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 abortions and its prominence in the national press, the topic has not been addressed by the main competitors for the presidency in the elections underway. SPW commented and collected information on the Brazilian scenario.
You can check how the Brazilian abortion legislation fits in the world scenario by visiting the 2014 version of the Abortion Laws World Map launched by the Center for Reproductive Rights.
In Geneva, a major battle has been won. The UN Human Rights Council, in its 27th session adopted a resolution recognizing the effects of human rights violations perpetrated on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity and calling for the Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights to report on these violations. On Sexual Rights Initiative website you can learn more about other resolutions regarding sexual rights discussed at Human Righs Council.
From Egypt, human rights groups are calling for demonstrations to take place in front of Egyptian Embassies everywhere on 18 October to protest against violations perpetrated by the regime of General Sissi against LGBT persons: systematic surveillance and arbitrary imprisonments.
On September 29th, the Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs launched the award “Human Rights Tulip” to recognizes the contribution of a wide range of activists who work on the promotion and defense of human rights in innovative ways. The voting will extend until October 10th and you can learn about the candidates in the campaign website.
The Women and Girls Rising Conference, was held in New York on September 11th- 12th. SPW co-chair Sonia Corrêa participated in the panel on sexual and reproductive rights.
SPW Recommends
Volume Thirteen of The Equal Rights Review (ERR) that includes a Special Supplement on Equality and the post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals.
The Sexual Rights Initiative (SRI) report on Lessons From the First Cycle of the Universal Periodic Review: From Commitment to Action on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights.