TAG: sexual politics
Why don’t humanitarian organizations provide safe abortion services?
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’.
Read moreArgentina: Belén’s release from prison ordered
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.
Read moreMake International Safe Abortion Day an Official UN day
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.
Read moreReport: Indonesia’s LGBT Community Under Threat’
(Jakarta) – The Indonesian government stoked an unprecedented attack on the security and rights of sexual and gender minorities in early 2016, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. The government campaign included hateful rhetoric, discriminatory edicts, and the use of force to repress peaceful assembly. The 56-page report, “‘These Political Games Ruin […]
Read moreBelize Supreme Court Overturns Anti-Gay Law
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
Read moreSri Lanka: Discrimination on Grounds of Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation
(New York) – Transgender people and others who do not conform to social expectations about gender face discrimination and abuse in Sri Lanka, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. The 63-page report, “‘All Five Fingers Are Not the Same’: Discrimination on Grounds of Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation in Sri Lanka,” finds that […]
Read moreIACHR’s Report “Violence Against LGBTI Persons in the Americas”
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 as contextualized social violence in which the perpetrators’ motivation needs to be understood as complex and multi-faceted, and not only as a individual-based act. In this regard, the IACHR understands […]
Read moreGay and Transgender Egyptians go Underground
The last days of the government of Hosni Mubarak and the turbulent revolution that followed were tense, occasionally gut-wrenching times for many in Egypt. But for gay and transgender Egyptians, it was also a period of unaccustomed freedom. Read the full article at New York Times.
Read moreCall for Papers: Disability and Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights
The forthcoming issue of RHM, which is produced in partnership with CREA, and co-edited with Janet Price and Renu Addlaka, is aimed at shedding light on the population of people with disabilities, focusing on their sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). This is a subject that is slowly emerging from a private world of […]
Read moreThe Moral Case for Abortion
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.
Read moreWhy (chemical) castration will not end gender and sexuality based violence in Indonesia
While the international media were busy highlighting the Stanford rape and Brazil gang-rape cases, another gang-rape, followed by murder, of a 14 year-old girl named Yuyun happened in Indonesia. It was an atrocity as severe, despite the lack of international coverage.
Read moreSouth Africa: Police Abuse of Sex Workers
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.
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