazilian women are forced to make when trying to end a pregnancy in the country with the largest

Learn more about “The Gathering”, a secretive group that provides funding for many evangelical causes at US, including the anti-LGBT movements abroad. Here.

In an article in Aljazeera America, Silvia Tamale highlights how certain ideas are being used to justifiy laws like the Ugandan one which criminalizes same-sex

According to Human Rights Watch, the Louisiana State House of Representatives voted to repeal a law, enacted in 1805, that punishes and undermines LGBT rights.

S.H.E social, health and empowerment feminist collective of Transgender and Intersex Women of Africa has launched its first newsletter, which brings news about trans activism

The Guardian brings information on the dissemination of rape as a practice used by Egyptian police against arrested dissidents. Read more.

Privacy tips for sex subversives: Ways to protect your information and yourself Read Scott Long’s article about privacy of human rights activists. Click here.

The Nation brings an article about the role of American Christian organizations in triggering anti-LGBT laws. Click here.

Read The Guardian’s article about the case of a Brazilian women taken by police to have a cesarean, despite her will to have a vaginal

Mother Jones brings an article about women’s role in Rwanda, two decades after the genocide that killed 800.000 people. Today, women represent two-thirds of the

Sexual Rights Initiative has gathered news from the 25th session of the UN Human Rights Council that took place from March 3 – 28 2014.

Read Reality Check‘s article about the movement by the Koch Brother to support anti-choice organizations in the context of the mid-term congressional elections this year.

Read J. Lester Feder’s article published on Buzz Feed in which the author discusses how “Pope Francis’ softening tone on LGBT issues does not appear to

According to news on the web, a Tanzanian MP is working on a private member’s Bill that seeks to tighten the law against same-sex relationships.

In a ceremony today, the Brazilian government gave monetary reparations to Maria Lourdes da Silva Pimentel, the mother of Alyne—an Afro-Brazilian woman who did not

Reproductive health and human rights advocates testified today in Washington, D.C. on women’s rights issues, including discrimination, violence and reproductive rights violations in the Dominican

Governments at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) ignored evidence of and regional support for key elements of sustainable development in

Click here to read the statement delivered in the 58th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW58) which defends sexual rights, sexual

Uganda, the World Bank, and LGBT rights: Winners and losers SPW recommends Scott Long’s article about World Bank delaying a schedule loan to Uganda aimed

Read NY Times article about some of the findings of a landmark government-sponsored report on the size and structure of the sex economy in USA,

United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) Approves Monetary Reparations Agreement with Brazilian Government for the Mother of Alyne da Silva

Pambazuka News 667 comes with a special issue on “The struggles for homosexual rights in Africa”, which brings analyzes from a African perspective of the

Read New York Times article about China’s harshest anti-vice campaign in years and its effects on the economy of Dongguan, a southern city of more

The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, at its recently concluded session, issued a statement on sexual and reproductive health and rights, which

Read Reality Check article that discusses a report from United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) about abortion. For the author of the article, “the debate over

In a ruling that marks a significant step forward for women’s rights in the region, Bolivia’s highest court, the Plurinational Constitutional Court, issued a decision

Read The Guardian’s article about Brazilian authorities attempts to sanitise the country’s image by repressing sex-related businesses. Click here.

Nigerian LGBT community is organizing a Global Day of Action on the 7th of March 2014 to protest against law that criminalizes same-sex people relationships. Click

The LGBTTTI Coalition Working at the OAS highlighted the advances achieved in 2013, such as the approval of the Inter-American Conventions Against Racism and Against

Read J. Vreer Verkerke’s critical article about the new dutch law on transgender people. Here.

