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Joint CSO Statement on Safe & Legal Abortion @ UN HRC42


CSBR joined 316 organizations and 506 individuals to affirm the right to safe and legal abortion at UN HRC 42. Read the statement below.



JOINT CIVIL SOCIETY STATEMENT

42ND SESSION OF THE UN HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL

INTERNATIONAL SAFE ABORTION DAY – 28 SEPTEMBER 2019

Please note that a shorter version of this statement was delivered orally on 23 September 2019 to fit the time requirements of the Human Rights Council.

Thank you, President. I deliver this statement on behalf of 317 organizations[i] and 506 individuals.[ii]

In the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, States explicitly agreed to prioritize the realization of women’s human rights and recognized that all human rights are universal, indivisible, interdependent and interrelated. Yet, 26 years later, women and girls’ human rights and bodily autonomy continue to be routinely violated, including through the denial, criminalization and stigmatization of access to safe and legal abortion – all of which is rooted in the discrimination, oppression, violence and coercion affecting the material conditions that shape people’s lives and ability to exercise their bodily autonomy and human rights.

In 1994, Black feminists came together as the Women of African Descent for Reproductive Justice, in reaction to the white supremacy, colonialism and capitalism they observed shaping reproductive politics and inherent in the broader population control narratives. Reproductive justice is centered on the rights to bodily autonomy and self-determination, and to parent and not to parent in safe and healthy environments.[iii] It is rooted in an intersectional analysis and moving beyond an individualistic conception of “choice” to instead place emphasis on the material conditions necessary to exercise reproductive rights. Reproductive justice also addresses the legacy of population control informed by white supremacy and replacement theory, which has resurfaced in current populist politics.

Reproductive justice is achieved when all people are able to enjoy their right to bodily autonomy and sexual and reproductive self-determination. It requires people to enjoy economic, social, and cultural rights and freedoms, and the ability to make and exercise choices not limited by oppression, discrimination, stigma, coercion, violence, lack of opportunities or possible consequences. Treaty bodies and special procedures have echoed this need and recognized that the realization of women’s reproductive rights depends on the material conditions in which they are born, grow, live, work and age, and on power structures and resource distribution at all levels[iv] – in other words, the social and other determinants of health.[v] These include access to housing, safe drinking water, effective sanitation systems, access to justice, and freedom from violence, among other factors, and impact the agency that individuals can exercise with respect to their sexual and reproductive health.[vi] Our discussions on abortion and sexual and reproductive rights cannot continue ignoring these factors.

The realization of reproductive justice, the right to bodily autonomy and substantive equality also requires freedom from control and interference by State and non-State actors, including private companies, donors and multinational corporations, including criminalization of sexual and reproductive behaviors and decisions, restrictive abortion laws, punitive sanctions, and legal restrictions to regulate women’s control over their own bodies.[vii] These laws, policies and practices typically target and disproportionately impact women of color, women from the Global South, women with disabilities, women living in poverty, migrant women, ethnic minorities and indigenous women, women living with HIV, young women and adolescents, sex workers and gender-non-conforming persons based on racial, class, disability and gender stereotypes.[viii]

Today, on 28 September, International Safe Abortion Day, we urge States to respect, protect and fulfill women and girls’ human rights and realize reproductive justice for all. We call on states to:

  • Ensure access to available, accessible, acceptable and quality sexual and reproductive health services as part of universal health coverage and public health systems, including modern contraceptive options, comprehensive abortion and post-abortion care, financed adequately through taxation and free from control from other governments, multilateral agreements and transnational corporations.
  • Remove all legal and social barriers to safe abortion, including its criminalization, which is broader and including sanctions and no sanction regimes, and commit to providing safe abortion services on request.
  • Address social and other determinants of health in law and practice from an intersectional perspective to ensure that they enable all individuals to effectively enjoy their sexual and reproductive rights.[ix]
  • Hold private companies and multinational corporations accountable for unethical research practices, violations and abuses of women and girls’ reproductive rights and bodily autonomy.

Prioritize the meaningful participation of local movements, women human rights defenders and feminists demanding accountability for sexual and reproductive health and rights violations, and center their demands and recommendations for the realization of reproductive justice.

[i] SIGNED:

