Sexual politics from July to October 2024

Introduction

Once again, our newsletter brings you news and analysis about the current times, which are more somber than bright: authoritarian trends, the continued expansion of the ultra-right, and, above all, the ongoing wars in Ukraine and Gaza, as well as less visible but also bloody conflicts.

Furthermore, between July and October 2024, a new worldwide outbreak of mpox was defined by the WHO as a “global public health emergency”. Its scale and effects are not comparable to those of Covid-19, but the new epidemic is more closely linked to the regressive dynamics of sexual politics. In Russia, for example, where in 2024 LGBTQIA+ activists have been imprisoned as terrorists, the Putin regime has issued an official statement saying that it is not afraid of the new epidemic because Russian society is governed by “traditional values”.

On the other hand, the mpox situation is also related to the transnational actions of the ultra-right, which, as reported in the previous edition of this newsletter, organized a protest against the Global Pandemic Pact being debated at the World Health Assembly (WHO). This attack from the outside has converged with the refusal of countries in the Global North to accept the terms of the treaty, once and for all removing the possibility of concrete political responses to crises such as the current one, centered in Africa, which has prompted severe criticism of the international system’s inability to mobilize and react.

As we’ve pointed out before, multilateralism is also failing to contain wars and conflicts, particularly the genocide in Gaza. The death toll has now officially surpassed 40,000, not counting those buried, wounded, displaced, and missing. As this report was being finalized, after limited localized operations, Israel openly attacked Hezbollah and Lebanon. In retaliation, Iran responded with an unprecedented barrage of ballistic missiles against Israel. The conflict now has regional implications, with the risk of escalating more widely and directly involving the US, which would undoubtedly impact the US elections, as Euronews and The Intercept have analyzed.

As in the previous newsletter, we offer a section on post-election scenarios and then take a bird’s eye view of events and trends in the dynamics of gender and sexuality politics.

Good reading!
Sonia Corrêa, Nana Soares, Fábio Grotz, Tatiane Amaral

SPW events and products

In September, as part of the “Democracies in dispute” debates, four African feminists discussed the political challenges in the region, with a focus on South Africa, Senegal, and the Sahel region. The English report can be accessed here and the full debate is available on Youtube. We also highlight the reports in Portuguese and video summaries of the debates on elections in Latin America and the US.

Also in August, SPW co-coordinator Sonia Corrêa took part in a meeting in Mexico City of the Laboratorio de Acción Narrativa, an initiative of the Instituto de Liderazgo Simone de Beauvoir (ILSB). Finally, we would like to highlight Richard Parker’s most recent article on global responses to AIDS in recent decades. The article argues that the “scaling up” of the response to the pandemic has come to an end and emphasizes the importance of a more honest political debate about the current state of the global response to HIV.

The 2024 elections

US elections

In our last newsletter, in June, we discussed the 2024 election cycle and pointed out the uncertainties involved. In this second half of the year, the US election has taken center stage, not only because of its global significance but also because of the dizzying succession of events that have taken place since June. In June, Joe Biden’s embarrassing performance in the CNN debate sparked a crisis in the Democratic campaign. A few days later, Donald Trump benefited from a Supreme Court decision recognizing the immunity of elected officials who have been criminally charged for acts committed while in office. A few days later, Trump was grazed in an assassination attempt at a rally in Pennsylvania. In the aftermath, Biden dropped out of the race, making way for his vice-presidential running mate, Kamala Harris. This decision injected momentum into the campaign and created more favorable conditions for Trump’s eventual defeat.

The right to abortion is a central issue in the race. Since the Dobbs decision of 2022, which revoked the right to the procedure in the country, there has been widespread discontent with the restrictions made possible by the Supreme Court decision. As a result, Trump’s campaign has behaved uncertainly on the subject, with evasions and contradictions, because the ultraconservative position has obvious electoral disadvantages. Despite the encouraging signs caused by Harris’ candidacy, this is going to be a very close election, and we must notice that even mainstream media have decided to not endorse any candidate in the race, as it was used to, a worrying move in face of an outspoken authoritarian scenario, as predicted by The Nation. Harris can potentially contain Trump’s autocratic and neo-fascist project but this does not elicit the many contradictions in her political agenda, especially in what concerns the support to Israel and the Gaza genocide. See our compilation.

