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This is our second and latest bulletin of 2025. It offers a broad overview of events and trends in gender, sexuality, and abortion policy throughout the year to complement the analysis developed in July that addressed the policies implemented by the Trump’s second administration and the US landscape.

Misinformation campaigns and the future of Bangladesh-India relations – The Daily Star Hasina fled Bangladesh, leaving behind a ‘beaten’ Indian security establishment – Nenews Cannot

>> Read in PDF << Part 2 – Continuing anti-gender offensives Gender politics: good news Inevitably, the political situation described in part 1 of this

>> Read in PDF << Part 1 – Democracies in dispute Introduction As we have pointed out in previous editions, in recent years sexual politics

>> Download and read in PDF << First Words This edition of the SPW newsletter covers the main events in sexual politics since July, roughly

>>> Read/download in PDF <<< Opening Words This newsletter describes and seeks to contextualize the developments in sexual politics since February 2023. In times of

>> Read in PDF << First words In 2022, we adjusted our perspective for monitoring and analyzing sexual politics. In the previous two years, our

>>> Read in PDF  First Words Since April 2020, SPW newsletters have been tracking and analyzing sexual politics in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

>>> Download the PDF version here. First Thoughts The last 2020 SPW special hypothesized that during 2021, because of vaccines, Covid-19 would no longer be

Since July, when we published our last Special Edition, as you will see in this issue, a lot has happened in the pandemic and in the field of sexual politics. Once again, the pages that follow are quite dense, but we remind you that the sections are relatively autonomous.

First Words  In the last 2020 edition of Sexual Politics in Times of Pandemic Special of 2020, we hypothesized that throughout 2021, with the arrival

Preliminary comment In 2020, in order to adjust our lenses to COVID-19 world conditions, we suspended our regular monthly announcements and started a series of

Editors’ Note We apologize to our readers and partners for the delay in making our last Special Issue on Sexual Politics in the Pandemic available.

Giorgio Agamben: The Plague was Already Present – Critical Legal Thinking Giorgio Agamben: Contagion – Enough 14 COVID-19 and the neoliberal state of exception –

North America US The Coronavirus Crisis Inside Prisons Won’t Stay Behind Bars – NY Times Stop Unnecessary Arrests to Slow Coronavirus Spread – NY Times

Since the Covid-19 pandemic broke out in early 2020, SPW has been reporting on the events, trends and dynamics triggred by Sars-Cov-2. In order to

Since January, when the Chinese government adopted extreme confinement measures in Wuhan,  the pandemic sparked the worldwide spread of questionable war semantics.  It also provided

The global scenario of the COVID-19 pandemic has changed since April, but the crisis is still far from over. Only eight countries are listed as

EUROPE Crisis and Resistance at the Periphery: Bosnian responses to COVID -19 –  Critical Legal Thinking Coronavirus: Hungary bid to end emergency powers ‘an optical

The SPW Announcement for May and early June 2020 will have the same format adopted in March-April 2020, it will organize the newly compiled information

US stocks surge as NYSE trading floor reopens – Al Jazeera Latin America’s Virus Villains: Corrupt Officials Collude With Price Gougers for Body Bags and

Covid-19 Backlash Targets LGBT People in South Korea – HRW Authorities warn against homophobia hindering virus containment efforts – The Korea Herald ‘No one wants

Indonesia Indonesia’s Intelligence Service is Coming Out to Counter COVID-19 – The Diplomat Myanmar In Myanmar, the Coronavirus Gives Nationalists an Opening – Foreign Policy

March and early April 2020 It has been very challenging to prepare the  SPW announcement for March/April 2020 due to the abnormality, risks, and losses

Iran ‘Armageddon’: When coronavirus struck a Tehran hospital – Middle East Eye Iran’s corona-diplomacy – Brookings Politics in the Time of Corona: Tehran (Hosted by

MAY / JUNE LGBTQ Inequality and Vulnerability in the Pandemic – HRW LGBT: Covid-19 forced me back home where I’m ‘unwanted’ – BBC LGBT Nonprofits

Anti- gender politics in Latin America – SPW is pleased to announce the collection Anti-gender Politics in Latin America, which encompasses  nine case studies from

The year of 2019 has finished and, as traditionally, SPW offers our readers and followers a compilation of the main facts, trends, setbacks and victories

HIGHLIGHTS Latin America: Politics in Trance In the period covered by this newsletter, Latin America has been the scene of three simultaneous elections – in

“I am delighted to let you know that as part of our Human Rights Day celebrations, we have just published the December 2019 issue of

September 28 – “Abortion is a Health Issue” was the theme of this year’s International Safe Abortion Day, widely celebrated around the world (see compilation).