Aakanksha Seva Sadan; Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada; Académicas en Acción Crítica; Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights; Action pour la Lutte Contre l’Injustice Sociale (ALCIS); ADESPROC Libertad; African Sex Workers Academy (ASWA); African Women Rising; Agenda 2030 Feminista; AIDOS Italian Association for Women in Development; Akahatá; Albania Centre for Population and Development; Alberta Pro-choice Coalition; Alberta Society for the Promotion of Sexual Health; Alianza por la Solidaridad; Alliance for Choice; ALRANZ Abortion Rights Aotearoa; ALTSEAN Burma; Amnesty International; Asia Catalyst; Asia Pacific Alliance for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (APA); Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development (APWLD); Asia Safe Abortion Partnership; Asian-Pacific Resource and Research Centre for Women (ARROW); Asociación Ciudadana ACCEDER; Asociación Ciudadana ACCEDER; Asociacion Civil Mujeres en Linea; Asociación con la A; Asociación de Clínicas Acreditadas para la IVE, ACAI; Asociacion metropolitana de equipos de salud; Asociación Venezolana para una Educación Sexual Alternativa. AVESA; Associação para o Planeamento da Família, Portugal (APF); Association for Women’s Rights in Development (AWID); Association of War Affected Women; Association Tunisienne des Femmes Démocrates; Australian Women Against Violence Alliance (AWAVA); Austrian Family Planning Association; Avenir Jeune de l’Ouest (AJO); Balay Alternative Legal Advocates for Development in Mindanaw (BALAOD Mindanaw); Belize Family Life Association; Beyond Beijing Committee; Brac School of Public Health; Breakthrough; Bridges-puentes.com; Campaña 28 de Septiembre por la Despenalización Bolivia; Campaña 28 de setiembre “por la despenalización del aborto en América Latina y el Caribe” – Paraguay; Campaña Nacional por el Derecho al Aborto, Legal, Seguro y Gratuito. Argentina; Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network; CARAM Asia; Católicas por el Derecho a Decidir (Colombia); Católicas por el Derecho a Decidir (España); CEDES center for the Study of State and Society; Center for Health and Gender Equity (CHANGE); Center for Reproductive Rights; Centre for Independent Journalism (Malaysia); Centre for Sexualities, AIDS and Gender, University of Pretoria; Centre for Women’s Development and Research; Centro de Derechos de Mujeres; Centro de Promoción y Defensa de los Derechos Sexuales y Reproductivos -PROMSEX; Centro integral de Salud Sexual y Reproductivos; Change Action Nepal; CHOICE for Youth and Sexuality; CO Legalife-Ukraine; Coalition Internationale des Femmes Mobiles; Coalition of African Lesbians; Colectiva de Antropólogas Feministas; Colectiva Mujeres Al Derecho; Collectief 8 Maars; Comité de América Latina y El Caribe para la Defensa de los Derechos de las Mujeres; Comité de América Latina y el Caribe para la Defensa de los derechos de las Mujeres – CLADEM Bolivia; Commonhealth; Community and Family Aid Foundation-Ghana; Community Safety and Mediation Center; Community Strength Development Foundation; Consorcio Boliviano de Juventudes – Casa de la Juventud; Corporación Red Somos; Cosmopolitan Affirming Church; CREA; Creación Positiva; Critical Studies in Sexualities and Reproduction, Rhodes University, South Africa; CSBR | Coalition for Sexual and Bodily Rights in Muslim Societies; CWIN Nepal; Deutsche Stiftung Weltbevölkerung DSW; Development Communications Network; Disabled Women Ireland; Domestic Violence Project at the Urban Justice Center; Dziewuchy Berlin; Eastern Caribbean Alliance for Diversity and Equality Inc (ECADE); End FGM European Network; EngenderHealth; Equality Bahamas; Equidad de Género, Ciudadanía, Trabajo y Familia – México; Equipo Jurídico por los Derechos Humanos; E-Romnja Association (The Association for Promoting Roma Women’s Rights); Euroregional Center for Public Initiatives (ECPI); Family Health Options Kenya; Family Planning New Zealand; Family Planning NSW Australia; Federación Feminista Gloria Arenas; Federación Mujeres Jóvenes; Federación Nacional de Asociaciones de Mujeres Separadas y Divorciadas; Federación Planificación Familiar Estatal; Federation for Women and Family Planning; Federation of Reproductive Health Associations, Malaysia; Feminism in India; Feminist Solutions towards Global Justice (FemJust); Femme Forte Uganda; Fondo Lunaria, Colombia; Fondo Semillas; Foro por los Derechos Reproductivos; Forum for Medical Ethics Society, Mumbai, India; Foundation for Innovative Social Development; Foundation for leadership Initiatives; Fundación Angélica Quinta; Fundación Mexicana para la Planeación Familiar, A. C.; Fundación Mujeres en Igualdad; Fundación para Estudio e Investigación de la Mujer; Fundación por una Sociedad Empoderada; Fundamental Human Rights & Rural Development Association (FHRRDA); FUSA Asociación Civil; Gemeinnützige Stiftung Sexualität und Gesundheit (GSSG); GHAROA Assam; Give Hope Uganda; Global Citizen, LLC; Global Fund for Women; Global Health Visions; Global Human Rights Group; Global Justice Center; Global Justice Institute; Global Network of Sex Work Projects (NSWP); Gramin Punarnriman Sansthan; Gramoday Chetna Kendra; Great Lakes Initiative for Human Rights and Development; Groupe Tawhida Ben Cheikh, Recherche et Action pour la Santé des Femmes; Grupo para o Desenvolvimento da Mulhuer e Rapariga (GDMR); Haldimand-Norfolk Pro-Choice Coalition; Health Development Initiative; Herstoire Collective; HPLGBT; Human Rights Project at the Urban Justice Center; Humsafar Bokaro; Humsafar Support Centre for Women; Independent Young People Alliance Foundation; Indigenous Women League Nepal (IWL Nepal); Indonesian Planned Parenthood Association; Iniciativas de Cooperación Internacional para el Desarrollo (ICID); Initiative for Equality and Non Discrimination; Innovations for Development; Instituto