This issue is to be released right before November 5th. In the last tense days before the election, events kept pouring every day. On October 23rd, the headlines turned around Kamala describing Trump as a Fascist. A few days later, Trump supporters crowded the Madison Square Garden for their last big gathering. This is the same place where, in 1939, the American Nazi Movement organized a large demonstration in support of Hitler. While in New York pro-Trump speakers deployed racism, anger, and vitriol, the last Harris campaign event occupied Capitol Hill that, on January 6th, 2020, was invaded by a MAGA furious crowd.

Before that, the tycoon Jeff Bezos prohibited the editors of the Washington Post to publish editorials supporting Harris. Same decision taken by the owner of LA Times. And, right after the last campaigns´gatherings, Steve Bannon was released from prison and moved directly to the frontlines of the “electoral war”. This sequence of events, which sounds like the script of a TV series, preceded an event that may determine the state of world affairs and the future possibilities of our democratic imagination. We plan to examine the outcomes and effects of November 5th at the end of the month in the last conversation about Democracies in Dispute promoted by the Forum on Pending and Emerging debates.

Political scenarios, including post-election crisis

In many countries, in Europe, Latin America, Africa, and Asia, where elections have taken place since June, tensions, violence upheavals and state repressions have ensued.

Latin America

In Venezuela, despite blatant signs of electoral fraud, Nicolás Maduro was declared the winner in the July elections. The regime did not make the electoral documents public, expelled ambassadors from countries that questioned the results, ignored other diplomatic pressure, and, above all, brutally repressed the protests. The mediation coordinated by Brazil and Colombia was ineffective. Opponent Edmundo González Urrutia went into exile in Spain, and the Argentine embassy in Caracas, where opponents are taking refuge and which is under Brazilian custody, was surrounded by security forces for several days. We’ve compiled news and analysis.

In El Salvador, where Bukele was reelected in February, his public security policy, despite its obvious human rights violations, is gaining increasing international support. This acclaim is strong in Argentina, Ecuador, and Brazil. So, it is no surprise that El Salvador’s justice minister was one of the stars of the CPAC held in Brazil, in July. Furthermore, the regime is being normalized beyond the boundaries of the ultra-right: in September, Bukele was on the cover of Time magazine, described in the publication as the “world’s most popular authoritarian”.

In Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum took office as the country’s first female president, announcing new policies to reduce gender-based violence and expand women’s rights. In the wider picture, however, the signs are highly mixed. Sheinbaum comes to power on the heels of a judicial reform that provides for the election of judges by popular vote and is being widely questioned both inside and outside the country. There has also been severe criticism of militarization and the critical condition of the public health system, as well as the performance of the economy she inherited from Lopez Obrador. And, it is not yet clear what she will ibn relation to these legacies.

In Brazil, local elections – marred by unprecedented violence – confirmed the right-wing turn underway for several years. The electoral strength of ultra-right-wing figures was one of the main headlines. Even though mayors elected by the Bolsonaro party had been relatively few, many capital cities had his candidates winning councilor posts by large margins. This means that the siege of democracy continues and citizenship and human rights, in particular in the realms of gender and sexuality, remain under threat. Furthermore, counterintuitively, the majority of female and black representatives now elected belong to the traditional right-leaning parties or the more recently established ultra-right formations. As a whole, the election outcomes, as noted by Esther Solano, in an interview with the Nueva Sociedad journal, reflect the incapacity of the progressive and left-wing camp to adapt and operate in the new political environment determined by the rise of the ultra-right in 2018.

