TAG: religious discourses

Sexual politics in May and June 2019

#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, on May 15th, the strictest provision in the country (see a compilation) – which bans abortion at any stage of pregnancy, with an exception only for when a woman’s health is at […]

Uproar and Perversity: Gender and Sexuality in the Vortex of Politics

by Sonia Corrêa A few days before completing the symbolic mark of Jair Messias Bolsonaro’s – or JMB’s – first 100 days of government, consecrated in western democracies as the first moment of fair evaluation for a beginning administration, JMB said that he was not born to be president, but rather to be a military […]

Permanent War, Decreasing Popularity: What Will Come Next?

by Fábio Grotz A continuous state of war driven by the government is what drives the speech and activities of actors engaged in the redemptive mission to “transform and purify” Brazil. The electorate, however (with exception of the faithful nucleus of supporters of the current president), seems increasingly to not believe in this revolution that […]

Human Rights, Gender and Sexuality: A Minister Who Does Not Play Around

by Rajnia de Vito and Marco Aurélio Prado In a political scene that is thoroughly saturated with sex and gender tropes and memes, Damares Alves, head of the new Ministry of Women, Family and Human Rights, is an icon and spokesperson for the new government’s sexual politics.[i] “Terribly Christian”, as she called herself on January […]

Understanding the dismantling of the AIDS response in Brazil

Rio de Janeiro, May 27th, 2019 Brazilian Interdisciplinary AIDS Association (ABIA) After the justifications given by the Ministry of Health for the establishment of the new structure of the Department responsible for the response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic – among the measures is the renaming of the former Department of Surveillance, Prevention and Control […]

Politics of Death: The End of Brazil’s Department of AIDS

Brazil’s national AIDS movement – comprised of networks, collectives, CSOs and activists signed below – repudiates Decree N. 9795 (read in Portuguese), released on May 20th, 2019, that establishes a new structure for the Ministry of Health. As a result, the former Department of STIs, Aids and Viral Hepatitis is now named the “Department of […]

Sexual politics in April 2019

Highlights Algeria and Sudan: A revived Arab Spring? – Almost six years after the Arab Spring waned under the shadows of the Sissi regime, political upheavals revived in the Arab World. In Algeria, after six weeks of persistent demonstrations, President Bouteflika, in power since 1999, was forced to withdraw from reelection and then to resign, leaving […]

Sexual politics in March 2019

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 Ardern was appraised for the compassionate but firm handling of the tragedy, in particular because the policy measures immediately proposed to ban semiautomatic weapons among other actions (read more). The […]

The Personhood Movement: Where it came from and where it stands today

A pro-life license plate on a car in Montgomery, Ala. (William Widmer, special to ProPublica) 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decides Roe v. Wade, making abortion legal in all 50 states. But in his majority opinion, Justice Harry Blackmun notes, “If this suggestion of personhood is established, [Roe’s] case, of course, collapses, for the fetus’ right to […]

Sexual Politics in January and February 2019

#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 in liquefier trying to make sense of the wind whirl turning one into pieces. SPW is planning a thorough assessment of the first 100 days of the new administration. For […]

Vatican and Pope Francis in early 2019: compilation

Sexual Scandals Sexual abuse summit Pope Francis describes feminism as ‘machismo with a skirt’ – The Irish Times Pope Francis Disappoints Sex Abuse Victims With Vow to End Cover-Ups, but No Concrete Plan – Time The Vatican Sex-Abuse Summit Was Never Going to Undo the Harm – The Nation Analysis: Pope’s Sex Abuse Summit: What […]

Sexual politics round-up in 2018

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 struggles we will face together. TRENDS & FACTS January In the very beginning of 2018, the #MeToo movement (originally launched in 1997 by black feminist Tanara Burke) on sexual harassment […]