de las Mujeres y el Liderazgo en Sinaloa, AC; International Campaign for Women’s Right to Safe Abortion; International Humanist and Ethical Union; International Movement Against All Forms of Discrimination and Racism (IMADR); International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF); International Service for Human Rights (ISHR); International Women’s Health Coalition; International Women’s Rights Action Watch Asia Pacific; International Youth Alliance for Family Planning; International Youth Alliance for Family Planning – Mexico; Ipas; Ipas Africa Alliance; Irish Family Planning Association; Jasy Renyhe; Kamana News Publications Pvt. Ltd.; KARAT Coalition, Poland; Katswe Sistahood; Kazimierz Lyszczynski Foundation (Fundacja Kazimierza Łyszczyńskiego); Kenya Sex Workers Alliance (KESWA); Kisumu Sex Workers Alliance; Korea Women’s Association United; L’ Associació Drets Sexuals i Reproductius; Lady Mermaid’s Bureau; LEGABIBO; Leha Self Help Group; Lok Chetana Samiti; LOOM; Mahila Sewak Samaj; MANAVI; Manushya Foundation; MAP (Migrant Assistance Program) Foundation; Marie Stopes International; Marie Stopes International Nepal; MenEngage Alliance; Men’s Association for Gender Equality, Sierra Leone (MAGE SL); Metropolitan Community Churches; Midwifery Society of Nepal; MINBYUN – Lawyers for a Democratic Society; Minority Womyn in Action; Movimiento Nacional por la Salud Sexual y Reproductiva en Colombia; Mugarik Gabe; Mujeres independientes luchando por sus derechos; Mujeres independientes luchando por sus derechos. MI.L.D PLAPERTS. REGIONAL22; Mujeres Liquidambar; Nalane for Reproductive Justice, South Africa; Namibia Diverse Women’s Association; Nari Gunjan; Naripokkho; National Alliance of People’s Movements; National Association for Women’s Action in Development; National Association of Women and the Law / Association Nationale Femmes et Droit; National Collective of Independent Women’s Refuges; National Council of Women New Zealand; National Council of Women Spain; National Organization of Women of Barbados; NCW Hamilton; Net Organisation for Youth Empowerment and Development (NOYED-Ghana); Network for Adolescent and Youth of Africa; New Zealand Nurses Organisation; No More Shame Gibraltar; North American MenEngage Network (NAMEN); Ntethelelo Foundation; Nujeen for Family Democratizing Organization; One in Nine; Oxfam; PA women’s organisation Alga; Pakasipiti Zimbabwe; Pamflet; PaRiter; Peacs Foundation Pakistan; People’s Empowerment Foundation (PEF), Thailand; Physicians for Reproductive Health; Pilipina Legal Resources Center, Inc.; PION Sex Workers’ Right Organization in Norway; Planned Parenthood NL Sexual Health Centre; Planned Parenthood Regina; PLAPERTS REGIONAL; Plataforma Derechos Aquí y Ahora; Population Connection Action Fund; Population Matters; Pro Femina Association; Promoción y Desarrollo de la Mujer – PRODEMU; Promundo-US; Radha Paudel Foundation; Radha Paudel Foundation; Raise Your Voice Saint Lucia Inc; Red de Mujeres Trabajadoras Sexuales (RedTraSex); Red de Salud de las Mujeres Latinoamericanas y del Caribe; Red por los derechos sexuales y reproductivos en México (ddeser); Regional Coalition of Women Human Rights Defenders in MENA; Reproductive Health Network Kenya; Resource Center for Women and Girls; Right Here Right Now-Kenya; Rights for All Women; Rural Women Rights Structure, RWRS; Rutgers; SAHYOGINI; Sakhi for South Asian Women; SAMYAK, Pune; Sensoa; SERAC-Bangladesh; Seres; Sex og Politikk (IPPF Norway); Sex Workers Project at the Urban Justice Center; Sexual and Reproductive Justice Coalition (SRJC); Sexual Health Centre Lunenburg County; Sexual Health Nova Scotia; Sexual Rights Initiative; Shadhika; Shirkat Gah – Women’s Resource Centre; SHORE Centre; Si Jeunesse Savait; Sinergias Alianzas Estratégicas; Sisterhood Network; Smart Seven Women With Disabilities; Social and Development Research and Action Group; Social Uplift Through Rural Action (SUTRA); Societatea de Planificare a Familiei din Moldova / Family Planning Association of Moldova; Society for Feminist Analyses AnA Romania; Society for Sustainable Development; Society for the Improvement of Rural People; Socio Legal Information Centre; Solidarité des Femmes Burundaises pour le bien-être Sociale et le Progrès (SFBSP); Sonke Gender Justice; Space Allies; SPECTRA; Sruti disability rights centre; STAR-STAR – Association for Support of Marginalized Workers; Stowarzyszenie Łódzkie Dziewuchy Dziewuchom; Stretchers Youth Organization; Sukaar welfare organization Pakistan; Support Group and Resource Center on Sexuality Studies; Surkuna; Swabhimaan; Taller Salud; The Community Agenda; The New Zealand Federation for Business and Professional Women Inc.; The Public Health Association of New Zealand; The Weaving House; The YP Foundation; Trust for Indigenous Culture And Health (TICAH); Urban Survivors Union; Uthema Maldives; Vecinas Feministas por la Justicia Sexual y Reproductiva en América Latina; Vikalp (Womens Group); Vishakha; Voluntary Organization for Vulnerable Community Development (VOVCOD); White Ribbon Canada; Woman Health Philippines; Women and Development Unit, University of the West Indies Open Campus; Women and Harm Reduction International Network; Women and Media Collective; Women Enabled International; Women Help Women – Self-Managed Abortion Safe & Supported (SASS); Women’s Resource Center; Women’s Rights Center NGO; Women’s Global Network for Reproductive Rights; Women’s Global Network for Reproductive Rights, Africa; Women’s Human Rights Education Institute; Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF); Woodhull Freedom Foundation; Working Women’s Resource Centre; Young Bhutanese Coalition of New York; Youth Advocacy Network (YAN); Youth Association for Development; Youth Coalition for Sexual and Reproductive Rights; Y-Peer Albania; Yuwa; YWCA Auckland as of 24 September, 4PM CET.

