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LGBTQ Iraqis fear dark days ahead after anti-gay law – France 24 Comment by UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani on Iraq – UN

Ghana’s parliament passes anti-LGBTQ bill – AlJazeera Ghana’s top court postpones hearing on challenge to anti-LGBTQ bill – Reuters LGBT Ghanaians await court ruling on

>> 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

  English How foreign aid supported anti-LGBTQ+ advocates in Uganda – Devex Calls for US anti-rights groups to face action over Uganda anti-gay law –

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

In early July, we issued the Spanish version of our sexual politics bulletin, published in Portuguese and English in early June.  More complete and updated,

If the LGBT+ population is already under attack in the legal and policy realms, this year we have observed a new and worrying trend: the

As predicted since December, when a public hearing on the Dobbs case took place, on June 24th 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court, overturned the right

>>> 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

Landmark Decision on Colombia Abortion Rights – Human Rights Watch Statements from the Center for Reproductive Rights on the Constitutional Court Decision Decriminalizing Abortion in

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

Berlin protests against coronavirus rules divide German leaders – The Guardian Neonazistas, conspiracionistas e antivacinas marcham an Alemanha pelo fim do isolamento – El País

Biopolitics mainstreamed Meet the Philosopher Who Is Trying to Explain the Pandemic – NY Times Power and perversity – The Telegraph India COVID 19: A

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.

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

By Dr. Debjyoti Ghosh* “That’s the problem with drinking, I thought, as I poured myself a drink. If something bad happens you drink in an

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

English Black Lives Matter The Souls of White Folk – Verso Books Illiberal Racisms, Extremism and the Discursive Reconstruction of the Far Right – Verso

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

English Securing Data and Labor Rights in the Post-Covid Digital Era – Bot Populi Big Tech Is Using the Pandemic to Push Dangerous New Forms

The Agamben Debates Giorgio Agamben: Contagion – Enough 14 Philosophy and Pandemic in the Postdigital Era: Foucault, Agamben, Žižek –  Post Digital Science and Education

March – April The fragile existence of sex workers during the pandemic – New Yorker Can the world’s oldest profession survive the age of social

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

Politics in the Time of Corona: Anti-Asian Racism: A Feature of the COVID-19 Pandemic (Hosted by Jadaliyya Co-Editors Noura Erakat and Bassam Haddad) – Jadaliyya

MAY / JUNE English Information warfare: COVID-19’s other battleground in the Middle East – Global Voices Nearly half of all tweets on coronavirus likely came

For some time now, many Polish municipalities, provinces and regions have been approving a series of resolutions which, more or less explicitly, aim to target

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

India’s New Laws Hurt Women Most of All – Foreign Policy We Are Seeing, for the First Time, a Sustained Countrywide Movement Led by Women

“The violence unleashed against Muslims in Delhi by armed Hindu mobs during President Donald Trump’s visit to India is a portent and a lesson. […] More than an echo of the past, the recent violence in Delhi is a lesson”. Read SPW’s compilation.

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

‘Criminalizar não é solução’, escreve Jean Wyllys sobre homofobia – O Globo A HOMOFOBIA PODE VIRAR CRIME. E ISSO É UM TIRO NO PÉ. –

Transgender Rights Bill India’s transgender rights Bill faces ‘unanimous opposition’ from trans people – RNZ India’s Trans Community Faces Continued Discrimination – The Diplomat Regressive,

Angola Decriminalizes Same-Sex Conduct – Human Rigths Watch As Angola decriminalizes homosexuality, where does the African continent stand? – DW Angola: Decriminalising same sex relations

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

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).

#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,

Highlights Algeria and Sudan: A revived Arab Spring? –  Almost six years after the Arab Spring waned under the shadows of the Sissi regime, political

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

#Hail International Women’s Day 2019: struggle, endurance, resistance! #Eyes on Brazil From an insider´s point of view, observing Brazilian politics after January 1st is like being caught

This map brings together information on laws which affect sex workers through the criminalisation of the sale and purchase of sexual services, and the facilitation, management or organisation of sex work, as well as other laws used to regulate sex work such as mandatory health checks and travel restrictions

SPW has compiled news, articles and assessments on the first two months of Brazilian far-right new administration and its setbacks and worrying moves, in various fronts such as Education, Foreign Affairs, Health, Human Rights and corruption scandals.