We start this announcement recalling that, before May 2019, two major antigender events have taken place that are worth revisiting because of their potential subsequent

#StopTheBans – Thousands of demonstrators marched in more than 500 cities across the US on May, 21th to protect abortion rights after Alabama state house passed,

The Christchurch attack In Christchurch, New Zealand, a solitary white male Australian sniper killed fifty people who were praying in two mosques. Prime Minister Jacinda

The Sultan of Brunei: opulence, power and hard-line Islam – The New York Times Will Brunei’s anti-LGBT Sharia law spread across Southeast Asia? – CNN

Police Stop Women’s Action against Domestic Violence in Baku, Azerbaijan. March in Istanbul, Turkey Amnesty International praised the Ukrainian police efforts in seven cities across

As 2018 reaches its end, SPW publishes a recollection of main events, trends, discoveries and challenges as we start 2019 and prepare for all the

The Brazilian perfect storm We apologize for the delay in the circulation of SPW’s October 2018 monthly announcement due to the stormy process and result

September is the key moment of the year in the global struggle for abortion rights, as the 28th marks the International Safe Abortion Day. In

#MourningMuseuNacional: As this announcement was being finalized, the Brazilian National Museum burned in flames. A singular and irrecoverable collection of the country’s historical and cultural

22nd International AIDS Conference:  On July 22, Pedro Villardi, from GTPI-ABIA, participated in the  Challenging Criminalization Globally Pre-Conference, one of the more important satellites events

Main global trends  ICD Reform – On June 18, the Working Group set up by the World Health Organization (WHO) released the final version of

On March 14th, 2018, Marielle Franco and her driver Anderson Gomes were brutally assassinated in a shootout a week after Women’s International Day.  Marielle was

Main global trends Another mass shooting in Parkland (Florida) shocked the US and the world. Research findings that gained visibility after the tragedy reveal that

In January of 2018, a fierce transnational feminist controversy erupted on the question of sexual harassment. In the same week of the Golden Globes Award

As 2018 begins, SPW highlights the main events and trends as well as tensions and challenges traversing sexual politics worldwide. Trends and Facts January In

Crackdowns have been reported in Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan and, once again, in Egypt. In India, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Government presented the

In Europe, the rise of the extreme right – which implies both the deepening of racism and a threat to gender and sexuality-related rights –

September is the key moment of the year in regard to abortion rights, as the 28th marks the International Safe Abortion Day worldwide.  As informed

The Chinese version of the Advancing the Human Rights and Inclusion of LGBT People: A Handbook for Parliamentarians has been jointly produced by the United Nations Development

The report of the APF-UNDP Conference on Yogyakarta Principles: What have we learnt and where to now? held in Bangkok from 25-26 April 2017 has been launched.

Two outstandingly positive news are to be reported in sexual politics worldwide in August 2017. In India, the Supreme Court issued a groundbreaking decision on

NHRI Guidelines for Mainstreaming Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Sex Characteristics Work: APF resource sets out the practical steps NHRIs can take to ensure there

In July, once again, contradictory trends were registered in the abortion frontline. In Chile, the processing of a bill aimed at legalizing abortion in three cases

June is LGBTIQ Pride month worldwide. This SPW brief highlights events around the world, prioritizing parades and other demonstrations that are not captured by mainstream radars. In that regard, we also recommend the readers who read Spanish to peruse the new blog Orgullos Críticos which examines trends and traps implied in the growing normalization and pinkwashing of pride parades

By Matthew Waites. The Queer Asia conference has emerged as one of the most fresh and ground breaking conference events in global queer studies. The event is held at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, yet the organising team nevertheless managed to bring together presentations

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.”

In April and May, Brazilian crisis has deepened further more, prompting colossal political chaos which reverberated in sexual politics. Sonia Corrêa, SPW co-chair, assess the deep connections within the crisis regarding threats to abortion rights. Celebrations and good news came from around the world. In Bangkok, researchers and activists gathered

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

In March and early April, the abortion frontline in Latin America has been remarkably eventful,  in positive ways. In Bolivia, the proposed revision of abortion

The Constitution of the Kyrgyz Republic states «individual, her/his rights, freedoms and guarantees for their implementation are the highest value and purpose of the society

There are many events to be reported in regard to abortion rights in February and early March 2017. The most important comes from  Brazil where

Six countries in South Asia (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka) have established a national human rights institution (NHRI), all of which include

In January, the first and foremost events to be reported are avalanche of draconian and regressive policy measures adopted in the chaotic first two weeks

As 2017 begins, SPW highlights the main events and trends as well as tensions and challenges traversing sexual politics worldwide. January In January, the Zika

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

November began with a resounding shift in global politics: Donald Trump was elected president of the United States. As the reactions flooded through the world

In August, the Rio Olympic Games provided a privileged stage for the critical observing of gender and sexuality performances. Several SPW partners positively and generously

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

This issue of East Asia Forum Quarterly brings together prominent scholars of gender studies from various countries and disciplines to explore the diversity and complexity of issues of gender and sexuality in contemporary Asia. The essays touch on major developments that have caused shifts in gender relations. They illustrate the tensions between structural violence against women and women’s own agency in coping with male-dominant social arrangements.