Canada’s highest court struck down the country’s prostitution laws that punish keeping a brothel, living on the avails of prostitution and street soliciting. According to

Read article “Does Pope Francis Have a Woman Problem?”, from the Daily Beast, which points that pope Francis is undoubtedly forward-thinking—except for when it comes

CHANGE Presidente Serra Sippel, in article, says that “the long, hard struggle to alter US policy on HIV/AIDS assistance shows that advocacy can deliver a

Reality Check brings Adele M. Stan’s article about how Pope Francis “when it comes to inequality of the sexes, enthusiastically embraces Rome’s status quo, using

Citizen Group for the Decriminalization of Abortion in El Salvador, the Feminist Collective for Local Development, CEJIL (Center for Justice and International Law) and Ipas

LGBTTTI Coalition of Organizations working within the framework of the OAS expressed support and appreciation regarding the creation by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights

Between 29 November and 1 December 2013, the Third International Intersex Forum, supported by ILGA and ILGA-Europe, took place in Valletta, Malta. This event brought

Read article “Two Women, Different Outcomes: How U.S. Foreign Assistance Policy Harms Women”, by Elizabeth Maguire in “RH Reality Check”, in which the author tells

New York Times brings an article about the increasing of American gay men who reported having unprotected sex to federal  health investigators . The article remarks that

With great pleasure SPW brings attention to the Human Rights Watch post article by Anna Kirey, who has participated in our Buenos Aires training on

Article published on “The Indenpend”, signed by Jeremy Laurance,  presents  the elaborate strategies adopted to persuade sex workers to practise safe sex through African countries. Click

IDS Sexuality and Development November Newsletter is on the web and brings discussions about heteronormativity and patriarchy as well as other issues. Learn more.

In article on The Guardian, Annmarie Chiarini tells how her ex-boyfriend put nude photos of her on the web and how she reacted. The case

Uganda Police arrested last week, without a warrant, Mr. Samuel K Ganafa, The Executive Director of Spectrum Uganda Initiatives and Board Chairperson of Sexual Minorities Uganda

Read article from Buzzfeed about Russia government tactics against LGBT activism. Officials acuse human rights activists of being part of part “Western ‘Homosexualist Invasion’”. Click

Equador faces a double pattern in adressing reproductive and sexual rights: while Presidente Rafael Corrêa makes pression against abortion legalization, his Public Health Ministry leads

In article, New York Times discusses aspects of Rio de Janeiro policy on the organization of Olympic Games: brothles are being captured by an atmosphere

In a case that has the potential to break the binary gender norms of male and female in law and administrative practices in India, the

Read RH Reality Check’s article “Anatomy of the War on Women: How the Koch Brothers Are Funding the Anti-Choice Agenda”, where the author criticizes that

Read New Statesman’s article about a German law that lets a birth certificate to be left blank in cases where the child is neither male

Read Zillah Eisenstein’s article about Putin’s homophobic nationalism. The author says that “right-wing rhetoric, demonizing homosexuals and feminists is an attempt to stimulate his waning

Anti-sex work group, Equality Now, recently launched an attack on the UN over recommendations to decriminalise sex work in two reports on HIV and Sex

SPW recommends reading the blog “The adventures of cosmic yoruba and her flying machines”, which brings reflections on sexuality in pre-colonial Nigeria. Click here.

The United Nations Secretary-General’s envoy for HIV and AIDS in the Caribbean, Dr Edward Greene, has pleaded for the removal of discriminatory immigration laws in

Read article on The Guardian about how a movement that started out as a critique of capitalist exploitation ended up contributing key ideas to its

Article on NY Times describes the case of a american young woman, taked in handcuffs to a cell because of the allegation that she, once

“It has been ten years since New Zealand parliamentarians, after considerable debate and encouragement from sex workers, mainstream women’s organizations, and public health advocates, voted

The Global Action for Trans Equality (GATE) published a statement on the October 19 reaffirming the devasting effects of the patologization of trans identities. Click

Read article from “The Guardian” about the situation in Japan, where the number of young people who doesn’t show interest for sex is growing. Click

Human Rights Watch send a letter to Pope Francis asking that Catholic Church  to “condemn violence and discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT)

Check articles (in english) about the LGBTI issue on the All Translation website.  It’s an opportunity to learn more and get a sense of what

UN Women has supported sex workers in response to Equality Now’s anti-sex worker campaign. The statement recognize the rights of sex workers by striving to

“If a person does not fit in a neatly packaged place within the straight-gay binary, some people won’t believe them, a fact that led me

Latin American Center on Sexuality and Human Rights brough interviews with scholars (Sealing Cheng and Thaddeus Blanchette) working on the connections between love, prostitution and

The Constitutional Court of South Africa decided that two sections of the Criminal Law Amendment Act are unconstitutional. The measeures were intended to criminalise consensual

The Kuwait Ministry of Health has proposed tightening genetic tests for immigrant workers in order to prevent transgender migrants from entering the GCC job market.

