
Sexual Politics in late October and November 2016
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

Local Representation and Party Politics: Transexual and Travesti Candidates in Brazil
At a time in which electoral processes are undermining democracy not only in Brazil, but also in many other countries, electoral results can give in sight to many questions regarding the foundations of the democratic process.
Belgium: 25 years of the right to abortion
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,

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

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

AIDS politics: Institutionalization of Solidarity, Exclusion of Context
This timely book, authored by Hakan Seckinelgin (London School of Economics and Political Science), looks critically at the policy response to AIDS and its institutionalization over
Emerging Powers, Sexuality and Human Rights at the AWID Forum
The session examined how the geopolitical shifts implied in the articulation of these global South countries in new blocs, especially the BRICS, has generated expectations that this emergence of “powers from the South” would eventually open up space for new platforms for the political work on sexuality, gender and human rights, that would not be caught by overlapping North-South tensions (or post-colonial effects) that perennially cross these fields of debate.

India – Gender in Medical Education: Perceptions of Medical Educators
The study findings point to the need for a nuanced understanding of gender among medical educators and students. The introduction of gender could pave the way for an opening up of medicine to delve deeper into how signifiers such as class, caste, gender etc. have a bearing on health. The medical curriculum and training must undergo fundamental changes to integrate gender so as to ensure the creation of a gender-sensitive and socially-relevant medical force in the country.

News and analysis on AWID International Forum
Visioning Feminist Futures: Opening Plenary at the 13th AWID Forum – Awid Building Alliances to End Gender-Based Violence at Work – Awid Glass ceilings and

UN SOGI Expert: Process, Results and Implications
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.