[ii] Aaron B. Katz; Aarushi Khanna; Adelaida Garcia Codina; Adriana Pérez; Adrienne M Poulter; Agata Szulia; Agnieszka Itner; Agnieszka Kruszyna; Agustin Ramunni; Aiman Khan; Alankrita Anand; Albu Laura; Alejandra Massolo; Aleksandra; Aleksandra; Aleksandra Cichecka; Aleksandra Makara; Alexandrina Wong; Alice Munala; Alina Adhikari; Aloha Lavina; Amal Hadi; Amar Jesani; Ambika Tandon; Amy Andersen; Amy Bosche; Amy E. Alterman; Amy Goudie; Amy Pearl; Ana María González; Ana Maria Palacios; Ananya Banerjee; Anchita Ghatak; Andal Gopalakrishnan; Angélica Cocomá; Angélica Contreras; Anita Drążkiewicz; Anjana; Ann Pomeroy; Ann Weatherall; Anna; Anna Davies-van Es; Anna Hovhannisyan; Anne Sprinkel; Anubha Rastogi; Anubha Singh; Araszkiewicz; Arifa Shakeel; Arkana Khatoon; Ashish Gupta; Assoc. Professor of Law Margaret Drew; Ayesha; Aylen de Florian; Barbara; Barbara B. Crane; Beatriz Sagrado Roberto; Benjamin Nolan; Benu Maya Gurung; Berit Austveg; Bernice Williams; Bertin; Betty A, Reardon; Bishop Pat Bumgardner; Bourez; Caban-Benavides Monika; Carol Bradford; Carrie Hill; Casey Blake; Casteele Anne-Sophie; Catalina Calderon; Chandnisrinivasan; Charu Chaturvedi; Chelsea Keenan; Christine Ball; Christine Denne; Christopher; Claudia Gómez López; Cleone Campbell; Corrinne Oliver; Cynthia Rothschild; Damary Martínez Porras; Dame Carol Kidu; Daniela Colombo; Daniela Draghici; Danuta; Deb Tuchelt; Devalina; Devika Biswas; Devu Parajuli; Dianne Glenn; Dinah Wouters; Disha Mullick; Dolores Fenoy; Dorinda Wider; Dorothy Agalla; Dr Janet Downs; Dr Jessica Rucell; Dr Judy Whitcombe; Dr RN Srivastava; Dr Rohit K Dasgupta; Dr Tlaleng Mofokeng; Dr. Alka Barua; Dr. Laxmi Tamang; Dr. Rosemary Dzuvichu; Ducarme Camille; Durga Sapkota; Dwiya; Eddie Mhlanga; Edith Bardel; Ekaterine Aghdgomelashvili; Elaine Henry; Elena Sajina; Eleonora; Eliseo Yáñez; Elsa Schvartzman; Elspeth Preddey; Elvis Okotete; Emeline Dupuis; Emmanuel Ndabombi; Erick Monterrosas; Esan; Esmae Emerson; Esther J. Spindler; Eva Camps Olmedo; Eva Herrera; Ewa Dabrowska-Szulc; Ewelina Stanczuk; Farhana Alam; Farida Begum; Faryl Palles; Federica; Felicity Jansonius; Fiona Given; Florencia; Frances Bell; Francesca Pérez; Francoise Mukuku; Gabriel; Brettkelly; Gabriela Luchetti; Gabrielle Bush; Gabrielle Le Roux; Garima Shrivastava; Gertrude Wafula; Gina Dao-McLay; Giorgi Tabagari; Giorgi Tabagari; Giulia Virdis; Glenn C M Oliver; Golden Nachibinga; Gopika Bashi; Graciela Séneca; Hansa Naran; Hassairi Rieunier; Hina; Homendra Sah; Huma Khan; Indiana Jimenez; Iratxe García Pérez; Ireen Dubel; Irena Brorens; Iryna Tyshko; Isaias Creig; Iwona; Iza Desperak; J.F. Dolheguy; Jabulile Mary-Jane Jace Mavuso; Jade Maina; Jamila Sale Mande; Jane Cottingham; Jane George; Janet Wong; Javier Maestre Toscano; Jayanthi Kuru-Utumpala; Jean-Philippe Imbert; Jenine J LeCuyer; Jenna Carswell; Jennifer Harper; Jennifer Harris; Jennifer Swinehart; Jennifer Walter; Jenny Durán; Jerónimo Pereyra; Jesica Miño; Jessica Boulet; Jessica Mercer-Short; Jihan Jacob; Jo Scofield; Jo Shearer; Joanna Drozdzewicz; Joanna Dybich; Joanna Maskell; Joelle Basnight; Johan Maritz; John Amanya; Jose Antonio Bosch Valero; Joseline Velásquez Morales; Joshua Mendelsohn; Josué Rangel; Joy Walpole; Joyce Arthur; Juanita Burnett; Judiac; Judith Pellow; Judith Sutherland; Julia; Julie Dorf; Juliet Manning; Justine van de Beek; K.K. Balakrishnan; Kamal; Kamal Gautam; Kamya Arajab; Kapil Kafle; Karen Anaya Cortez; Karin Verbaken; Karolina; Kassoum Coulibaly; Katarzyna; Katarzyna; Katarzyna Gromadzka; Katarzyna Waniek; Kate; Katherine Acey; Kathryn Carruthers; Kathryn Hopkinson; Kathy Dawson; Kerry Davies; Kimberly Lacroix; Kirsty Bourret; Kirsty Campbell; Kirtana Kumar; Kristeen Johnston; Kristina Stockwood; Krystyna Kacpura; Larissa Arroyo Navarrete; Laura Hernández García Defensora de Derechos Humanos; Laurice Botica; Laxman Belbase; Libby; Libby Grant; Liezl Parajas; Liliana Religa; Lina Tatiana Lozano Ruiz; Linda B.; Linda Hill; Linda Kinniburgh; Lisa Adams; Lisa Lawrence; Lois Hampstead; Lori Sudderth; Lorna Mungur; Lourdes Rocio Bustos; Lucía Candeira; Lucia Melgar; Luciana Mignoli; Lucy Jane Gray; Luziano Agirre; LynetteGrave; Lynne Frith; Madelynn Bovasso; Madhumita Das; Magdalena; Magdalena Dlugosz; Majo Corvalán; Malgorzata Danicka; Mamello Makhele; Mara Martínez Monteagudo; Marcelo; Marevic Parcon; Margaret Coe; Maria Alicia Gutierrez; María Cristina Pacheco Alcalá; Maria Fontenelle; Marian Sanz; Marie Jobin Gélinas; Marina Lini Chein; Marta Szostak; Martha Calveyra; Martha I. Rosenberg; Martina Bloch; Mary Hansel; Mary Perrott; Mary Shearman; Marzena; Matilda González; Matokgo Makutoane; Maxine Boag; Maya Sharma; Melanie M Anderson; Melina; Mercedes Mariscal; Michael Brenndorfer; Mira Fey; Miriam Chao Mshimba; Monifa Adebola; Monika Bujak; Monika Piasek; Morgane Boëdec; Muthoni Ngige; Nabin Kumar Shrestha; Nadine Raymond; Nandini; Nandini Ghosh; Narayani Tripathi; Nasreen Jamal; Natalia Gordon; Nataliia; Nerisha Baldevu; Ngozi Nwosu-Juba; Nibha Kumari; Nick Leslie; Nicole Bourbonnais; Nikki Baldwin; Nila Kelly; Nina Sankari; Nirvana González Rosa; Njukia Muracia; Nkeshi; Noemi Grütter; Oishik Sircar; Olive Uwamariya; Pablo Cabrero; Paige Fulton; Palita; Pampa Mukherjee; Paramita Panjal; Paroma Ray; Paul Van Look; Paula Gallegos; Payal Shah; Petitpas; Petra Bayr; Phelister Abdalla; Pilar; Poison; Powhiri Wharemarama Rika-Heke; Prabhakar; Prabina Bajracharya; Pragya Singh; Prakash; Prameswari Puspa Dewi; Prasanta Bandyopadhyay, MD.; Preet; Preeti Vaghela; Prof. Brian Citro; Prof. Dr. Asha Bajpai; Prof. Mohan Rao; Purna Shrestha; Rabeya Sultana; Rae Julian; Raewyn Stone; Ravi Duggal; Rebecca Fogel; Rebecca Gill; Reinhard; Renuka; Rina Roy; Ritz Lee B. Santos III; Robert; Robin Peterson; Rosa Vania Setowati; Roslyn Hiini; Rukmini Sen; Ryszard; Sahil Tandon; Salonie Muralidhara Hiriyur; Samantha Risdon; Sana Contractor; Sana Durvesh; Sana Sharif; Sanjeev Roy; Saraban Tahura Zaman; Sarah Cason; Sarah Kaddoura; Sarah Wood; Schulz Patricia; Serra Sippel; Shabnam; Shambhavi Saxena; Shamim; Shanta Laxmi Shrestha; Sharanya Sekaram; Sharda; Sharon Orshalimy; Sheba Chhachhi; Shevata Rai Talwar; Shilpa Shroff; Shirin Brown; Shraddha Chickerur; Shweta Ghosh; Silvana Weller; Silvia Cartwright; Silvina; Smriti Lamech; Sofia Alessio Robles; Sofía Díaz Echeverri; Sofía Mora Calvo; Sofia Rojo; Sofía Salinas; Sonam Mittal; Sonya Renata; Srilatha Batliwala; Steve; Stuart Halford; Stuti Tripathi; Sudeep Chaudhuri; Sudha Chauhan; Sue Cathro; Sue Smith; Suhel Bidani; Sunil Shrestha; Surabhi Srivastava; Susan John; Susana García; Suveckshya Shah; Swagata Raha; Swapan Mazumder; Sylwia Grabińska; Tanya Jacobs; Taryn Wahl; Theresa Mulenga; Tim Barnett; Tracy Kovalench; Trifin D.; Tshino Ramaite; Ute Herrmann; Uttara S Subramanian; V.S. Elizabeth; Vanisa Dhiru; Vanya Bailey; Varsha; Venus Sood Guy; Verona Valencia García; Victoria Pedrido; Vijay Kumar Singh; Vinay Kulkarni; Viviana Mazur; Viviane Sebahire Maramuke; Vivien Whyte; Wafa Mudawi Ibrahim Adam; Walter Basnight; Wendy Chavkin; William Nicholas Gomes; Woodi Sprinkel; Ying; Zanele Mabaso; Zenande Mcotsho; Zoë Lawton; Zofia; Zoila Paredes; and 58 anonymous individuals as of 24 September, 4PM CET.