Read The Independen’s news about medical tests that will be conducted by Gulf states to stop homosexual to enter their countries. Click here.

Organizations, associations and activists defending the human and civil law of  trans people denounce generalized extreme violence and murders and impunity that trans people suffer

Cultural Cold Wars: Where “traditional values” came from See Scott Long’s HQ on the place of sexual rights in what he calls “Cultural Cold Wars”.

Read article about the situation of trans people in South Africa and the obstacles that they face regarding the identification country system. Here.

Read the article, by SPW partner Raphael de la Dehesa, in which he discusses Brazilian sexual and reprodutive rights landscape. Although being hailed as a

At the award ceremony in Nuremberg Opera House on 29 September, 2013 Kasha Jacqueline Nabagesera, LGBTI activist from Uganda, received the award from Lord Mayor

DAWN’s new website is now accessible. It brings a better search engine and a new media section. Click here to access it.

Read LGBT activist Igor Yashin’s article (“Russia needs its own Stonewall, not Western sanctions”) about the ways to confront the homophobia that imperils minorities in

The political history of prostitution in Brazil has been winding. In recent years, the hegemony of discourses on sexual exploitation and trafficking for sexual purposes

The Global Network of Sex Work Projects (NSWP) has launched a statement on the attacks made by Equality Now on UN recommendation calling for decriminalisation

Read Huffington Post’s article about USA iniciative “Safe from the Start”, designed to prevent and respond to gender-based violence in conflict and crisis and build

“The Gikuyu of Kenya, who had very rigid codes of sexual convention, thought the public displays of affection among Europeans were unspeakably vulgar. Ironically, however,

Read women’s rights lawyer Flavia Agnes’ article about the fate of the woman raped and killed in India last year. “And so she lives on

During his apostolic journey to Rio de Janeiro for the 28th World Youth Day, Pope Francis did not repeat the Vatican’s old rhetoric. Instead, he

In what organisers suggest is a ‘first of its kind’ move, an informal coalition of over 150 trans* and cis feminist activists, academics, writers and

The Netherlands Fellowship Programmes (NFP) promote capacity building within organisations in 50 countries by providing training and education through fellowships for professionals. The NFP is

Almost one in four men surveyed in six Asian countries admit to having raped their partners at least once, according to a UN report. Researcher

Read about a New Delhi community organization that offers care and counseling, but also empowers gay, lesbian and transgender people. Here.

Read the article “The Queer Art of Whistle Blowing”, about the place that gender is occupying in the context of the “Manning case”. Click here.

Read the article “Edward Snowden and Chelsea Manning, the New Dissidents?” about United States machinery that satisfies certain tendencies that are in the genetic code

Read feminist Zillah Eisenstein’s article about the Manning case. “Manning has initiated a rare moment of opportunity that makes mainstream silence a bit more difficult”.

Read the article “Abortion education under pressure in U.S. medical schools”, in which it highlights the battle at the state level in the United States

Uganda: Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG) happily welcomes the court ruling by US Federal judge on Wednesday August 14, 2013. In the historic ruling the judge

US: Exodus International announces it’s closing doors. The closure comes less than a day after the organization released a statement apologizing to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community for years of undue judgment, by the organization and from the Christian Church as a whole. Read more.

Arcus Foundation announces Capacity-Building Initiative for U.S. LGBT Movement. The deadline to apply for Arcus’ LGBT Leadership Initiative for Executive Directors has been extended to allow time for a few more applicants. The extended deadline is now June 5th, 2013.

Argentina: GLSEN – the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network – and UNESCO host meeting  to create Global Network of Researchers, Advocates Working on LGBT Issues in Education. Read more.

Around 1.8 billion young people worldwide are at risk of having their sexual and reproductive rights ignored in the next round of ICPD review. Amnesty International calls on you to tell world leaders: protect sexual and reproductive rights now and for the next generation! Support My Body, My Rights campaign.