In Argentina, six months after being elected Javier Milei adopted aggressive policies to curtail labor rights and renewed the attack on universities. The closure of the Universidad de las Madres, in particular, reflects the government’s revisionist vision that denies the crimes of the military dictatorship, eroding what was an exemplary instance of transitional justice in Latin America. On the economic front, “libertarian” policy has resulted in poverty for more than half of the population (52.9%). And, as we’ll see below, fierce attacks on feminism continue unabated.

Lastly, in Uruguay, the presidential election took place on October 26 in Uruguay. As Pablo Alvarez predicted in the debate on elections in Latin America, the Frente Amplio won the first round. Its candidate, Yamandu Orsi, got 43.9% of the ballot and his right-wing opponent Alvaro Delgado scored 26.7%. The runoff will happen in late November. This is not surprising, given the Lacalle Pou administration was marred by a serious water crisis and, most principally, accused of collusion with drug traffickers, as shown in an investigation by La Diaria. However, as also reported by La Diaria, in the final stretch of the first round, foreign far-right agents haunted the electoral process and all suggest that much more will be invested by regional ultra-right forces, between now and late November, to avoid the return of Frente Amplio to power.

Europe

In July, the elections in the United Kingdom resulted in an overwhelming defeat for the Conservative Party, bringing Labour back to power. But, as soon as Keir Starmer began his mandate, a whirlwind of fake news sparked by the murder of three girls fueled a wave of far-right protests. Apparently, no single major force mobilized the chaos, and the new government responded to the protests with tough law and order measures.

On the other side of the English Channel, after early elections, two months passed before Macron announced a new prime minister. The choice of right-winger Michel Barnier sparked new tensions since the post should have been given to the broad left-wing bloc that has the majority of seats in the Assembly. In addition to Barnier, the new ministry includes figures opposed to abortion rights and equal marriage. The decisions taken by Macron may pave the way for ungovernability, undoing the cordon sanitaire against the far right.

In Germany, following its gains in the European elections, the far-right AfD has continued to expand its parliamentary presence in recent local elections. In Thuringia, it achieved historic vote totals, and in Saxony and Brandenburg, it was the second most-voted party. In the Netherlands, the coalition government led by the extreme right party of Geert Wilder was finally formed. Yet Wilder’s role may not be so decisive in the face of internal differences. However, in Austria, at the end of September, the victory of the ultra-right in the general elections may have more significant effects. Including because, previous to these developments, following the June results for the European Parliament, the ultra-right parties in Hungary, Austria, and the Czech Republic had announced the creation of a new “Patriots for Europe” bloc.

Asia

Post-election turbulences have also occurred in Asia. In Bangladesh, under strong popular pressure, the prime minister resigned and left the country at the beginning of August. These massive protests, which were harshly repressed, were motivated by quota reservations in the civil service for family members of veterans of the 1971 war of independence. See a compilation of news and analysis of these events and their geopolitical significance.

In such a gloomy and unstable context, much better news come from India and Sri Lanka. In the first case, as our brief compilation shows, the Narendra Modi government, without a majority since the recent elections, has been forced to negotiate and moderate its anti-democratic tendencies, And, in the neighboring island nation, the Marxist-leaning Anura Kumara Dissanayake has won the presidential election in September. However, as analyzed by Nueva Sociedad and Project Syndicate, this rather unexpected political turn is not without challenges and risks.

Africa

A drastic post-electoral crisis has also erupted in October in Mozambique. The election that took place on October 8th was fraught with serious accusations of fraud. Differently from Venezuela, this was not a post-electoral operation but was done through the registration of false voters. The turbulence gained scale after the election. Two high-level members of the opposition party Podemos were murdered in the capital Maputo ten days after the ballot was closed. Five days later, Daniel Chapo, the candidate of the ruling FRELIMO party, was declared the winner with over 70% of the vote. The announcement triggered major protests leading to a fierce crackdown by the government that went as far as to shut down the Internet for two days. We recommend the DW coverage of the crisis.

