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SPW ACTIVITIES
After finalizing the research that resulted in the e-book SexPolitics: reports from the front lines, SPW assumes that it is time to pause and rethink, or think more deeply and complexly, some of the assumptions behind our conceptual framework as well as the policies and strategies that “thinking sex” almost a decade into the new millennium calls forth. Recognizing that a richer conceptualization among a more diverse group of people is especially important now, SPW decided to organize a series of three Regional Dialogues on Sexuality and Geopolitics: Asian, Latin American and African. The first one, the Asian Dialogue, was held in Hanoi, Vietnam, in April 10-12, 2009, and the Latin American Regional Dialogue will take place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in August. Read the Summary and Commentary on Proceedings, written by the SPW’s members Rosalind Petchesky and Radhika Ramasubban, read about what was debated in the Asian Dialogue, see the presentations and find out general information about the next Dialogue.
In adition to it, before this relevant meeting, SPW developed a quick web-based survey to evaluate the use and application of the Yogyakarta Principles whithin Brazilian LGBT activists, groups and researchers. Click to see the results in English and Portuguese (PDF).
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SEXUALITY AROUND THE WORLD: MAIN DEBATES
Relevant meetings
Since our last newsletter went around last January, some important events were held around the world addressing relevant issues somehow related to the sexuality politics. One of them was the VII Biennial Conference of the International Association for the Studies of Culture, Sexuality and Society (IASCSS), organized in Hanoi, 15-18 April 2009. The conference welcomed a worldwide audience of over 432 participants from 46 countries, which provided an interesting and diverse space for academic and activist exchange. We also highlight other three global events where sexuality issues were addressed: the APF Workshop on the Role of National Human Rights Institutions in the Promotion and Implementation of the Yogyakarta Principles, the Durban Review Conference and International Conference on Population and Development 15 years on.
Regional highlights
In this session you will see some of the relevant news from around the world regarding sexual and reproductive rights, LGBT gains and step backs, advocacy actions and others. You will also find the Feminist Statement on Paraguayan President’s Fatherhood, released by the Coordinating Committee of Paraguayan Women (CMP).
- Sweden: Church of Sweden elects lesbian bishop Rev. Eva Brunne, the first time that a lesbian becomes a bishop in Sweden history
- USA: New Hampshire Legalizes Same-Sex Marriage
- Brazil: Brasília letter on the Adolescent Human Rights and Sexual Diversity
- USA: Hillary Clinton to Grant Equal Benefits to Gay Diplomats
- Paraguay: Feminist Statement on Paraguayan President’s Fatherhood
- Ireland: Ireland braces for report on Catholic child abuse
- Lebanon: Lebanese gays take fight for their rights public
- Burundi: Repeal Law Criminalizing Homosexual Conduct
- Austria: Austrian Administrative High Court lifts Mandatory Surgery for Transsexuals
- Afghanistan: Taliban shoot dead Afghan politician who championed women’s rights
- India: International Sex Workers Day was celebrated by Durbar Mahila Samanwaya committee at Kolkata
> Read these information in “Around the World – regional highlights”
Also in the news
Latin America
> Latin American Center on Sexuality and Human Rights (CLAM) website
> CIUDADANIASX: Activismo cultural y derechos humanos
Eastern Europe
> ASTRA Network: CEE Bulletin on Sexual and Reproductive Rights No 01 (69) 2009
Muslim Societies
> News and Views (Women Living Under Muslim Laws)
The abortion front lines
Recently in Brazil a scandal came out when a 9 years-old girl was impregnated by his stepfather and then excommunicated by the Olinda’s bishop. Meanwhile, in Nepal the Court orders the State to improve women’s access to abortion.
- Brazil: The case of the 9 year old girl who had an abortion after being raped by her stepfather and impregnated with twins
- Nepal: Court Orders Nepal to Improve Women’s Access to Abortion
- Nicaragua: The impact of the complete ban of abortion in Nicaragua: Briefing to the United Nations Committee against Torture
- Dominican Republic: A Dangerous Trend: Dominican Republic Adopts Draconian Abortion Restriction
- Nigeria: Read the report “Reducing Unsafe Abortion in Nigeria”, by the Guttmacher Institute
- Kenya: Read the report “Unsafe Abortion in Kenya”, by the Guttmacher Institute
- Chile: Launch of an hotline that gives women information on how to safely abort (Women on Waves)
- USA: Abortion Provider George Tiller Murdered at Church
> Click here to read more about these issues
International Day against Homophobia and Transphobia
May 17th has become the International Day against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHO) since the WHO Assembly declared as invalid the code 302.0 of the International Diseased Classification, on May 17th, 1990. Almost 20 years later, IDAHO was celebrated in a wide range of creative ways all over the globe. Click here to read more about some of this initiatives.
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ADVOCACY: KEEP AN EYE
Visit this session to check some of the advocacy activities for the sexual and reproductive rights going on around in the diverse regions.
> Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health visited Poland and Brazil
> Urging Governments to Support Resolution on Maternal Mortality and Human Rights
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SEXUALITY IN ART
Day after day we watch the growth of creative forms of political and academic interventions for the promotion of human rights, some of them using art as support. In this issue of SPW Newsletter, two of these initiatives are shown. Check out these projects that connect art and sexuality!
Ethnographic drawings
See the Ethnographic drawings: some insights on “prostitution, bodies and sexual rights”, by José Miguel Nieto Olivar, PhD student in Social Anthropology in the Research Center on Anthropology of the Body and Health, at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil. [You also can see it in Spanish]
Art-ivism
See the blog Art-ivism: Make art not war, in defense of women’s rights
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