Supreme Court Halts Closure of Abortion Clinics in Louisiana – Center for Reproductive Rights We Can Thank Kavanaugh for Roberts’ Decision to Temporarily Block Louisiana’s

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

Read Sonia Corrêa’s article on the antecedents, outcomes and meanings of the 2018 Brazilian presidential elections.

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

Download Sonia Corrêa’s article on the public hearings for abortion decriminalization in Brazil — a landmark event in the feminist struggle for abortion rights.

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

By Roberta Clarke  On May 24th, Mia Mottley became Prime Minister of Barbados with her Barbados Labour Party (BLP) winning all thirty parliamentary seats. This

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

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

Three Argentinean partners who work on gender, sexuality and abortion matters generously share their views on key undercurrents of the process leading to the partial

By Fábio Grotz and Sonia Corrêa A new chapter of the ongoing institutional debate on abortion rights in Brazil is scheduled for August 3rd and

  By Franklin Gil Hernandes Apparently, attacks on “gender ideology”, quite central to the  2016 peace referendum, were peripheral in the 2018 Colombian presidential campaign.

By Sandra Mazo Cardona An inside look from gender and sexuality on the circumstances that led to Duque’s victory in the Colombian presidential elections On

New York’s Sex Workers rally to take back International Whores Day: ‘Let us survive’ – The Daily Beast Puta Dei in NYC and New Jersey

IDAHO Event Country Map Charter – DayAgainstHomophobia.org Brazil Establishes National Pact Against LGBT Violence on IDAHOTB eve Same-sex couples tie the knot in Cambodia in a

Español Articles in the news Informe preliminar CIDH, documenta el uso desproporcionado de la fuerza durante las manifestaciones de abril 2018, en Nicaragua – Iniciativa Mesoamericana

By Sonia Corrêa In the first week of November 2017, Judith Butler was viciously attacked in Brazil by a heterogeneous group of actors who define themselves as

Blas Radi (Universidad de Buenos Aires)[1] The sexual and (non) reproductive health of trans men is a challenging issue. In the first place, because it

Authors The initiative Mawjoudin for equality is a Tunisian association that fights for equality and the rights of LGBTIQ people. Damj The Tunisian Association for

On 11 December 2017, Intersex South Africa, the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development, the Foundation for Human Rights and Iranti joined activists and members 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

I once asked a Guatemalan public defender how she knew when a woman’s murder was the result of gender-based violence and not a simple homicide.

By Victoria Pedrido On March 20, five draft bills to pass the Voluntary Pregnancy Termination law were debated by Commissions in Parliament. Of those, one

Can a subaltern speak? No, is the response of the feminist philosopher Gayatri Spivak, when she realizes that to “have the right to a voice” the place of the subaltern must be subverted.

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

By Sonia Corrêa Brazilian abortion and sexual politics continue ensnarled by the uncertainties of the overall political environment. On February 16th, a presidential decree determined

Authors: Gabriela Arguedas Ramírez and Lynn M. Morgan Reference: Feminist Studies 43, no. 2. 2017 by Feminist Studies, Inc. Download the article here.

Argentine Women Demand Legalization of Abortion at Congress – TeleSur Argentine Protesters Demand Free, Legal and Safe Abortions – TeleSur Argentina president urges Congress to

On February 5 of 2018, Senator Magno Malta (PR) proposed to archive the draft bill (SUG) N. 15/2014 on the Commission of Human Rights and

Repression and marginalisation of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Queer (LGBTQ) people across the world have limited safe opportunities for LGBTQ people to meet up but

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

The #MeToo movement erupted in October 2017  after several sexual harassment accusations against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein became public. It is worth noting, however, that

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

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

By Rajnia de Vito and Angela de Freitas In order to properly situate sexual politics in Brazil (while paying special attention to abortion), we must

Below you will find the summary for the report of the Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity,

Table of Contents Special Section: Abortion and Human Rights GUEST EDITORS Alicia Ely Yamin, Paola Bergallo, and Marge Berer EDITORIAL Narratives of Essentialism and Exceptionalism:

As SPW readers know, for some years now Brazil has been undergoing regressions in gender and sexual politics and, since last year, a full conservative

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

Update: 7 arrested for ‘promoting sexual deviancy’ after raising rainbow flag at Mashrou’ Leila gig – Mada Masr – September, 26 At least 22 arrested

Joint Statement on Access to Safe and Legal abortion globally – HRC36: General Debate Item 8 September 28, 2017 Theme: Resist & Persist! Our Bodies, Our Abortions, Our Rights

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

Zika has disappeared from the headlines. Soon after the World Health Organization’s decision to declare the end of the global public health emergency in November 2016,

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

According to ABIA, the withdrawal of Law Provision 198 that would legally define the transmission of HIV as a heinous crime, is a victory for

Inquiry into the Commonwealth Government’s Exposure Draft of the Marriage Amendment (Same-Sex Marriage) Bill – Australian Human Rights Comission Marriage Equality around the world –

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

The 26th issue of Sexuality, Health and Society – Latin American Journal, organized by the Latin American Center of Sexuality and Human Rights (CLAM/IMS/UERJ) is out

Gendered, racist, classist, homophobic, and transphobic violence haunts the world of sex work. Sex workers speak. Who listens? addresses that violence, but it does so from the

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,

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

Brazil: New Amnesty campaign will fight back as Congress considers legal changes that flagrantly attack human rights Amnesty International defending rights at risk in Brazil

The report “They said that I’m not a human, that I am nothing. That I should rather be a terrorist, than a fagot” is based on

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 María Amelia Viteri and Gabriel Ocampo. Homosexuality was criminalized in Ecuador until November, 1997[1]. As a result, until then, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons were considered criminals, could face imprisonment and were often tortured and even killed.

The Smart Sex Workers’ Guide to the Global Fund Strategy 2017-2022: “Investing to End Epidemics” is a resource for sex workers to better understand the purpose and the goals of the Global Fund. This Guide describes the key points of the Global Fund Strategy, looks at what they mean for sex workers, and explores the opportunities for sex work organisations to use the strategy to strengthen sex workers’ capacity to engage in Global Fund processes and influence sex worker programmes funded through the Global Fund.

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

This paper examines the translation of human rights norms into discourses on abortion in Northern Ireland, a region where abortion is highly restricted, with extensive contemporary public debate into potential liberalization of abortion law. This paper emanates from research examining political debates on abortion in Northern Ireland and contrasts findings with recent civil society developments, identifying competing narratives of human rights with regard to abortion at the macro- and micro-political level.

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

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.

The number of countries criminalising consensual, private same-sex sexual activity between adults has decreased to 72, while the variety of law relevant to sexual orientation continues to expand steadily

They Have Long Arms and They Can Find Me’: Anti-Gay Purge by Local Authorities in Russia’s Chechen Republic – Human RIghts Watch report News Update:

Habemus Gender! The Catholic Church and ‘Gender Ideology’ – Volume 6 – Issue 2 – 2016 Guest editors: Sarah Bracke and David Paternotte You can

Resource for Teaching & Learning about anti-Muslim Racism in the United States Home #IslamophobiaIsRacism Syllabus Race, Empire, Islam The Production and Reproduction of Anti-Muslim Racism

Sex workers and their allies face significant obstacles in the fight to improve the health and wellbeing of sex workers globally. In the Smart Sex

In March and early April, two grave cases of crackdowns against women’s rights activists have been registered worldwide. In Jamaica, activist Latoya Nugent was detained

In February, in Curitiba,  a woman was arrested when searching for care for incomplete abortion in an Evangelical hospital. In early March, in Pauí, a

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

By Sonia Corrêa On March 7, a lawsuit (ADPF 442) was filed at the Brazilian Supreme Court to challenge the constitutionality of the Penal Code’s

UN global plans on HIV/AIDS have committed to reducing the number of countries with punitive laws criminalizing key populations. This study explores whether punitive laws are associated with countries’ performance on targets set in the global plans.

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

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.

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

Center for Reproductive Rights Statement on Nomination of Judge Neil Gorsuch to the U.S. Supreme Court Trump Nominates Birth Control Benefit Foe Neil Gorsuch to

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”.

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

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.

“Not dancing to their music” is a report by Bisi Alimi Foundation, in which 446 LGBT Nigerians completed an online survey that uncovered disturbing stories

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

The preparation of this report was led by Sarah Gammage and Lisa McGowan.  They are sincerely grateful to the other drafting committee members, Vanessa Pillay,

The African Population and Health Research Centre in Kenya has put together a free online database of more than 600 publications related to abortion in

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

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

Authored by Susan Wood, Lilián Abracinskas, Sonia Corrêa and Mario Pecheny, this article – based on a descriptive study of the context and political processes

In the midst of the conservative restoration that has swept Brazil in 2016, on November 29th, the First Chamber of the Brazilian Supreme Court – in which five of the eleven judges have a seat – has issued, an unexpected decision arguing in favor of decriminalization of abortion

“Featuring the zines produced by 24 men, women, and transgender persons who live and sell sex in the Gauteng, Limpopo, and Mpumalanga provinces of South

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 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.