US: NY Archdiocese has been reluctantly paying for health plan that covers birth control. Read more.

Awid’s “Facing Fundamentalisms Newsletters” seek to spark engagement and interaction from readers who are confronting religious fundamentalisms across a diversity of contexts. March edition is focused on Religion, Culture, Tradition and Fundamentalisms at the UN.

Brazil: Sexual assaults in Rio de Janeiro have cast a light on class differences in the city and have raised fears for women’s safety ahead of the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Summer Olympics. Read more.

Read “Bradley Manning, Bayard Rustin, and the perversion of Pride”, an article by Scott Long on A paper bird blog.

United Nations has just released a video stating that LGBT rights are human rights, starring Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon and the High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay.Watch it now.

Read “Rethinking Policing in the Age of AIDS”, an article by Aleksandr Zelichenko and Tan Sri Mohd Zaman Khan.

The Global Dialogues Video Challenges are an innovative, intercreative approach to making short YouTube films on global social issues. Check out this one about “Young and HIV Positive”.

Show your support to the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia by changing your profile picture on social networks. Click here for some suggestions.

Canada: The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that Biblical speech opposing homosexual behavior, including in written form, is essentially a hate crime. Read more.

Brazil: Read the “Civil Society follow up on the crisis Brazilian AIDS Response,” published after the Ministry of Health Note of Clarification in opposition to a public note written by Brazilian NGOs with concerns about the funds for AIDS programs.

Read the “Brazilian Ministry of Health Note of Clarification” regarding the Brazlian NGOs note on the funds that had been originally transferred by the Union for the exclusive use of AIDS programs, but were not used until december 2011.

Global: 28th September 2012 is the Day of Decriminalization of Abortion and advocates around the world are organizing events to raise awareness about the need to ensure access to safe, legal abortion. Click and sign an international open letter for the right to abortion, support a campaign and read more.

Scott Long published at the blog A paper bird the article Resources for the unbelievers, on aid conditionality and LGBT rights. A series of contents regarding aid conditionality and LGBT rights is presented in this article, including some contents produced by some partners for the SPW Newsletter n.11. Read more.

Brazil: After awake praises in the international arena and be highlighted as a model, Brazilian National STD/AIDS Program is called to correct its course years. Read more.

Endorse the statement “Rights must be at the Centre of the Family Planning Summit”, prepared by Amnesty International, the Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR), DAWN, the International Women’s Health Coalition and RESURJ regarding the new global family planning initiative led by Gates and DFID, which will be held in London on 11 July 2012. Read more.

Global: Read the IDAHO Committee team balance about the global mobilization worldwide celebrating the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia, on May 17th. According to IDAHO Commmittee, new countries joining celebrations for the first time.

Argentina: On May 9, 2012 the Senate passed the first ever gender identity law in the country. With 55 votes in favor, 1 abstention and no votes against the law passed is for now the most progressive disposition on transgender people rights in the world. Read the note published by GATE and more.

UK: The Equal Rights Trust and the Human Rights Lawyers Association invite to the panel discussion “Advancing Sexual Rights in the ‘Developing World’: The Politics of Human Rights Interventionism”, which will take place in London, on 10 May 2012. Read more.

Sweden: On 15 April 2012, images above showing Sweden’s Minister of Culture, Lena Adelsohn Liljeroth, cutting into a cake in the shape of a naked black woman have led to an outcry across the country and online. Read more.

Global: On March 7, 2012 the Human Rights Council in Geneva held the first-ever formal UN inter-governmental debate on violence and discrimination against LGBT people. 

The panel was moderated by the Ambassador of South Africa and featured panelists from Brazil, Pakistan, Sweden and the USA. Read more.

ARC International is co-hosting with the ICJ an NGO roundtable to raise awareness of sexual orientation and gender identity issues on next Monday, 5 March, at the 19th Session of the UN Human Rights Council. Titled “LGBT Issues for the Curious: (Almost) Everything you Wanted to Know about Sexual Orientation & Gender Identity but were too Diplomatic to Ask”, the roundtable affords an opportunity for LGBT human rights defenders from all regions to share their perspectives with diplomats. Read more.