[iii] Ross, Loretta, and Rickie Solinger. 2017. Reproductive Justice: An Introduction. Page 65.

[iv] WHO, About social determinants of health (2017), available at http://www.who.int/social_determinants/sdh_definition/en (last visited Oct. 16, 2017) [hereinafter WHO, About social determinants of health].

[v] See, e.g., CEDAW Committee & CRC Committee, Joint General Recommendation No. 31 & General Comment No. 18: On harmful practices, (2014), paras. 68-9, U.N. Doc. CEDAW/C/GC/31-CRC/C/GC/18 (2014) [hereinafter CEDAW Committee & CRC Committee, Joint Gen. Recommendation No. 31 & Gen. Comment No. 18]. See also CRC Committee, Concluding Observations: Mongolia, para. 51(a), U.N. Doc. CRC/C/MNG/CO/3-4; ESCR Committee, Concluding Observations: Australia, para. 28, U.N. Doc. E/C.12/AUS/CO/4 (2009) and ESCR Committee, General Comment 22 on the right to sexual and reproductive health, paras.7-8.

[vi] ESCR Committee, Concluding Observations: Australia, para. 28, U.N. Doc. E/C.12/AUS/CO/4(2009); WHO, About social determinants of health, supra note 2, see also ESCR Committee, General Comment 22 on the right to sexual and reproductive health, paras. 7-8.

[vii] Report of the Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and in practice, Discrimination against women with regard to health and safety, U.N. Doc A/HRC/32/44, para. 76, available at https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/G16/072/19/PDF/G1607219.pdf?OpenElement

[viii] See e.g. Report of the Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and in practice, Women Deprived of Liberty, U.N. Doc A/HRC/41/33, 15th May 2019, available at: http://ap.ohchr.org/documents/dpage_e.aspx?si=A/HRC/41/33, paras. 37-38. ESCR Committee, General Comment 22 on the right to sexual and reproductive health, para 30.

[ix] WHO, About social determinants of health, supra note 2.

CSBR CSBR Activities, Featured, News from Member Organizations, News on Sexual & Bodily Rights

CSBR & IWE facilitate Asia Region Workshop on Holistic Security for LGBTIQ Defenders

Building on CSBR’s regional program CARE in 2018, our Coordinator Rima Athar and Lin Chew (Institute for Women’s Empowerment) facilitated a 4-day workshop on Holistic Security for LGBTI Human Rights Defenders in Asia, organized by ILGA World as part of the ProtectDefenders.EU mechanism.

HolistiSecuritytraining

The workshop took place from 26-29 August 2019 and brought together 18 activists from 13 countries: India, Indonesia, Jordan, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Palestine, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam.

Participants represented diverse organizations working with focus areas ranging from sex workers rights, sexual and reproductive health rights, interfaith & faith-based advocacy, feminist movement building, digital rights, trans rights, legal justice, mental health support and counselling, and more.

Through 4 days of interdisciplinary methods, activists explored psychosocial and bodily well-being, as well as strategies and best practices to build resilience and strengthen their organizing at home. Along with the bonds of solidarity that were built amongst participants, at the close of the workshop, each person left with concrete steps they would take to address key holistic security needs on both a personal level, as well as in their organizations back home.