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.

The six case studies presented in this publication—in Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Ukraine, South Africa, and Zimbabwe—offer a look at real-life sex worker–led programming that has reduced police abuse, health risks, and other adverse impacts of bad laws and law enforcement on sex workers

The defining event of the 32nd Session of the Human Rights Council was the passing of the resolution appointing an Independent Expert on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.

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’.

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

Although sexual and reproductive health services have become more available in humanitarian settings over the last decade, safe abortion services are still rarely provided. The authors’ observations suggest that four reasons are typically given for this gap: ‘There’s no need’; ‘Abortion is too complicated to provide in crises’; ‘Donors don’t fund abortion services’; and ‘Abortion is illegal’.

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

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

The IACHR just launched the English version of the report “Violence Against LGBTI Persons”.  In this Report, the Commission focuses on violence against LGBT persons

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

This book sets out the ethical arguments for a woman’s right to choose. Drawing on the traditions of sociological thinking and moral philosophy, it maintains that there is a strong moral case for recognizing autonomy in personal decision-making about reproductive intentions. More than this, it argues that to prevent a woman from making her own choice to continue or end her pregnancy is to undermine the essence of her humanity.

The Women’s Legal Centre has published their report on Police Abuse of Sex Workers in South Africa. Their report shows that 414 sex workers reported various types of violence perpetrated by police between 2011 and 2015. Of those, 13 were sexually assaulted, 71 were physically assaulted, 152 were verbally assaulted, 192 were harassed, and 254 experienced some other form of abuse.

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

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.

Pride Uganda raided by police as LGBT activists arrested – Pink News Gay and Lesbian Coalition of Kenya (GALCK) Statement on State-Sanctioned Disruptions of Pride

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

  Between July 12th and 15th, right before the Durban International AIDS Conference, SPW organized a seminar in Umhlanga, the Northern District of the City.

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

 by Sonia Corrêa “The discourses that legitimize punitive power, as established in the middle Ages, are in full force. This is when criminology was born

The problem is ‘criminal law’ by Sonia Corrêa Using media and legal services for the defense of LGBT rights in Mexico   by Alejandro Brito Crosstalk:

Resurj, a global alliance of feminists advocating for sexual, reproductive and gender justice from across the globe, met in New York on April 16-17 2016

CHANGE has released its brand new report “All Women, All Rights, Sex Workers Included: U.S. Foreign Assistance and the Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights

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.

Crosstalk: HIV and linking across areas of criminalisation – Susana T. Fried – openDemocracy

The Brazilian Interdisciplinary AIDS Association (ABIA) released today (20/07) “Myth vs. Reality: evaluating the Brazilian response to HIV in 2016”. The publication was showed in

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.

The proposal launched in May by the LAC 5 countries for the creation of a Special Mandate on Human Rights and Sexual Orientation and Gender

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.

In June, 2016, as the impeachment of Dilma Roussef followed its course, it became increasingly evident that one of the strongest motivations of the power maneuvering that led to the April parliamentary coup was the interest of many of those supporting this move to strangle the ongoing investigations on corruption.

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.

A Major Victory for Abortion Rights – New York Times The Facts Win Out on Abortion – Linda Greenhouse – New York Times The Supreme

As we all know, the news is filled with discussions regarding the Zika virus, microcephaly, access to abortion, and women’s sexual and reproductive rights—sometimes from

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 mass shooting at the Pulse, the nightclub in Orlando, took over the media screens and pages on the third week of June 2016.  The

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:

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

It is not exactly to keep track of the Brazilian political development these days. On May 11th, the Brazilian Senate confirmed the admissibility of the impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff, which had been approved by the House on April 17th.

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

New double issue of Brasiliana, edited by Paul Amar, is out. It addresses the politics of violence and securitization in Rio de Janeiro. Click here

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.