Uganda: Exactly one week after the re-tabling of the Anti Homosexuality Bill (2009) by MP David Bahati, a workshop organized by lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) human rights defenders was invaded and shut down in Entebbe. The State Minister for Ethics and Integrity in the Office of the President, Rev. Fr. Simon Lokodo, in the company of an aide and the police, announced that the workshop was illegal and ordered the meeting to close immediately or else force would be used to end the meeting.

Uganda: The COALITION OF AFRICAN LESBIANS (CAL), a pan African network of lesbian, bisexual and gender non-conforming people, organizations and individuals, calls upon every person who believes in the dignity, equality and freedom of every human being, to take note of and act urgently to halt the Anti-Homosexuality Bill which has just been re – tabled in Uganda.

Brazil: Cleides Amorim, a professor at the Federal University of Tocantins, was one of over a dozen LGBT Brazilians murdered in just the first two weeks of 2012. AllOut started a national campaign aimed at Federal Government, inspired in a protest letter from a group of professors of Brazilian universities. Read more.

Interview: Conceição Lemes A protest movement against the Provisional Measure 577 (MP 577) creating the National System of Registration, Tracking and Follow-up of Pregnant and

Brazil: President Dilma Roussef signed an act that regulates the obligatory registration of pregnant women. The text includes language that treats the fetus as a person. Read more.

Endorse the “Our Rights, Our Lives: Women’s Call to Action toward the 20-year review of the Cairo conference in 2014”. It was developed by an inter-generational group of over 30 feminists convened by Realizing Sexual and Reproductive Justice (RESURJ), International Women’s Health Coalition (IWHC) and Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era (DAWN). Read the call.

The Brazilian Association of Studies on Homoculture (ABEH) released the first version of the schedule, the menu of group themes, and the composition of the scientific commission of the VI International Conference of Studies on Sexual and Gender Diversity that is going to take place at UFBA (Federal University of Bahia) in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, on August 1st, 2nd and 3rd, 2012.

Syria: Authorities arrested Syrian blogger, feminist, and activist for free expression Razan Ghazzawi on December 4th, 2011. Read the statement written by human rights activists and defenders.

Read In favor of a real debate in Cameroon, published at CLAM website, presenting an analysis of the African sexuality context, based on an interview with S.N. Nyeck, a Cameroonian-born Ph.D. candidate at University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) Department of Political Science.

Today the Lesbians and Gays of Botswana (LEGABIBO) took part at the World AIDS day commemorations and march which took place in Moshupa a small

Global: On October 24th, 2011, Anand Grover, UN Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, presented a report before the UN General Assembly, calling on all countries to abolish or suspend any criminal laws that seek to control women’s sexual and reproductive rights. Read the NGO statement supporting the report and more.

EU: On 30 June 2011, the European Parliament’s Subcommittee on Human Rights held a hearing on LGBTI rights in the world. Read more.

Argentina: Read the press release written by AMMAR – Sex Workers Argentina repudiating the Presidential Decree that prohibits publicity that promotes sex services.

Global: Read the article published by ARC International on the 17th session of the Human Rights Council (May 30 to June 17 2011).

Ghana: While progressive and exciting things are happening in Geneva, homosexuals could soon be lynched in Ghana – MP warns. Read more.

GENERAL REMARKS BY BRAZIL, L.9/Rev.1 Human Rights Council 17th Regular Session Agenda Item 8 Decisions L.9/Rev.1 Geneva, 17 June 2011 GENERAL REMARKS BY BRAZIL Thank you

United Nations: Human Rights Council passes first-ever Resolution on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in a historic decision. Read more.

Read the article Egypt after Mubarak, written by Paul Amar and published at The Nation website, about the coalition that has taken action to continue the Egyptian revolution.

Global: The International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHO) was celebrated on May 17th 2011 with hundreds of events taking place all around the world and on every continent. Read more.

Read the news report Winds of change on the situation of LGBT in the Middle East, published by the Australian LGBT magazine DNA.

Brazil: Brazilian Supreme Court gives unanimous judgement in favour of the legal recognition of same sex partnerships. Read the ABGLT’s note.