Authoritarian flare-ups and instabilities

In addition to the elections and their effects, we must also take into account trends of instability and worsening of authoritarianism. In Thailand, the constitutional court dissolved the main opposition party in August on charges of treason for insulting the monarchy (see Human Rights Watch’s analysis). In Tunisia, candidates opposing President Kais Saied were prevented from taking part in the presidential elections, predictably won by the ruler. In neighboring Algeria, a climate of political repression also characterized a recent election that has confirmed Abdelmadjid Tebboune in power with 94% of the vote.

In Bolivia, Luis Arce’s government is facing constant instability, caused above all by his conflict with former president Evo Morales, and also by pressure from the ultra-right. This complex situation is analyzed in the articles in this brief compilation. In Paraguay, where successive semi-democratic governments have followed the parliamentary coup of 2012, a bill has been passed that imposes severe restrictions on the functioning and autonomy of civil society organizations. Lastly, in Nicaragua, the Ortega-Murillo regime is both strengthening and deteriorating. In June, Ortega established diplomatic relations with the Taliban regime, and then news circulated that a Russian spy center was operating from an army facility in Managua. In August, around 1,500 NGOs were banned, and, in September, a new reform of the penal code established harsh penalties for digital crimes, the scope of which is much broader.

Anti-gender politics

Transnational dynamics

On a global level, once again Elon Musk added grist to the mill of transphobic ideology. He declared in a podcast that his trans daughter had been contaminated by the “woke virus that affects people’s minds”.

At regional levels, since June, three large transnational events of the ultra-right have taken place in Latin America: the CPACs in Brazil and Mexico and a meeting of the Madrid Forum in Buenos Aires. In all of them, gender and abortion rights have been attacked. The article (in Spanish) by Carolina Mombach, Marco Aurélio Prado, and Sonia Corrêa on the CPAC in Camboriú, Brazil, shows how attacks on gender and the right to abortion are now linked by the ultra-right to public insecurity, the climate crisis as well as a fierce criticism of decolonial perspectives. In this new turn, the connection between climate denialism and the defense of patriarchy is quite striking. According to a Brazilian MP, the ecological agenda “blurs the centrality of man”, which is reprehensible because “all successful societies are patriarchal societies”.

Buenos Aires has also hosted the local Viva la Derecha Fest, a celebratory event of the Latin American ultra-right that was well covered by Nueva Sociedad. Meanwhile, in Europe, the announcement was made that Wokebusters had begun their operation. Described as a “global campaign against globalism”, this new initiative was created by the Center for Fundamental Rights (CFR), another think-tank funded by Viktor Orbán. It also comprises a Conservative “rapid reaction force” to operate in international arenas.

The US

An actor present at almost all of the above-mentioned events was the Heritage Foundation. This stronghold of the US ultra-conservativism, founded in 1974, published earlier in the year, Project 2025, a 900-page document spelling out the American far right’s plans to radically transform the country’s democratic institutional architecture if Trump is re-elected. This plan is organized around four pillars: restoring the family, abolishing the administrative state, defending national sovereignty, and guaranteeing “God-given” individual freedoms. It also proposes a substantial expansion of presidential powers. In the June Pending and Emerging Dialogues debate on the US elections, Heidi Beirich analyzed Project 2025, and in her monthly feminist letter Françoise Girard assessed how devastating its impact would be.

However, the critical reactions to Project 2025 have been fierce and, it seems, conflicts are underway between its leaders. However, the specter of its potentially devastating effects has not vanished. A few days after the news about internal conflicts in the Project 2025 camp, the vice-presidential candidate, J.D. Vance, made it clear at the Republican Convention that anti-gender politics will be a central theme of a potential new Trump administration. He also virulently attacked Kamala Harris for being a childless woman. This was followed by extensive coverage of the Christian fundamentalist, misogynist, and LGBT-phobic profile of the vice-presidential candidate. Both Françoise Girard and Juan Elman (in Spanish) have written excellent profiles of this ludicrous figure.