Amnesty International has published its policy on protecting sex workers from human rights violations and abuses, along with four research reports on these issues in Papua New Guinea, Hong Kong, Norway and Argentina.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

Since our reports of early 2015, SPW has always linked developments in the abortion debate to the on-going Brazilian political and economic crisis. On April 17th, 2016, this crisis reached an initial point of culmination when the House of Representatives voted for and approved the admissibility of the impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff.

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

As underlined by Michel Foucault in his writings, in modern times, children and adolescent sexualities have been under close and systematic surveillance. While in the

Brazil has one of the most restrictive legislations in the world on abortion. Since 1940, abortion is only allowed in Brazil in cases involving either risk to the woman’s life or rape, and in cases of fetal anencephaly. Yet abortion is common despite these legal restrictions.

Source: http://endabortionstigma.org/en/Blog/2016/March/QualitativeSynthesis.aspx We are excited to share “Abortion Stigma Around the Globe”: A Qualitative Synthesis. After a review of literature and available resources, we discovered

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.

The longstanding provider-patient confidentiality relationship is quietly eroding as an alarming number of medical staff across Latin America are reporting women and girls to the

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

During 2015, as previously reported by SPW, Brazilian abortion politics continued to evolve under pressures created by the unsettled intersection of regressive policy trends (which have been gaining strength since the mid 2000’s) and the macro-political crisis which has overtaken the Brazilian res publica.

This tool contains practical advice on implementing HIV and sexually transmitted infection (STI) programmes with transgender people. It is based on recommendations in the Consolidated guidelines on HIV prevention, diagnosis, treatment and care for key populations, published in 2014 by the World Health Organization.

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

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

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.

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.

In recent weeks, the Egyptian authorities have summoned human rights workers for questioning, banned them from travel and attempted to freeze their personal funds and

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.”

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 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.

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.

These bills would limit access to single-sex restrooms and locker rooms at schools and in public places; limit protections based on gender identity; permit individuals and businesses to discriminate against transgender people based on religious and moral beliefs.

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

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 …”.

In late November, 2015, the Institute of Philosophy and Social Sciences of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (IFCS/UFRJ) hosted a one week course

This article argues that strong policy frameworks are required to support the health and well-being of sex workers, disabled people, and disabled sex workers. Through an examination of the context of sex work in Canada, it articulates the flaws of sex work criminalization and the persistent barriers that criminalization creates.

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

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.

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 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

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.

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.

The issue 46 of Reproductive Health Matters focuses on the theme “Sexuality, sexual rights and sexual politics” and brings articles offering “a wide range of

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.

Partners for Law in Development have compiled the rich, vibrant discussions from the Roundtable on Exploring the Continuum between Sexuality and Sexual Violence on April

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.

Transgender women living with HIV in Los Angeles County face a variety of legal needs that have a significant impact on their access to resources such as income, health care and housing, but most do not receive any legal assistance, according to a new analysis by researchers at the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law.

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.

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 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)

As it has been systematically reported by SPW in the last few months, Brazil is now a battleground in regard to the right to legal

Every defendant in the Salvadoran criminal system is guaranteed three fundamental rights by the state. First, every person accused of a crime will be presume innocent until proven guilty, in accordance with the law. Second, in cases of doubt, the judge must find in favour of the defendant.

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

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

After prompting a major flare of global controversies, Amnesty International’s draft policy supporting the decriminalization of sex work was voted and approved at organization’s International

The Brazilian academic institution and civil society organizations listed below offered a contribution to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Report on the impact

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

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

In July the hottest topic to be reported on is, undoubtedly, the global controversy that emerged when Amnesty International made public a draft policy defining

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 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,

In Sexuality, Health and Human Rights (Corrêa, Parker and Petchesky, 2008) we have examined the early 2000’s French controversies, which  led to the banning of

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 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 –

Read the article Young Women: Analysis of the Public Safety and Justice Systems in Rio de Janeiro, by Carla Gomes and Beatriz Galli.

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 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.