Read Where have India’s baby girls gone?, published recently by The Economist presenting the data from the 2011 Indian census, which shows that there are now 914 girls aged 0-6 years old for every 1,000 boys of the same age.

In October 2010, Institut Pelangi Perempuan, the Indonesian Youth Lesbian Center, launched the Yogyakarta Principles comic strip. Read the comic version and an interview published at ILGA’s website with Kamilia, a young feminist and lesbian activist currently the Executive Director of the organization.

Global: Envisioning Global LGBT Human Rights has received $1 million over five years from the Community-University Research Alliances program of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. Read more.

USA: Read the statement by the White House’s Press Secretary on Ending Violence Based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.

UN – Joint statement on ending acts of violence and related human rights violations based on sexual orientation & gender identity 1. We recall the

Read Are Women’s Rights on Obama’s Agenda in Latin America?, an article by Luisa Cabal and Lilian Sepúlveda on RH Reality Check.

USA: After the United Nations evaluation of the United States’ human rights record, the U.S. released a report to the U.N. affirming that “no one should face violence or discrimination in access to public services based on sexual orientation or their status as a person in prostitution.”

Read the short report “The Body and the State: How the State Controls and Protects the Body”, written by Rafael de la Dehesa about the 23rd Social Research Conference, held on February 10-12, 2011 at the New School University, New York City. The text brings a brief description of some of the speeches and presentations at the Conference.

Read the article The Sudden Rise of a Pro-Gay Foreign Policy in the United States, written by Javier Corrales, analyzing the Obama administration regarding gay rights.

Read Laura Agustin’s article Sex, Lies and Videotaping, about BBC World Debate programme on Human Trafficking, at the Naked Anthropologist on Migration, Trafficking and Sex blog.

In A Tale of Two Moralities, published at the New York Times website, Paul Krugman talks about the American political morality and highlights the deep intersection of economic and abortion debates in the USA. Read the article.

Brazil: Brazilian Human Rights and gender equality activists send a manifesto against the way abortion was treated during the last election period in Brazil to the President Dilma Rousseff and Ministers. Read more.

Read The extraordinary life and death of David Burgess, on the death of a brilliant immigration lawyer. Burgess also was Sonia and died under a London tube train in October 2010. In this article, Burgess’s family and friends tell the complicated story of the loving father, brilliant colleague, sensitive woman and courageous person they knew.

Read the article Putting the “Universal” Back in the Universal Declaration, written by John Fisher, Co-Director of ARC International. This short article focuses on the recent developments at the UN, with an overview of both progress and challenges on LGBT issues in the international arena.

Read the article “Operating logic”, written by Mauro Ï Cabral, on medical interventions or mutilation in intersex people.

Cuba: Read the statement of SOCUMES and CENESEX on the Cuban vote at the Third Committee of UN General Assembly in support of the amendment which removed the explicitly mention of “sexual orientation” at the periodic resolution condemning the extrajudicial, arbitrary or summary executions.

Egypt: Civil society has warned of adverse social and health consequences after the Egyptian government ordered the removal of content related to male and female anatomy, reproductive health and sexually transmitted diseases from the school curriculum.

Click here to read a great editorial piece in which the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay denounces homophobia and calls for concerted action to better protect individuals from violence and discrimination on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity.

Uganda: A sex worker conference that would be held from November 18-20, 2010 was under attack by the Government. Read and support a call to action organized by FARUG – Freedom and Roam Uganda.

Jamaica: A recently produced public service announcement focuses attention on the need to respect LGBT individuals and features prominent Jamaicans requesting tolerance of the Jamaican LGBT community. Read more and watch the video.

Venezuela: The postulation of a transexual lesbian feminist woman, activist of human rights, to become a Judge for the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice Venezuela causes call to mind in Venezuela. Read more.

Kazakhstan: The leader of the Pearl, an NGO that protects LGBTand conducts work on the prevention of HIV infection, was found dead in his apartment in the center of Karaganda. Read more.

Malawi: Gay couple Steven Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga walked free after Malawi president Bingu wa Mutharika pardoned and ordered the release of the men who

Indonesia: Read a note written by Kamilia, from the Institut Pelangi Perempuan, an Indonesian Youth Lesbian Center, on one more meeting attacked as a result of harassment from some fundamentalist and hard-line Islamic groups.

