TAG: gender

IDS new bulletin: Connecting Perspectives on Women’s Empowerment

Worldwide, women continue to contribute to social, economic, cultural and political achievement. And we have much to celebrate today on International Women’s Day, not least the recent formulation of the first ever internationally agreed stand-alone goal on gender equality. However, progress towards gender parity remains dismal in many places and debates around women’s empowerment are […]

Right to sexual and reproductive health indivisible from other human rights – UN experts

GENEVA (8 March 2016) – The right to sexual and reproductive health is not only an integral part of the general right to health but fundamentally linked to the enjoyment of many other human rights, including the rights to education, work and equality, as well as the rights to life, privacy and freedom from torture, and individual autonomy, UN experts have said in an authoritative new legal commentary.

Gender incongruence of childhood in the ICD-11: controversies, proposal, and rationale

As part of the development of the eleventh revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11), WHO appointed a Working Group on Sexual Disorders and Sexual Health to recommend changes necessary in the classification of mental and behavioural disorders in ICD-10 that are related to sexuality and gender identity. This Personal View focuses on the […]

The sexual politics in February 2016

In February, there were good news to report from both Haiti and Europe. In the case of Haiti, the Penal Code reform is underway and the draft document approved by a committee of juridical experts includes a provision that legalizes abortion on the basis of public health concerns and freedom of women. Although this is […]

Gender, Sexuality and Social Justice: What’s Law Got to Do with It?

This Collection offers multiple routes to sexuality and gender justice and numerous suggestions of what sexuality and gender justice could be in a plurality of contexts. It also suggests that there are many potential pitfalls and barriers to justice or progress. What this Collection highlights, however, is that by listening carefully to each other and by paying careful attention to the needs of those working on the ground, we give ourselves the best chances of success, individually and collectively.

Walking the Tightrope: Poetry and Prose by LGBTQ Writers from Africa

Among the first of its kind, this book is composed of works by writers from different parts of Sub-Saharan Africa, including first and second generation Africans in the diaspora. With this anthology, the editors seek to challenge and engage individuals and institutions that consider homosexuality immoral. In many African countries, homosexuals are subject to corporal […]

The many places of prostitution

In late November, 2015, the Institute of Philosophy and Social Sciences of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (IFCS/UFRJ) hosted a one week course called “A particular revolution: the Brazilian prostitute movement“. The course examined the roots, history, contexts and connections of the prostitutes’ movement since its founding in the 1970s. The Prostitution Policy […]

Portugal Lawmakers Overturn Veto on Gay Rights, Abortion Law

Same-sex couples will soon be able to adopt children in Portugal after lawmakers voted to overturn a presidential veto, with parliament also removing some abortion restrictions Wednesday.

Sex work and empowerment

Writing for the first time about being a sex worker, the author says the industry has taught her feminism and empowerment.

Equality Is Not Enough: Seeking Full Liberty for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender People

The book, by Andrew Park, is about the American political context, so the audience is mostly in the US. It advocates using international human development frameworks as a basis for setting priorities for the domestic US movement. In particular, it looks at the capabilities approach, developed initially by scholars from the global south, and examine […]

Mourning Lohana Berkins

On February 5th, the Argentinean trans leadership Lohana Berkins has departed. Lohana was recognized worldwide as a champion of trans rights as well as a an admirable person whose life was imprinted by great energy, large solidarity and lots of humor. SPW has deeply mourned Lohana departure and share the various tributes to honor her […]

The Right of Access to Information: Exploring Gender Inequities

The article examines the issue of gender inequity in the exercise of the right of access to information by exploring the legislative framework underpinning the right for women, detailing the value of information for women, describing the principal obstacles that propagate information asymmetries, and exploring potential responses to advance a more universal right to information.