A Cairo court acquitted 26 men of charges of participating in a gay “sex party” at a public bathhouse in December. Click here, here and here

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 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

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

One main highlight of the period concerns the politics of abortion in Brazil. Despite the tragic deaths of two women caused by illegal and unsafe

Check out the Working Paper Senegal: homophobia and Islamic political manipulation by Codou Bop, a Senegalese journalist. She develops a particularly sharp insight analysis about on

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

SPW joins forces with other networks and organizations engaged in the Global Day of Action for Access to Safe Abortion.  We recall that the date

International Campaign for Womens Right to Safe Abortion When abortion is a crime – Center for Reproductive Rights. Take action for the September 28 Campaign

Caso Jandira e aborto no Brasil: crime com pena de morte – Pragmatismo político Coragem para enfrentar o preconceito – Observatório da Imprensa Sobre princípios,

Brazil’s Criminal Abortion Laws Are Killing Women – Reality Check Aborto clandestino en Brasil provoca muertes trágicas – Diário Rotativo (México) Stigma of Brazil abortions

Jandira Cruz and Elisângela Barbosa died after resorting to unsafe clandestine abortion clinics. Their deaths are now inevitably interwoven with the 2014 intense and complex

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

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

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”

In August, the Sexuality Policy Watch (SPW) published the outcomes from the three Regional Dialogues organized in Asia (2009), Latin America (2009) and Africa (2010)

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

In 2013, Sexuality Policy Watch began a new line of work aimed at critically examining how sexuality, gender and human rights  can be located in

A Ugandan court struck down a punitive antigay law that has strained Uganda’s relations with the West but the court ruled on narrow technical grounds,

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

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

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

The four figures of the law:  Brief theoretical inquiries into the Queer movement’s relationship with law Vqueeram Aditya Sahay* This piece is about what the

The 2013 Indian Supreme Court decision on section 377: beyond the law Jordan Osserman * While many LGBTQ activists across the globe expressed mourning, rage

“When the light of our century may blind us” Nitya Vasudevan* When does the idea of a global solidarity threaten to compromise contextualised political struggles?

Moving forward, perhaps: The 2013  India Supreme Court Decision on Section 377 Gautam Bhan* In the immediate moment, it simply felt difficult to breathe. It

The Paradoxical Geopolitics of Recriminalizing Homosexuality in Uganda: One of Three Ugly Sisters Stella Nyanzi* Uganda’s re-criminalization of homosexuality is not an isolated case, but

SPW is on Twitter and Facebook! Follow @sxpolitics and like our Facebook fan page to read more on our activities and sex politics around the

The Queer body between the Judicial and the Political – reflections on the anti-homosexuality laws in India and Uganda akshay khanna* Nostalgia for a recent

Sex workers organizations from Canada are mobilizing supports to battle against a bill aimed at criminalizing prostitution and a wide range of activities related to

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

Brazil In May and early June the Brazilian sexual politics scenario has winessed setbacks and authoritarian measures, particularly with regard to women’s rights. At the

Corinne Lennox and Matthew Waites, from Institute of Commonwealth Studies (University of London), are the editors of the free online book Human Rights, Sexual Orientation

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

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

Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG) and the National LGBTI Security Committee have been documenting the different cases of violences following the Anti-Homossexuality Bill Approval in 2013.

The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, meeting at its 55 Ordinary Session held in Luanda, Angola, from 28 April to 12 May 2014,

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.

Nigerian Senate has passed the HIV Bill 2013, which stipulates that every person living HIV and AIDS shall be assured of freedom from unlawful termination

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

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

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.

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.

Read Ryan Richard Thoreson’s article, from Yale Law School, about the debate over Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Bill in 2009 and 2010, when journalists and activists warned of

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

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

Since December Uganda and Nigeria have approved draconian laws under debate for many years that drastically curtail the freedom and rights of persons whose gender

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

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

During the year of 2013, sexual and reproductive rights were threatened by state decisions in various places around the world. At the year’s end, three

UNDP’s HIV, Health & Development Group has launched a Discussion Paper on Transgender Health & Human Rights, prepared by Jack Byrne, an expert on trans

Read the article “The Implications of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill 2009 on Uganda’s Legal System”, by Adrian Jjuuko and Francis Tumwesige, in which the authors discuss

In december, Nigeria’s Senate approved a law that criminalizes displays of affection, people in same-sex marriage (including tourists) and even those who argue in favor

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 “Decoding India’s Proposed Online Porn Ban – I”, that reportes the day-long “Connect Your Rights!” meeting held in Mumbai in November 2013. The meeting

India Supreme Court has decided to re-criminalises same sex sexual activities between consenting adults, bringing the legacy of the British Empire back to life with

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

France’s Parliament approved a law that punishes clients who buy sexual services from prostitutes. SPW is following the debate. The case has turned a big

November was marked by two relevant facts in the sexual and reproductive rights landscape: the financing of Human Rights Campaign to promote LGBT rights and

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

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

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

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 “Provisional Measure 557 (MP 557) has been archived, but the matter is not resolved,” written by Ana Maria Costa and Luís Bernardo Delgado Bieber, on the creation of the National System of Registration, Tracking and Follow-up of Pregnant and Puerperal Women for the Prevention of Maternal Mortality.