Latin America

In Argentina, Milei, in addition to all the anti-feminist measures adopted since January, created a religious office in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The body will probably incorporate anti-gender, anti-abortion, and anti-LGBTTI agendas into foreign policy. As an article in Clarín shows, there have also been clear setbacks in access to legal abortion in the province of Buenos Aires. Also, according to a critical assessment published by the Ela website, inequality has sharply increased in the distribution of resources allocated to women and girls in the 2025 federal budget.

In Chile, the release of the Cass report sparked a broad attack on the recognition of gender identity diversity in children and adolescents. A detailed analysis by Chilean researchers, including SPW collaborator Tomás Ojeda, shows how the document’s content was distorted for political ends. This had a wide impact on the mainstream press and anti-trans activism, above all generating controversy around the risk of suicide among adolescents and people who don’t receive health care.

Similarly, in El Salvador, fighting crime is not the regime’s only agenda. Attacking gender and sexuality is also a priority for Bukele, according to an article on the El Faro website. Anti-gender ideology has been incorporated into health, education, and cultural policies. In July, hundreds of employees were fired from the Ministry of Culture, accused of propagating gender ideology. In an article for Agencia EFE, feminist Morena Herrera analyzes how these policies impact women’s rights.

Finally, in Brazil, attacks on trans rights, which have gained momentum since 2023, have not subsided. Legislative bills restricting access to toilets and the use of neutral language continue to proliferate. In May, an investigation by Portal Diadorim analyzed how, in less than six days, the same anti-trans bill was replicated in different regions of the country, often without any changes. A second, more recent article, found that, since 2023, ultra-right-wing politicians are paying for the promotion of 124 posts against trans children and adolescents on Facebook and Instagram. Then, in the recent municipal elections, several candidates used the anti-gender and anti-trans agenda in their campaigns. The propaganda of the most-voted municipal counselor in São Paulo prioritized the fight against “wokism” and gender ideology in openly transphobic language.

In such a contentious environment, the law provision for the new National Education Plan (PNE), sent by the federal government to Congress, does not even mention gender. The same absence is detected in the documents approved by a working group set up by the Ministry of Education to combat prejudice and bullying in schools. Both blanks are decidedly very worrying.

Equally worrying, the state agency responsible for promoting research and innovation in the state of Santa Catarina has suspended funds for research projects looking at gender, sexuality, and ultra-right trends. According to the UFSC Graduate Students Association, eight projects were denied funding by Fapesc because “there was no direct correlation between the theme proposed and the regional development of the state of Santa Catarina.” In reaction to this blatant attack on academic freedom, the Brazilian Association of Anthropology, the Brazilian Society for the Advancement of Science, and the UFSC Institute for Gender Studies have issued latters condemning the decision.

Europe

The Italian Constitutional Court ruled that non-binary people have constitutional protection under the principles of social identity, equality, and the right to health. However, it did not extend this to the right to register as a non-binary person on civil documents. ILGA Europe was critical of the decision. Then, in Bulgaria, in August, the parliament passed legislation by a large margin banning the discussion and promotion of LGBTQIA+ issues in schools. Inspired by Russian and Hungarian laws, the measure provoked protests and expressions of disapproval from civil society.

Sports

Sports are currently one of the most contentious arenas for attacks on gender and, more particularly, on trans women. These tensions have have grown since 2021, when the International Olympic Committee (IOC) established new rules for the inclusion of trans athletes, grew to new levels during the Paris Olympics. Algerian boxer Imane Khelif had her participation questioned by a virulent tide of misinformation. The episode was analyzed in detail by Nana Soares.

International Policy Arenas

In the global and regional human rights arenas, we highlight the welcome and well-deserved appointment of Gloria Careaga to the post of rapporteur for the rights of sex workers at the OAS. The Red de Mujeres Trabajadoras Sexuales de Latinoamérica y el Caribe (RedTraSex) and Caribe Informativo celebrated the announcement.