A couple of reflections from participants:

“I really had a wonderful time experiencing a training related to our self care, security and our well-being. All the dynamics of well-being, including the physical, mental, sexual, economical, emotional, relational and spiritual. Exploring and understanding more about ourselves and our energy. Acknowledging our privileges and our needs as individuals, groups, organizations and more. I am so grateful.” (Jordan)

“Spent this week in Seoul with a group of amazing queer rights activists, focusing on holistic security training. As always, with activist spaces, there’s a certain love, warmth and a sense of having known each other forever that is unmatched with any other experience. Thank you for this. I spent the past few months spiralling and crashing towards a burnout. This training helped me reconnect with myself, understand the trauma that I have lived through, and has helped me deal with the fact that sometimes a perfect balance is unachievable. Incredibly grateful for this opportunity to be able to pause, learn and refocus.” (India)

 

CSBR CSBR Activities, Featured, News from Member Organizations, News on Sexual & Bodily Rights

CSBR at the Global Feminist LBQ Women*’s Conference

GlobalLBQClosingPlenary
(Caption: Global Feminist LBQ Women*’s Conference Closing Plenary Group Photo)

CSBR Coordinator, Rima Athar, was one of the Content Committee Working Group members that organized the first ever Global Feminist Lesbian, Bisexual and Queer (LBQ) Women*’s Conference, which took place from 6-9 July 2019, in Cape Town, South Africa.

The historic conference brought together more than 500 LBQ women and non-binary people, from 111 countries and 11 global regions. Under the themes of Leading, Healing and Transforming, the forum hosted over 50 workshops, panels and other creative sessions, including writing, films, arts, and dance.

Topics explored by participants covered an expansive range, including sexual pleasure and desire, climate justice, indigenous queer identities, feminist technology and the internet, anti-fascist and anti-racist organizing, experiences of LBQ trans and non-binary peoples, disability rights, sexual and reproductive justice, safe spaces for queer youth, intersex experiences, and much much more.

CSBR held two parallel sessions at the forum. The first was a conversation on “Unpacking Religious Rights: Queer Feminist Resistance to the Politicization of Religion, Sexuality and the Body”, with our networkers from Malaysia, Pakistan, Turkey and Indonesia sharing their experiences and strategies with an audience of about 60 conference goers.

The second was an interactive workshop on “Queer Inclusionary Magical Feminists”, which facilitated a conversation and exploration about the tensions we experience within and across movements for rights and justice, and how feminist responses could strengthen solidarity in our strategies and organizing.

GlobalLBQWG
(Caption: Global Feminist LBQ Women*’s Conference Working Group Members)

As one participant summed up in a reflective piece, “The Global Feminist LBQ Women’s* Conference was a precious opportunity to build bridges, coalesce, express solidarity, strategise and to celebrate the beauty in our diversity.”

Read some more reflections on the forum here, Claiming Space for Lesbian, Bisexual and Queer feminists, and here, Have You the Courage to Hear My Story?.

 

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CSBR CSBR Activities, Featured, News from Member Organizations, Resources & Tools

Tutur Feminis: Meluruhkan yang Biner (Indonesian Feminist Voices, Shedding the Binary)

Tutur Feminis: Meluruhkan yang Biner
(Indonesian Feminist Voices, Shedding the Binary)

Tutur Feminis is a coloring book created by Yulia Dwi Andriyanti and the Qbukatabu Collective in Indonesia as one of the activities under CSBR’s collaborative program CARE: Continuous and Responsive Empowerment through well-being initiatives for LGBTIQ human rights defenders in South & Southeast Asia.

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Tutur Feminis: Meluruhkan yang Biner (Indonesian Feminist Voices, Shedding the Binary)

This coloring book documents a series of conversations with five women leaders who are allies in realizing Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender female to male (LBT) rights and justice. Each of the women interviewed have long been committed to social transformation, and hold feminist values as their basis and strategy. In a context where politics of hate towards LBT groups is becoming a major challenge, including to consistently living in feminist consciousness, these women leaders share about their efforts to keep up the struggle to shed the binary.

 
Why a coloring book?
We chose this format of a coloring book as an interactive way to pass the messages through text and visual representation, and to relate them with the readers’ feelings and emotions. We can experience the conversations not only through reading the messages from those allies, and also expressing feelings by coloring the illustrations. It is also a way to support a self-healing process.


When you Buy the Book, you Donate to the Collective

You can buy a copy of the Tutur Feminis coloring book with a minimum donation of IDR 35,000 (USD 2), excluding the post & packaging fee. We want to make our publications available to all supported friends, and we welcome donations of any amount above this as well. When you buy a copy, you are also donating to support Qbukatabu works and the collective works of women (including lesbian, bisexual and queer women), trans, and other non-binary identities to strive for the enjoyment of their rights as Indonesian citizens.

For the first printed edition in Indonesian language, the donation per book will be distributed towards the printing cost of the 2nd edition, the collective works
across in Indonesia (75%) and Qbukatabu’s work (25%).

How to get the book?

Please note for the moment, we are only able to ship within Indonesia.

  1. Request your order by providing your name, mobile number, amount of order, donation amount, and address to (choose any that fits you):IG: Qbukatabu
    Twitter: Qbukatabu
    Facebook: Qbukatabu
    Number (whatsapp only): 0813 2219 7685 or 0878 8190 7310
  2. Qbukatabu will respond your order request via WhatsApp, including the information of the bank account number where you can send the donation and the post & packaging fee.
  3. Qbukatabu will mail you the book after you send the transfer receipt.

 

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CSBR Featured, News from Member Organizations, News on Sexual & Bodily Rights

Youth Voices: International Women Day 2019 #BalanceforBetter

 

Sarim, 26 - Member of VISION Pakistan's Youth Council
Sarim, 26 – Member of VISION Pakistan’s Youth Council

#BalanceforBetter

Aggregate action and shared duty regarding driving a gender balanced world is vital. International Women’s Day is a worldwide day commending the social, financial and political accomplishments of women, including trans women.

Now when we talk about the Gender Balance and Equality in Sexual and Reproductive Health & Rights programs, we need to pay extra attention to trans women’s sexual and reproductive health and rights. Reproductive health and rights –including the decision to have children or not–are basic rights regardless of gender identity, but gender identity is sometimes another barrier to accessing family planning services due to stigma and discrimination.