Turkey: Prime Minister Erdogan’s statements in the last week of May 2012 have revealed that plans to ban abortion have been underway for some time now. Experience from the global arena illustrates that this lethal attempt, which has no scientific backing, will not reduce abortion rates; instead it will only lead to unsafe abortions and increase maternal mortality. Read more.

Starting with the issue No. 11, SPW Newsletters no longer provide detailed links to posted material, as they will have already been circulated through the announcements of new website postings. The newsletter will mainly focus on one or two pieces of substantive analysis addressing one key debate and, eventually, one key event that we consider to be have been critical in the global sexual politics landscape in the period immediately preceding the publication. Partners and collaborators are invited to share their views on these topics and the Newsletter No 11 is devoted to two key topics: the ongoing debate around the validity of aid conditionality as an instrument to protect LGBT rights and the current state of affairs of abortion reform in Uruguay. Good reading!

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.

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: 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.

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.

Nigeria: The Senate passed the Same-Gender Marriage Prohibition Bill. Nigerian Human Rights Defenders have condemned the Bill and the Coalition for the Defense of Sexual Rights in Nigeria circulated a call for action. Read more.

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.

Uganda:A number of violations based on sexual orientation and backlashes are also to be reported in Uganda, starting with the murder of David Kato, in Kampala, in January 2011, and more recently the suspicious ‘burglary’ at FARUG (Freedom and Roam Uganda), which has posed threats to the lives of other Ugandan activists.

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

The EroTICs: Sexuality and the Internet – an exploratory research, lauched by the Association for Progressive Communications (APC), looks at how the internet plays host to critical information about sex education, health, fighting sex discrimination and defining one’s own sexuality. It debunks the commonly-held view that sexuality online is just about pornography. The EroTICs project took place between June 2008 and June 2011 and was funded by The Ford Foundation. Sexuality Policy Watch (SPW) and the Latin American Center on Sexuality and Human Rights (CLAM) developed the Brazilian EroTICs research.

From May 30 to June 17, 2011, the “17th session of the UN Human Rights Council” took place in Geneva, Switzerland. Invited by the Association for Progressive Communications (APC), Marina Maria, SPW’s communication and project assistant, participated in the panel Internet rights are human rights, organized by APC on June 3, to present some outcomes from the research “EroTICs: Sex, rights and the internet – An exploratory research study”.

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

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.

The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA) launched State-sponsored Homophobia – A world survey of laws criminalising same-sex sexual acts between consenting adults, a research by Eddie Bruce-Jones & Lucas Paoli Itaborahy, Birkbeck College School of London, United Kingdom, which was updated in May 2011.

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.

Uganda: Sub committee that has been discussing the “Kill the gays” bill decided to suspend it as most of the provisions in the bill are already catered for in Ugandan penal code. Read more.

UK: Ugandan lesbian Brenda Namigadde’s request for asylum to be reviewed on February 7th by UK Border Agency. Read more.

Uganda: After the High Court prohibited Rolling Stone local magazine to campaign against LGBTI community, gay activist David Kapo was murdered in his home. Read more.

Read the article “The meaning of the Kampala Court Decision”, by Kasha Jacqueline, from the Freedom and Roam Uganda (FARUG), on the Uganda’s high court decision permanently prohibiting the tabloid Rolling Stone (no relation to the venerable U.S. publication by the same name) from continuing its public vigilante campaign against that country’s LGBT community.

Uganda: Uganda’s high court released a ruling permanently prohibiting the tabloid Rolling Stone (no relation to the venerable U.S. publication by the same name) from continuing its public vigilante campaign against that country’s LGBT community.

Brazil: On December 1st, 2010 was celebrated the World AIDS Day and, to mark this date, representatives of Brazilian NGOs, including the SPW’s Co-chairs Richard Parker and Sonia Corrêa, participated in a meeting with an UNAIDS mission that visited Brazil. Read more on it and other HIV/AIDS issues.