On the other hand, the UN special rapporteur on women’s rights, Reem Alsalem, continues to feed the global agenda of attacks on gender identity rights. Her latest report on violence against women and girls reiterates that sports should be radically sex-segregated, claiming that the presence of men and men who identify as women threatens girls and women with physical and psychological violence. The report even clumsily mentions the episode of the Paris Olympics, arguing that the boxers who had their participation contested should have been subjected to sex tests. In another problematic statement on gender, Reem Alsalem said in a conversation with the Telegraph newspaper that she was against banning so-called conversion therapies, a position that is in opposition to the inclusive understanding of other UN experts, as pointed out in an article by Portal Catarinas.

In contrast, the special rapporteur on cultural rights, Alexandra Xanthaki, in her report “The Right To Participate in Sports”, defends sports participation as a cultural right. Alexandra Xanthaki emphasizes the need to question gender stereotypes and ensure the presence of all people, including women, girls, and people whose gender identity differs from the norm. The document states that “denying adult women their right to self-identify their gender, among other things by insisting on referring to them as if they were male, is unacceptable and can be considered incitement to hatred”. Furthermore, on October 8, when Reem Alsalem presented her report to the UN General Assembly, several countries questioned her position on the participation of women and girls in sports.

LGBTQIA+ rights

LGBTQIA+ rights have once again. seen set setbacks. In Malawi, the Supreme Court rejected a lawsuit challenging three articles of the penal code that punish same-sex relationships and trans identities. In Ghana, the Supreme Court upheld a law inherited from British colonization that criminalizes consensual same-sex relationships between adults. In Burkina Faso, the military junta that took power in 2022 adopted a new military code, yet to be approved by parliament, which criminalizes homosexuality in the country. The BBC produced an extensive report placing the Burkina Faso case in the regional context of the return of criminal laws against homosexuality and gender identities that deviate from the norm.

In Georgia, parliament in September also passed a draconian, sweeping new law that bans gender transition, prevents the recognition of same-sex marriages celebrated abroad, bans adoption by gay and trans couples, and censors on films and books. It also criminalizes pride parades and the display of the rainbow flag. Al Jazeera analyzed the context of the legislation’s approval, highlighting the influence of Putin’s regime and the Orthodox Church.

However, there is also good news to report. In Africa, Namibia, following a Supreme Court ruling stroke a colonial criminal sodomy law,. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch celebrated the ruling. Same-sex marriage was legalized In Aruba and Curaçao, in the Caribbean, by a decision of the Dutch Supreme Court, which is in charge of the islands´s high-level litigation cases. In the Dominican Republic, the Constitutional Court accepted a case challenging the criminalization of homosexual relations in the police and armed forces. This good sign must, however, be placed in the broader political context. A conservative government has been reelected recently and the subsequent reform of the penal code kept intact the total ban on abortion rights and disregarded the protection of the rights of LGBTQIA+ people.

In Colombia, a new law provision was tabled that enlarges rights for trans persons LGBTQIA+ people, as it proposes a ban on reconversion therapies, inclusive education, and equal access to health services and the labor market. Transmasculine activist Lina Quevedo spoke to El País about the originality of the bill. Furthermore, another provision aimed at recognizing the right to gender identity is also being drafted. In Ecuador, the Constitutional Court ratified the right of trans people to change their names on their identity cards and paved the way for gay and lesbian couples to have access to assisted reproduction.

There are also positive reports on Asia. In South Korea, also through a supreme court decision, same-sex couples now have the right to spousal coverage in the public health system. This step may pave the way for equal marriage. The Supreme Court of Nepal, which has been issuing very positive decisions regarding gender identity since the late 2000s, recognized that a trans woman is a woman and has the right to be legally recognized as such without the need for diagnosis or medical intervention.