Family planning programs should address the unique needs of transgender people for reproduction and planning their families, including egg donation, gestational carriers, sperm donation, etc. I think the family planning needs of transgender people are an understudied but growing area of research. Sexual and gender minorities have family planning needs, both similar to and distinct from their exclusively heterosexual peers. In general, understandings of the distinct family planning needs for transgender people are limited and further research is needed, with particular attention to issues of overlapping health disparities related to status as sexual and gender minorities and other factors, such as race/ethnicity, that may add additional layers of stigma and discrimination. The barriers to overcome are fierce, and include not only lack of access to health services and insurance but also stigma and discrimination, harassment, violence, and violations of rights at every turn.

The SRHR of transgender individuals must be tended to with regard for the social, legitimate, historical, and political settings in which individuals are situated, with social, mental, medical, and lawful gender affirmation as a key need forming any mediation. Making the changes envisioned here is possible but it will require not only the advocacy, policy, programmatic and research directions presented here but also struggle and action locally, nationally, and globally. We can help empowering the transgender people with the knowledge and skills to advocate for their sexual and reproductive health & rights as these are important life decisions that shape their future and boosting a more Gender Balanced World.

CSBR CSBR Activities, Headline, News from Member Organizations, News on Sexual & Bodily Rights, Resources & Tools

Webinar: Resist fundamentalisms and fascisms in Asia-Pacific

Four activists from Asia Pacific share their analysis of the advances of fundamentalist and fascist forces across the region. Listen to the audio below:

 

This discussion addresses the following questions:

  • How are anti-rights forces operating in Asia-Pacific? How are they gaining support?
  • What are the impacts on gender justice and human rights in the region?
  • What does collective resistance look like and how can we strengthen it?

The conversation was led by :

  • Rima Athar (Chair): Coordinator of the Coalition for Sexual and Bodily Rights in Muslim Societies (CSBR)

With presentations from:

  • Cristina “Tinay” Palabay: Secretary General of human rights group Karapatan in the Philippines
  • Rozana Isa: Executive Director of Sisters In Islam, Malaysia
  • Chayanika Shah: a queer feminist researcher, teacher, and activist based in Mumbai, India.

 

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CSBR CSBR Activities, Featured, News from Member Organizations, ODOS

Art therapy, Communities of Care, Safe & Accessible SRHR, Self-Defense and ending Bullying–One Day One Struggle 2018 kicks off!

Every 9 November communities around the world come together in celebration of sexual and bodily rights as human rights, as part of the One Day One Struggle! campaign (ODOS), coordinated by the Coalition for Sexual and Bodily Rights in Muslim Societies (CSBR).

By highlighting the pressing political developments impacting sexual and bodily rights across our local and national contexts, the campaign demonstrates that sexuality is a site of political struggle and seeks to build solidarity across constituencies to support everyone’s right to choose freely on matters of sexuality, fertility, bodily autonomy, gender identity and self expression.

In 2018, actions will take place across Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia,  Pakistan, the Philippines, and Tunisia.

CSBR_ODOS9November

See a brief listing below, and keep up with us on Twitter (@SexBodyRights, #OneDayOneStruggle, #ODOS) and Facebook (facebook.com/CSBRonline) on November 9th for  updates as the actions occur!

 

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BANGLADESH

Bandhu-Logo-2

Bandhu Social Welfare Society is organizing a day-long workshop on Art Therapy for Self-Expression & Peer Support,  that will bring together young community members (aged 15 – 20) from the Youth & Transgender/Hijra network to explore the power of art therapy as a tool for self-expression, self-healing & self-discovery.

Art and the therapeutic creative process of creating art can be incredibly useful for young people who may have experienced bullying or trauma, as it can provide a safe sanctuary to share our feelings and emotions. Throughout the day, participants will explore various mediums, including different kinds of painting (watercolour, pastels, body paints) & craft-making–linking each activity to personal reflection around sexual and bodily autonomy.

Participants’ creations will be documented and shared within the network. Bandhu will host the workshop in collaboration with community artists & also representatives from UNICEF.

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INDONESIA

 

This month, Qbukatabu is hosting a series of live Instagram discussions on the theme of “Protect Yourself from Sexual Violence”. As part of ODOS on 9 November, Qbukatabu will be in conversation about self-defense from sexual assaults & violence with Poedji Tan–a women’s rights activist, co-founder of  konde.co, and former Taekwondo athlete.

QbukatabuODOS2018

You can join the live discussion on Instagram at: @qbukatabu at 7PM Jakarta time on 9 November.

Want to explore more about ending sexual violence against women & trans people with Qbukatabu? The collective is hosting two additional live Instagram discussions this month:

  • Prevent and Handle Sexual Violence towards Transgender Man, with Sam (Transman Indonesia). The discussion will take place on 20 November 2018, as part of campaigning on the International Transgender Day of Remembrance.
  • Safe Working Space to Eliminate Sexual Violence for Women Workers with Mutiara Ika (Perempuan Mahardika). The discussion will take place on 25 November 2018, as part of the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence

Also keep up with them on Facebook: www.facebook.com/qbukatabu, Twitter: @Qbukatabu and YouTube: Tim Qbukatabu.

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GN LogoBuilding on their use of video as a tool for community documentation & amplifying progressive narratives, for ODOS 2018 GAYa NUSANTARA Foundation is launching a short set of interviews with gay Muslims, that explore each persons’ individual struggles, challenges, and perceptions around queerness & Islam.

Follow GAYa NUSANTARA on Facebook: facebook.com/YayasanGAYaNUSANTARA/ and Twitter: twitter.com/gayanusantara to catch the videos.

 

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EGYPT

 

Nazra for Feminist Studies launches a conversation on “Non-Conforming” for ODOS 2018.

Nazra-ODOS2018-NonConforming

“Non-Conforming” addresses the issue of bullying, with particular attention to the impacts on the psychological health of people bullied because they don’t conform to norms around gender and sexual binaries.

Throughout 9 November, Nazra will launch tools for discussion online, including a video which explores the impacts of bullying on mental health from the perspectives of psychosocial support workers; a set of short comics and infographics on various kinds of bullying and their impacts; and a series of blog posts by people who’ve experienced bullying exploring resilience and resistance.