The International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) has just published Behind bars: life stories of people affected by the criminalisation of HIV, an international collection of interviews which exposes the effect criminal laws on HIV transmission are having on people’s working and private lives. Read more and watch a short video highlighting the dimensions and impact of laws that criminalize HIV transmission.

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.

USA: The recent spate of gay teen suicides has captured the attention of the US nation to confront the issue of anti-gay bullying and the vulnerability of gay adolescents. Barack Obama has released a video to draw attention to the pressures facing gay teenagers. Read more.

Click on the icons to see the pictures in a bigger version. Photos by Malu S. Marin

Since the African Regional Dialogue on Sexuality and Geopolitics will take place next week in Lagos, Nigeria, we have selected a series of articles related to sexuality and gender issues in Africa, published in the last months for the SPW’s newsletter n.9. See below.

Zimbabwe: Two employees of Gays and Lesbians Association of Zimbabwe (GALZ) were arrested on Friday May 28, 2010 after a police raid on their offices. Police alleged to have found pornographic material. The activists complained they had been tortured. Read more.

Malawi: A gay couple is facing a possible 14 years in prison with hard labour after becoming the first one to declare their commitment in a public ceremony.

Read the article “Homophobia, Africa and Evangelical Neocolonialism” on the Uganda’s anti-homophobia Bill, written by Rosalind P. Petchesky, Member of the SPW’s Steering Committee and Distinguished Professor of Political Science at Hunter College and the Graduate Center at the City University of New York.

USA: On March 21, 2010 the President Barack Obama announced that he will be issuing an executive order after the passage of the health insurance reform law that will reaffirm its consistency with longstanding restrictions on the use of federal funds for abortion. See a series of opinions regarding this issue.

In this issue of SPW’s newsletter, we unfortunately highlight an event that recently occurred in South Africa, not in favor of, but against initiatives that

2.6 Human Rights violations Turkey: Multiple Murders of transgender people highlight inadequate state protection Jamaica: British Honorary Consul John Terry murdered in his bedroom. The

2.5 Sexuality and religion Vatican: Read the article The Great Catholic Cover-up, by Christopher Hitchens, a columnist for Vanity Fair and the Roger S. Mertz

2.1 The Uganda case > The article Draconian laws against homosexuality in Africa, by Cesnabmihilo Aken’ova > A complete coverage available at SPW’s website

Nicaragua: On 2 February, 2010 a 27-year-old woman was admitted to a hospital in Leon, the second largest city in Nicaragua. She was diagnosed with an advanced case of cancer, which had metastasised and may have spread to her breasts, brain and lungs. She was told she couldn’t be prescribed an aggressive chemotherapy or radiotherapy treatment because she was pregnant and, under Nicaraguan law, any medical procedure to save the life of a mother is banned if it jeopardises the life of the foetus.

In the article “Draconian laws against homosexuality in Africa”, Cesnabmihilo Aken’ova discusses on the state homophobia that has swept over the African continent. She analyses the draconian laws against homosexuality proposed by some leaders and positions that have placed the human rights of same sex loving people and people who are perceived to be gay under attack.

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.

Uganda: The draft “Anti-Homosexuality Bill” introduced on October 14, 2009 in Uganda’s parliament would violate human rights and should be withdrawn immediately, a group of local and international human rights organizations.

Third Panel – Sexuality and Economics: visibilities and invisibilities Morning – August 25, 2009 The panel that followed was chaired by Lucila Esquivel, coordinator of

Third Session – Sexuality and Economics: visibilities and invisibilities Morning – August 25, 2009 The overview paper, Prostitution as economic activity in urban Brazil, was

First Session – Sexuality, States and Political Processes Morning—August 24 , 2009 The first session of the Latin American Dialogue on Sexuality and Geopolitics was

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

India: The New Delhi High Court decriminalized homosexual intercourse between consenting adults, by striking down section 377 of the Indian Penal Code.

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

In this issue learn what SPW has been doing since April, including the events we organized to coincide with the International AIDS Conference in Mexico City. Read also about global and local events involving sexuality, politics, religion and economics, as well as recent sexuality/sexual rights advocacy, in particular at the UN Human Rights Council. See what projects and events connect art and sexuality and browse listings of upcoming events, scholarships, job opportunities and publications.

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

By Radhika Ramassuban* India continues to have on its statute books a 150-year-old anti-sodomy law enacted in the mid-nineteenth century by the British colonizers in

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

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

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