TAG: criminalization

Sexual Politics in late October and November 2016

November began with a resounding shift in global politics: Donald Trump was elected president of the United States. As the reactions flooded through the world media, SPW has developed a preliminary view on what this may imply for sexual politics in the US and beyond and compiled a series of articles written by a wide […]

Reform of abortion law in Uruguay: Context, process and lessons learned

Authored by Susan Wood, Lilián Abracinskas, Sonia Corrêa and Mario Pecheny, this article – based on a descriptive study of the context and political processes for abortion reform – aims at identifying the strategies and facilitating factors that led to the legal reform and the limitations of the law, as well as to view the […]

Brazilian Supreme Court opinion re-ignites the abortion rights debate

In the midst of the conservative restoration that has swept Brazil in 2016, on November 29th, the First Chamber of the Brazilian Supreme Court – in which five of the eleven judges have a seat – has issued, an unexpected decision arguing in favor of decriminalization of abortion

Brazilian Supreme Court decision re-ignites the abortion rights debates

In the midst of the conservative restoration that swept Brazil in 2016, the First Chamber of the Brazilian Supreme Court, where five of the eleven judges have a seat, issued on November 29 an unexpected decision, which argues in favor of the decriminalization of abortion until the twelve week of pregnancy. Though the decision is […]

New Sex Worker Zine Project Publication is out

“Featuring the zines produced by 24 men, women, and transgender persons who live and sell sex in the Gauteng, Limpopo, and Mpumalanga provinces of South Africa, this publication includes reflections by participants, civil society activists, and researchers from across the globe. The contributors to this publication challenge the stereotype of the migrant sex worker, calling […]

Belgium: 25 years of the right to abortion

It’s been 26 years since abortion was decriminalised in Belgium on medical grounds up to 12 weeks of pregnancy. It was an enormous breakthrough, allowing women the autonomy to decide their life course. But 26 years later, abortion remains in the penal code as a crime against family order and public morals. Because it continues to be a criminal offence, the stigma remains, affecting the approaches a woman needs to make to obtain an abortion,

Myanmar: maternal deaths from abortion

Women denied the right to an abortion are injuring and killing themselves in an attempt to end their pregnancies, doctors and specialists say. These botched abortions are often carried out by the women themselves. The two main causes of maternal mortality are heavy blood loss and sepsis. Many of the women brought to hospital with […]

Trump’s victory: a preliminary cartography

From the SPW perspective, Trump arrival to power is just another chapter in a chain of conservative restorations sweeping world politics in recent years of which the demise of the Arab spring in vortex of wars and dictatorship followed by the 2014 election of the BJP in India can be eventually considered the starting points.

Nigeria: Harsh Law’s Severe Impact on LGBT Community

(Banjul) – Nigeria’s Same Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Act, 2013 (SSMPA) has made a bad situation much worse for Nigeria’s beleaguered lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. The law has led to an increase in extortion and violence against LGBT people and imposed restrictions on nongovernmental […]

Sex, gender and far right’s global attack

In fact, “gender ideology” is an invention of the right. It’s a hodgepodge of disparate ideas developed by a diverse group of thinkers over the past 50 years, linked mainly in the minds of its opponents. It doesn’t really exist beyond its creators’ manifestos and protest banners, but it’s already helped them score some very real victories.

Armenia: Changes in the law on abortion

A number of changes were made in the Law (Article 10) covering abortion. The amended version of the law has been signed by the President and came into force from 6 August 2016. The objectives of the amendments were as follows: – Sex-selective abortions are prohibited by law (such a provision was not included in […]

Gender Politics and Authoritarian Regime

The question of whether and how authoritarian regimes may use gender politics to preserve their rule has attracted insufficient academic attention so far. Research on state feminism shows that non‐democratic regimes often enact women‐friendly policies for the purpose of maintaining power. However, this finding has not been linked to the broader research on authoritarian resilience.