This decision is positive because, as analyzed by HRW in 2007 the Court recognized the right to an “other” (non-binary) identity or to be identified as a third gender. Even so, the legal system required trans people to undergo surgical interventions to be recognized as women or men. The decision is symbolically important in a global context in which far-right forces and essentialist feminisms have persistently resorted to an immutable interpretation of “woman” to attack gender theory and trans rights.

Abortion and reproductive rights

Latin America

In Brazil, the city of São Paulo continues to make it difficult to access the procedure in the case of rape. Since June, as reported by the G1 website, at least three women who were victims of sexual violence have had their rights denied. The city government was judicially questioned for failing to comply through a court order that imposes a fine of 10.9 million reais ($1.9 million) if the services are not resumed. In the state of Goiás, a 13-year-old girl who for pregnant in rape was prevented from having an abortion by two sequential court decisions. After much procrastination, the Superior Court of Justice authorized the termination of the pregnancy.

As importantly, according to a series of reports on the AzMina website, the anti-abortion lobby in Brazil now has strong coordination and substantial funding. One of these reports brings consistent evidence about the funding provided by Jorge Gerdau, president of the largest steel company in the country, to the far-right platform Brasil Paralelo, which widely propagates anti-abortion rights propaganda.

Then in Bahia, the state’s Court of Justice overturned a lower court ruling and authorized the termination of a fetus with no chance of survival after birth. The case exposes the problems arising from the 2012 Supreme Court decision, which only allows termination in cases of anencephaly.

In Mexico, where the right to abortion has been expanding since 2021, the Assembly of the state of Aguascalientes took a step back and limited the procedure to within six weeks of gestation (a model also adopted in the state of Texas). The decision was criticized by Human Rights Watch. A report by OpenDemocracy analyzes how the Mexican anti-abortion lobby has organized to oppose the legislative advances of the last two decades.

Europe and the US

In Norway, the government introduced a bill to extend the eligible gestational period (from 12 to 18 weeks) for an abortion procedure to be performed. The International Campaign for Women’s Right to Safe Abortion analyzed the political context of the decision and criticized its limitations. In North Dakota, a judge invalidated a law passed in 2023 that prohibited the termination of pregnancy, with two exceptions (rape and incest) of very limited scope because they were permitted up to the sixth week of pregnancy. However, the Georgia Supreme Court temporarily reinstated a law that, in practice, prohibits abortion without exceptions, since it requires the detection of a heartbeat (usually from the sixth week of pregnancy) as a criterion.

Threats to healthcare professionals

The global scenario of attacks on the right to abortion includes a disturbing and little-discussed trend: the insecurity affecting healthcare professionals and activists working to guarantee abortion procedures. A report by Amnesty International describes how this insecurity is playing out in various countries and examines in detail the dangers to which these professionals and activists are subjected to.

Reproductive health and maternal death

In September, the federal government launched the Alyne Network. This new policy initiative was designed to expand and strengthen the network of comprehensive care for women’s reproductive health. It was named in tribute to Alyne Pimentel, who, in 2002, at the age of 28, died in a maternity hospital contracted by the SUS in Belford Roxo, Rio de Janeiro. In 2007, with no response from the Brazilian justice system, the case was taken to the UN Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW/UN). In 2011, the Committee issued a decision holding Brazil responsible for her death. The government was ordered to provide financial compensation to Pimentel’s family and adopt measures to prevent future recurrences, or in other words, to implement effective public policies to prevent and reduce maternal deaths. You can read the SPW coverage of the case at the time of the decision.

Gender and Feminism

High-level sexual harassment cases

Between July and September, Brazil and Argentina became the stages of high-profile political scandals involving allegations of gender-based violence and sexual harassment.

