Interview: Camila Asano
For the Newsletter N. 12, SPW interviewed Camila Asano, Coordinator of Foreign Policy and Human Rights at Conectas Human Rights, who participated of the second round of the Universal Periodical Review (UPR) of Brazil, at the UN Human Rights Council (HRC), in Geneva, in May 2012. In this interview, Ms. Asano analyzed this mechanism for the human rights, explaining how this process works and highlighting recommendations to Brazil, challenges and perspectives. Read more.
SPW Newsletter N.11 – March, 2012
Starting with the issue No. 11, SPW Newsletters no longer provide detailed links to posted material, as they will have already been circulated through the announcements of new website postings. The newsletter will mainly focus on one or two pieces of substantive analysis addressing one key debate and, eventually, one key event that we consider to be have been critical in the global sexual politics landscape in the period immediately preceding the publication. Partners and collaborators are invited to share their views on these topics and the Newsletter No 11 is devoted to two key topics: the ongoing debate around the validity of aid conditionality as an instrument to protect LGBT rights and the current state of affairs of abortion reform in Uruguay. Good reading!
Human Rights Council in Geneva held the first-ever formal UN inter-governmental debate on violence and discrimination against LGBT people
Global: On March 7, 2012 the Human Rights Council in Geneva held the first-ever formal UN inter-governmental debate on violence and discrimination against LGBT people. The panel was moderated by the Ambassador of South Africa and featured panelists from Brazil, Pakistan, Sweden and the USA. Read more.
Letter of protest against the murder of Professor Cleides Antônio Amorim (UFT)
Brazil: Cleides Amorim, a professor at the Federal University of Tocantins, was one of over a dozen LGBT Brazilians murdered in just the first two weeks of 2012. AllOut started a national campaign aimed at Federal Government, inspired in a protest letter from a group of professors of Brazilian universities. Read more.
Freedom for Razan Ghazzawi
Syria: Authorities arrested Syrian blogger, feminist, and activist for free expression Razan Ghazzawi on December 4th, 2011. Read the statement written by human rights activists and defenders.
Bans of “gay propaganda” in Russia
Russia: On November 11, 2011, St. Petersburg Legislative Assembly approved a bill to ban the so-called propaganda of “sodomy, lesbianism, bisexualism and transgenderism, and pedophilia to minors”. The second reading of the bill has been temporarily postponed until 30 November, 2011. Read more.
Anand Grover calls on all countries to abolish criminal laws that control women’s reproductive freedom
Global: On October 24th, 2011, Anand Grover, UN Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, presented a report before the UN General Assembly, calling on all countries to abolish or suspend any criminal laws that seek to control women’s sexual and reproductive rights. Read the NGO statement supporting the report and more.
Argentina uncategorized: Debates about human trafficking, prostitution and sex work
Read the article “Argentina uncategorized: Debates about human trafficking, prostitution and sex work,” by Carolina Justo von Lurzer and Santiago Morcillo, on the debate organized by the Sexualities Studies Group of the Gino Germani Research Institute of the University of Buenos Aires to discuss the public policies related to prostitution, after president Cristina Fernandez Kirchner announced the enactment of the decree 936/11, which prohibits advertisements that promote sexual services in all media.
Violations in Uganda
Uganda:A number of violations based on sexual orientation and backlashes are also to be reported in Uganda, starting with the murder of David Kato, in Kampala, in January 2011, and more recently the suspicious ‘burglary’ at FARUG (Freedom and Roam Uganda), which has posed threats to the lives of other Ugandan activists.
Recent news from Turkey
Turkey: read a series of news on recent cases of violance against LGBt people in this country.