IDAHO May 17th is the International Day Against Homophobia (IDAHO). Various activities are being planned around the world. On www.dayagainsthomophobia.org > This year, IDAHO will

IDAHO: The International Day Against Homophobia, held on May 17 every year, is a rallying event offering an opportunity for people to get together and reach out to one another. Fondation Émergence promotes the International Day Against Homophobia and encourages organisations and individuals to highlight this event in their environment. Get involved.

Vatican: Read ILGA’s press release on the statement by the spokesperson of the Vatican Press Room, Federico Lombardi, about paedophilia and homosexuality.

Read official ABGLT position on Vatican statements about homosexuality and pedophilia. Avalilable in English and Portuguese.

Indonesia: ILGA through its Co-Secretary General Gloria Careaga provides detailed information on what really transpired in Surabaya, Indonesia and why the Fourth ILGA Asia Regional Conference was canceled. Read more.

Europe: The Secretary General of the Council of Europe welcomes the decision of the Committee of Ministers on Wednesday 31 March, 2010 to adopt a recommendation to member states on measures to combat discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

Guatemala: United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right of everyone to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, Anand Grover, visited Guatemala City on March 22 and 23 to participate in the civil society consultation for Central America, Mexico and the Spanish-Speaking Caribbean.

Nearly a year ago, Obama lifted the “global gag rule,” which prohibited the US from funding any organizations that provide or “promote” abortions.  This move,

Malawi: Human rights groups in Malawi have leapt to the defense of two gay men who were arrested after marrying in the country’s first public same-sex ceremony. The men were charged in court. Steven Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga, pleaded not guilty before a court in Blantyre to charges of indecency.

Honduras: Murder of gay rights activist shows another crisis. Walter Tróchez spent a lot time at Honduras police stations and morgues: he was the HIV-positive gay activist who got the call every time a transgender sex worker was murdered on the streets of Honduras.

USA: Even with Obama, the prostitution pledge remains on place in the case of PEPFAR, the US Funding for HIV/AIDS.

USA: Grave human rights violations on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity were the focus of a panel discussion organised on Human Rights Day 2009 on December 10, in the United Nations, in New York , defending the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people.

Available on Facebook Immoral, and a threat to the youth. When the 2nd Division of the Commission on Elections rejected Ang Ladlad’s application for accreditation

The Philippines: The Commission on Elections (COMELEC) rejected Ang Ladlad (LGBT organization) for registration as a sectoral party for advocating immoral doctrines. Read the article “Drawing the Line between Belief and Bigotry in Asserting the Rights of Filipino LGBTs”, by Malu S. Marin.

Zimbabwe: The director of the Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe (GALZ), Keith Goddard has died on October 9th, 2009 after a short illness.

Jamaica: British Honorary Consul John Terry murdered in his bedroom. The content of a note reportedly found at the murder scene suggests he was the victim of a violently homophobic crime.

In a much anticipated decision in the General Assembly (GA), governments agreed in September to move ahead with the process of creating a stronger, more

Hillary Clinton received the Four Freedoms Award from the Roosevelt Foundation on September 11. She gave her acceptance speech and announced a Security Council Resolution

By Ranjani K.Murthy* Independent Researcher, Gender, poverty and health Between 1994 and 2009 several changes have taken place in the health/SRH and global NGO scenario, 

Germany: From 2 to 4 September 2009, it is happening in Berlin, Germany, the NGO Forum on Sexual and Reproductive Rights and Development – Investi in Health, Rights and the Future, organized by the Global Partners in Action.

Panama Declaration Meeting of women representing regional Networks in latin America and the Caribbean in the process of Cairo +15 Panama, 3-5 August 2009 The

STATEMENT FROM THE UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME (UNDP) ON THE DELHI HIGH COURT’S DECISION ON SECTION 377 OF THE INDIAN PENAL CODE July 2, 2009

Section 377 repealed of the Indian Penal Code Preliminary views, we need to read the judgment carefully: Question 1) Is this judgment only applicable in

UN Human Rights Council – Urging Governments to Support Resolution on Maternal Mortality and Human Rights at the Upcoming session (June 2 – 18).