In Argentina, former president Alberto Fernández, known for his progressive stance on abortion rights, was accused by his ex-wife of domestic violence; she also accused him of forcing her to have an abortion. A few days later, the prosecutor’s office formally charged the former president with “serious injuries, abuse of power, and threats” against Fabiola Yáñez. The case had repercussions far beyond Argentina’s borders. As our compilation shows, in addition to causing great embarrassment to the left, the case was promptly exploited by Milei’s administration, As underlined by Mariana Carbajal, in Página 12, the Milei government’s political use of the episode has a strong hint of cynicism because, for a long time, the current president has questioned the meaning and relevance of gender violence and related laws, calling it a “feminist distortion”.

In Brazil, in early September, the then head of the Ministry of Human Rights and Citizenship, Silvio Almeida, was accused of sexual harassment, including against his colleague, the minister of racial equality, Anielle Franco. The news, published on September 5 by the press and supported by information gathered from Me Too Brazil, had an immediate impact. The following day, President Lula declared Almeida unfit for office. Social media went into a frenzy, and reports surfaced that the allegations had been circulating within the government at least since mid-2023. In the following weeks, new accusations of harassment by the former minister came to light, and a flow of positions regarding his right to defense, criticisms of his actions, and expressions of solidarity with Franco took over the webspace. Denounces of labor-related harassment have also been raised involving high level functionaries of the Almeida team. We organized an extensive compilation regarding the case.

Finally, the former Mexican Supreme Court of Justice and senator Olga Sánchez Cordero, who served as minister of the interior at the beginning of Manuel López Obrador’s administration, gave an extensive public account of institutional gender-based political violence. Her testimony reveals the extent to which gender inequality and misogyny are embedded in Mexican state institutions.

Systematic rape in France

Particularly shocking was the case of a middle-class French woman who, for more than a decade, was drugged by her husband so she could be raped by 50 other men. These rapes were filmed and shared on the internet. The case only gained attention because Gisèle Pelicot decided to make it public, exposing her husband. Nexo produced a detailed report on the case showing how, even in the advanced stages of the trial, the defense lawyers did everything they could to discredit Pelicot.

Gender, war brutality, and state repression

Another non circumventable situation of gender-based violence to be reported is the catastrophe of the genocide of women and children in Gaza. Also in Sudan, the civil war, which erupted in 2023, has been especially atrocious for women. Rape is so widespread that the UN and Human Rights Watch issued emergency alerts about the systematic sexual violence to which women and girls are subjected. In an article for Nueva Sociedad, Raga Makawi describes a terrifying scenario in which the war is also against women who are in combat. In several areas, women are now armed to defend themselves against the brutality of the conflict.

In Afghanistan, the Taliban regime extended its coercion ver women by prohibiting them from speaking in public. The new legislation demands that “whenever an adult woman leaves the house out of necessity, she is obliged to hide her voice, face, and body” from the end of August. CBS published a report on the organized reaction that Afghan women have made online by singing as a form of protest.

In Iran, two years have elapsed since Mahsa Jina Amini was murdered under custody of the morality police, after being detained for improperly wearing a headscarf. The case sparked protests across the country and, unfortunately, as reported by Human Rights Watch, nothing has changed since then.

Sexuality and art

We invite our readers to revisit the case of the Opening ceremony of the 2024 Olympics in Paris. The reinterpretation of the painting “The Feast of the Gods”, by Jan van Bijlert, featured dances, abundance, vogue, and drag queens. The performance infuriated the French extreme right which viewed it as a queer reinterpretation of the Holy Supper. The performance was considered sacrilegious and a call was made for the games to be boycotted. The artistic director of the opening ceremony Thomas Jolly, strongly denied that his intention was to parody the biblical scene. Rather he said: “The idea was to have a big pagan party linked to the Olympian gods.”

In the wake of this Olympian erotic scandal and the religious fury it caused, we revisit Ventura Profana, the transvestite, visual artist, and singer who works on the frontier of these divergent logics to “edify the LGBT public”. On display at the Museum of Art of São Paulo, the artist, also a pastor and a missionary, was the subject of a report by O Globo. In 2020, SPW highlighted her provocative works.