During the month of September, Sexuality Policy Watch has followed the global landscape of sexual and reproductive rights.
In the Latin American scene, we highlighted the Regional Conference on Population and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean, which is part of the review process that will culminate with the Cairo+20 Conference in 2014. We published the positioning of social movements about abortion and made the final text available, called Montevideo Consensus)
Also in Latin America, we highlighted the 9th Conference of the International Association for the Study of Sexuality, Culture and Society. SPW organized a workshop before the Conference to reflect about the connections between theoretical and methodological remarks with changes that are possible in the different realities (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, China, Ecuador, India, Mexico, Nigeria, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Kyrgyzstan, Ukraine, and the United States) brought by participants.
Finally, in Brazil, we highlighted the Gabriela Leite bill, promoted by lawmaker Jean Wyllys (PSOL – RJ) , which seeks to regulate prostitution by establishing rights for sex workers and to break up with concepts that confuse sex work with trafficking and exploitation of minors.
On the world stage, we also brought attention to a loss for activism on sexual and reproductive rights. Feminist Sunila Abeysekera died. She was a SPW partner who acted on behalf of women’s and LGBT’s rights and of human rights in contexts of conflict. Her career was remembered by newspapers like the New York Times.
Another theme that won the world press was the Chelsea Manning case. After being convicted by an American justice for leaking information from the government and the armed forces that fueled the Wikileaks, Bradley Manning has garnered even more attention because of his sex change. The announcement of the transgender process prompted reflections on the role that gender acquired (http://www.sxpolitics.org/?p=8427 / http://www.sxpolitics.org/?p=8420) and indicated how the Wikileaks case can be thought of in terms of totalitarianism.
SPW also sought to emphasize the manifesto promoted by over 150 trans activists, researchers, writers and artists denouncing transphobia that certain feminist groups express.