Anand Grover, the Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health (the Right to Health) was in Poland from May 4 to May 12. Before this meeting, Anand Grover also attended a South American Consultation about the Right to Health in São Paulo, Brazil, where he met 40 representatives of civil society organizations from Argentina, Colombia, Paraguay, Uruguay, Peru, Venezuela and Brazil.

This year (2009) marks the 15th anniversary of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) and reminds us of the five years remaining to fulfill the commitments made at Cairo.

USA: The Obama administration formally endorsed a U.N. statement calling for the worldwide decriminalization of homosexuality

Turkey: Transgender human rights activist is murdered – the second killing of a member of Lambda Istanbul in the past year

Summary of the panel discussion on the Yogyakarta Principles on the Application of International Law in Relation to Issues of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity

Letter from the US: Nature and Bono conspire against sound HIV/AIDS policy By Melissa Ditmore* Brazil has been an inspiration for me, as an activist

To US Congress Re: PEPFAR January 31, 2008 Dear Member of the US Congress: We are members of non-governmental and community-based organizations from throughout the

Oral Statement By Soha Abdelaty Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network Oral Statement by Soha Abdelaty 10 March 2008 Interactive Dialogue, Agenda Item 3 Working Group on

By Daniela Colombo* There are many reasons to consider Italian abortion law a success story. It was passed in 1978, only six years after the

by Susana Fried On July 24-25, 2008, in Kathmandu, Nepal, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and the Open Society Institute (OSI)

By Angela Collet* On June 8th, the Human Rights Council approved the appointment of Anand Grover as the new Special Rapporteur on the right of

Sent by Airea na and translated by Mulabi FEMALE CABINET MEMBERS IN THE NEW GOVERNMENT WILL WORK AGAINST DISCRIMINATION On Thursday, July 24, Airea na

By Vagner de Almeida* The first For Rainbow Festival of Cinema and Sexual Diversity held in Fortaleza, in the state of Ceará, is the first

The undersigned organizations wish to express our support for the Brazilian government’s decision to issue a compulsory license for the medicine Efavirenz, whose patent is

Mechanism for the granting of patents known as “pipeline” patents violates the Federal Constitution On November 28th, the National Federation of Pharmacists (FENAFAR), on behalf

Since March 15th, 2006, when the resolution creating the Human Rights Council was adopted by the UN General Assembly, the Council have met in four sessions. The 5th session of the HRC will take place from June 11th to 18th, 2007, when it is expected that the ongoing HRC institution building process will be completed.

Alejandra López Gómez* The Reproductive Health Policy Law (Law 18.426), finally promulgated by the Executive in Uruguay on November 20th, 2008, was substantially different in

By Alexandre Boer* The headquarter of the Brazilian gay organization SOMOS – Communication, Health & Sexuality, from Porto Alegre – capital of Rio Grande do

Supreme Court, Division Bench Honorable Justice Mr. Balram K.C. Honorable Justice Mr. Pawan Kumar Ojha Order Writ No. 917 of the year 2064 (BS) (2007

Svati Shah* Along with shifts in the global economy and a new presidential administration in the U.S.A., 2008 also brought the possibility of change in

Alejandra Sardá-Chandiramani* The 11th AWID International Forum in Cape Town was my third AWID event, as I had previously attended ones in Guadalajara (2002) and

By Dotty Aken’ova* It has been almost two years since the bill prohibiting same sex marriage in Nigeria was introduced to the national house of

Considerations about the Principles By Mauro Cabral* The Yogyakarta Principles are the outcome of a long and difficult historical process through which the diversity of

Human Rights Council review process: opportunity to advocate for sexual rights Since March 15th, 2006, when the resolution creating the Human Rights Council was adopted

SPW, ABIA and Conectas Human Rights facilitated a South American Consultation on Right to Health called by Anand Grover, UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health, March 25th and 26th, in São Paulo, Brazil.

Read Reality Check‘s article about study that points how stigma makes people reluctant to share with loved ones their abortions. Click here.

The X IASSCS Conference, hosted at Dublin City University, Ireland, proposes to investigate the politics, nature, roles and effects of sexual (and gender) literacy in

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