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

As the Brazilian crisis continues unfolding it gets increasingly intricate with gender and sexuality politics. Read Sonia Corrêa and Fábio Grotz report on what happened

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.

A new wave of deadly attacks against human rights and secular activists is at play in Bangladesh. In final April, two LGBT activists were hacked

SPW shares an unnamed letter written by  Bangladesh activist after the murders of LGBT activists in the Asian country in the past weeks. The letter

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.

We have the great pleasure to inform that our Spanish page has been re-launched. In this opportunity Alejandra Sardá from Akahatá has written an update

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.

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.

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.

Indonesian Psychiatrists Classify LGBT People As Mentally Ill In Order To ‘Treat’ Them – Think Progress The Next Big LGBT “Propaganda” Ban Is Being Written

In February, there were good news to report from both Haiti and Europe. In the case of Haiti, the Penal Code reform is underway and

 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.

The global epidemics fueled by the mosquito-born Zika virus, its potential correlation with microcephaly and the connection with abortion rights is one main headline in

As the year heads toward its end, SPW recollects main trends and facts in sexual politics worldwide. January Pope Francis drew global attention after urging

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

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

The second issue of Kohl: a Journal for Body and Gender Research is out. Kohl serves as an alternative platform of knowledge production. It tackles feminisms,

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.”

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

Check the main facts in October 2015. We highlight the Stop Trans Pathologization Campaign 2015; the Synod on the Family’s final statement; Brazilian feminists protests against partially approved legislation that criminalizes providing information and assistance in regard to abortion; and the Indonesian regressive law against sexual freedom.

Between 2009 and 2011 SPW has been engaged in a critical reflection on Sexuality and (Geo) Politics that involved regional dialogues in Asia, Africa and

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 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 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

Check the English version of the very first issue of Kohl: a Journal for Body and Gender Research. Kohl serves as an alternative platform of knowledge production. It tackles feminisms,

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.

In early May, SPW re-launched its website. Its new architecture allows an easier access to our products, publications and other contents. In particular, we call

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

Across Asia, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LBGTI) people continue to face rights violations because of their sexual orientation and gender identity and weak

(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

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

Read interteview Janani Balasubramanian and Alok Vaid-Menon about South Asian-American queer activism. Here.

International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) has launched a report on violence against LGBT person in Asia. Read it here.

The Philippines Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld a family planning law but ruled out provisions to punish health workers who do not inform people about

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

In mid February, the Chinese government launched  a policy offensive against activities deemed as vices such pornography and prostitution. The operation took place in the

The 6th Asia Pacific Population Conference (APPC) took place at the end of September in Bangkok. The final document brings recommendations on  gender equality and

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

A new research in the Lancet Global Health, a medical journal, indicates that more than one in ten men surveyed in six Asian countries said

Read the interview with Malu S. Marin, Executive Director of ACHIEVE – Action for Health Initiatives, in the Philippines. Ms. Marin talked on the work that she has been doing on HIV, health and migration issues for more than 11 years. She is also involved in the LGBT movement in the Philippines, mainly promoting representation of LGBTs in the political arena through her involvement in Ladlad Partylist, a political party for LGBTs founded in 2003.

In late September 2011, SPW promoted an Inter-Regional Dialogue about Sexuality and Geopolitics. Cai Yiping, a feminist activist based in Beijing, who is a member of the Executive Committee of DAWN – Development Alternatives with Woman for a New Era, and Pei Yuxin, assistant Professor of the Department of Social Work, Sun Yat-sen University (in Guangzhou) have also participated. They were interviewed by SPW team and shared their knowledge of sexuality research, activism and related public debates in China. Read the interview.

SPW: What about challenges? Pei, what are the main challenges for research in sexuality in China? What are the main obstacles?  What are the opportunities?

From September 26 to 29 2011, the Sexuality Policy Watch (SPW) organized the Inter-Regional Dialogue on Sexuality and Politics, in Rio de Janeiro, gathering researchers and activist members of the global forum, as well as people involved with the Regional Dialogues on Sexuality and Geopolitics, which took place in Asia (April 2009, Hanoi, Vietnam), Latin America (August 2009, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) and Africa (October 2010, Lagos, Nigeria).

Thailand: In September 2011, the “16th Asia Pacific Forum’s Annual meeting” took place in Bangkok and Professor Vitit Muntarbhorn presented the report written by the Advisory Council of Jurists on issues of sexual orientation and gender identity. Read the Douglas Sander’s article.

The Queer Bangkok – 21st Century Markets, Media, and Rights, edited by Peter A. Jackson, traces Bangkok’s emergence as a central focus of an expanding regional network linking gay, lesbian, and transgender communities. Read more.

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.

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.

Indonesia: Indonesian police ordered the cancellation of the ILGA Asia conference due to be held from Friday 26 till Monday 29 March, 2010, in Surabaya, East Java’s capital. See the communication from the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA) and read more and see some photos at Fridae’s, the Gay City News’ and the Associated Press’ websites and other news on the episode by clicking here.

2.3 Global and regional relevant events > The Panel Discussion on Opposing grave Human Rights Violations on the basis of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity

The overview and short papers written for the Latin American Regional Dialogue are available on SPW’s website (in Spanish and Portuguese only), as are the summaries (also available in English). The papers, summaries and reports produced on the Asian Dialogue are also available (in English only).

In this issue, you find information on what SPW has been involved since October, 2009. First and foremost, we made further progress on preparation for the Dialogue on Sexuality and Geopolitics and the African Regional Dialogue will held in the last week September, 2010. Following the recommendation of the Latin American Regional Dialogue, we have added our voices to a global campaign that has been underway since May 2009 by developing, together with partners, a statement calling for the de-pathologization of transexuality. In the session “Around the world”, we highlight on the one hand the regressive legislation proposed in Uganda, which aims to further criminalize “homosexual” behavior, and on the other hand you find information on the same sex marriage legislation recently approved in the Federal District of Mexico. Read also about other regional highlights, and recent sexuality/sexual rights advocacy, like the 54th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW). See what projects and events connect art and sexuality and browse listings of upcoming events, scholarships, job opportunities and publications.

The Philippines: Read more about COMELEC’s decision to deny accreditation to Ang Ladlad. > Full resolution by COMELEC, promulgated on November 11, 2009 > Ang

The abortion front lines: Recently in Brazil a scandal came out when a 9 years-old girl was impregnated by his stepfather and then excommunicated by the Olinda’s bishop. Meanwhile, in Nepal the Court orders the State to improve women’s access to abortion. Read more in the SPW’s newsletter n.6.

In order to share the outcomes of the SPW Asian Dialogue on Sexuality and Geoplitics with participants of the 2009 IASSCS Conference, a devolution workshop was held in the Vietnam’s Women’s Museum on April 16th, when summaries of the various panels were presented and discussed.

After two days of intense discussions, during which the politics of sexuality in Asia were examined from a variety of angles, the chairs of the

In its second day, the Asian Regional Dialogue on Sexuality and Geopolitics addressed two critical realms that intersect with each other and have critical impacts

The second session of the meeting discussed aspects related to the negotiation of multiple sexual identities being politically expressed within Asia, but are denied recognition

This session brought to the larger audience that was at 2009 IASSCS Conference a synthesis of the discussions held at the first Asia Regional Dialogue

In the first session of the Asian Regional Dialogue on Sexuality and Geopolitics, held in the Sofitel Plaza Hotel in Hanoi, Vietnam on April 10th,

Asia, with its high-income countries and rapidly industrializing centers rising in the midst of widespread poverty and regional inequalities, is a primary source and locus

NEW! The final report of the discussions held at the Asian Dialogue on Sexuality and Geopolitics is already available! Click here to download (PDF).

DAY 1 – April, 10th – 1st session – Viagra vs. Condoms: unequal partners? In the first session of the Asian Regional Dialogue on Sexuality

Negotiating multiple identities To peel away the layers of meaning that exist between the personal and political, this session will cover religion, culture, class, sexualities,

In order to prepare for the Asia Regional Dialogue, a regional Task Force was formed with the goal of identifying key themes and key individuals

It was agreed that the broad focus of the Dialogue would be on the politics of sexuality: the political processes, actors and outcomes that have

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)

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

resumo

Hanoi, Vietnam – April 10 – 12, 2009 Asia is one of the fastest-changing regions in the world. Considering this, the Asian Dialogue on Sexuality

SPW organized a series of Regional Dialogues on Sexuality and Geopolitics, to convene in Asia (Vietnam, April 2009), Latin America (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, August 2009) and Africa (Lagos, Nigeria, October 2010). Inspired by the studies that form the e-book SexPolitics: Reports from the Front Lines, the Regional Dialogues aimed at expanding the knowledge and understanding that emerged from this previous research efforts and to more organically articulate global analysis and regional and national processes of research and activism. The dialogues provided a venue to discuss and think more deeply and complexly about shifts in the geopolitical landscape of the politics of sexuality. Read more.

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