Catch it all by following Nazra on Facebook: www.facebook.com/Nazra.for.Feminist.Studies/ and Twitter:  twitter.com/NazraEgypt

 

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Mesahat Foundation for Sexual and Gender Diversity joins the campaign with two posters, to celebrate “the resistance of bodies against the state’s entrapment and arrest of transwomen, queer men and queer sex workers,we stand against social prosecution of queer women and the exclusion of the LGBTQI+ in Egypt and Sudan.” #OurBodies_OurResistance

 

Mesahat-ODOS2018

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MALAYSIA

Women’s Aid Organisation (WAO) joins ODOS 2018 to amplify the call of the on-going national level campaign in Malaysia to end child marriage, which will culminate on 13 November 2018 with national advocates delivering citizen petitions against child marriage to the parliament.

For ODOS, keep an eye on WAO’s social media–Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/womens.aid.org/ and Twitter: https://twitter.com/womensaidorg–and share/RT to help build momentum for the national action on 13 November.

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TUNISIA

L’Association Tunisienne des Femmes Democrates (ATFD) is hosting a national coalition workshop from 3-6pm at the Golden Tulip Hotel in Tunis, to strategize around the Tunisian’ state’s disengagement from providing safe, accessible and affordable sexual and reproductive care.

ATFD-ODOS2019

Bringing together over 12 national level organizations, the conversation will explore what a citizen’s initiative can look like to promote & ensure the state meet’s its responsibilities and obligations on sexual & reproductive health care across Tunisia.

Collaborating civil society groups include: Groupe Tawhida, Association des Femmes Tunisiennes pour la Recherche et le Développement (AFTURD), Association BEITY, Association de Défense des Libertés Individuelles (ADLI), Ligue Tunisienne des Droits de l’Homme (LTDH), Association Tunisienne de Santé de la Reproduction (ATSR), Association Tunisienne de Lutte contre les Maladies Sexuellement Transmissibles et le Sida (ATL/MST/SIDA Tunis), Association de Prévention Positive (ATP+), Mawjoudin, Association Damj pour la justice et l’égalité, Association Tunisienne de Défense du Droit à la Santé (ATDDS), NESS, and CHOUF.

Follow updates live from Tunisia via ATFD’s Facebook page for the campaign, ‘Un Jour, Un Combat’: https://www.facebook.com/Un-Jour-Un-Combat-996099703765811 and the ODOS 2018 event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/285712255484481.

 

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PAKISTAN


VISION iVISION-PKs holding a discussion on the Transgender Persons (Protections of Rights) Act and its implementation, in conversation with members of the judiciary in Pakistan.

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Forum for Dignity Initiatives (FDI) is launching a campaign to raise awareness about the need for women, girls’ and trans people’s access to safe & clean public toilets in Pakistan.

 

FDI_ODOS2018-SafeandClean

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HOPE–Have Only Positive Expectations—is launching a blog piece about the importance of community organizing and creating safe spaces for marginalized communities. HOPE works to create safer spaces for trans men and LBQ women in Pakistan, using both virtual private spaces and physical places to get together, explore peer support and counseling, and build community.

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PHILIPPINES

PILIPINA Legal Resources Center (PLRC) builds upon 5 years of actions through ODOS to move forward the national level Anti-Discrimination legislation, with a round-table discussion to develop policy recommendations by women leaders in Davao City.

ODOS Poster

The Comprehensive Anti-Discrimination Bill (Senate Bill 948) seeks to penalize discriminatory practices based on age, racial or ethnic origin, religious belief or activity, political inclination or conviction, social class, sex, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and expressions, marital or relationship status, disability, HIV status, health status or medical history, language, physical features, or other status.

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Stay tuned by following us on social media as the campaign actions and events unfold on 9 November 2018!

CSBR on Facebook: facebook.com/CSBRonline , CSBR on Twitter: twitter.com/SexBodyRights

As always, our greatest appreciation to the efforts of the organizers and participants of the campaign!

CSBR CSBR Activities, News from Member Organizations, News on Sexual & Bodily Rights, Statements

CSBR Statement – International Coalition of Rights Groups across Muslim societies condemns whipping of two women in Malaysia

For immediate release:cropped-Screen-Shot-2017-01-24-at-5.49.27-PM.png

International coalition of civil society groups across Muslim societies–from Algeria, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia, Mali, Pakistan, Palestine, Turkey and beyond–condemn the whipping of two women for “attempted sexual relations” which was carried out on 3rd September 2018 by the Sharia High Court in Terengganu, Malaysia.

HOW YOU CAN HELP:

● Share this statement on social media and with family, friends, colleagues & media contacts to create awareness about this issue: http://www.csbronline.org/?p=2224

● Contact Malaysian government representatives or embassies to protest against the public caning of the two women in Terengganu and the on-going discrimination and violence against Malaysia’s LGBT community.

● For more information and media inquiries, get in touch with Malaysian group Justice for Sisters, at: justiceforsisters@gmail.com


International Coalition of Rights Groups across Muslim societies
condemns whipping of two women in Malaysia

4 September 2018

The Coalition for Sexual and Bodily Rights in Muslim Societies (CSBR), and the undersigned organizations and individuals from across Muslim societies, condemn in no uncertain terms the public whipping of two women for “attempted sexual relations”, which was carried out on 3 September 2018 by the Terengganu Shariah High Court in Malaysia.

The two women, aged 22 and 32, pleaded guilty on 12 August 2018 to attempted “musahaqah” (sexual relations between women) under Section 30 of the Shariah Criminal Offences (Takzir) (Terengganu) Enactment 2001. They were sentenced to RM3,300 in fines and given the maximum sentence of six strokes of caning.

By taking no action to condemn this violence or prevent the whipping, the Malaysian Federal government is complicit in the violation of its citizens rights as guaranteed under its own Federal Constitution, national laws, as well as its obligations under international human rights law.

From the beginning, the women were denied a fair trial, as they had no representation at the time of their sentencing. It is abhorrent that the whipping was carried out at all, and that it was done in direct violation of Section 289 of the Criminal Procedures Code that prohibits corporal punishment for female prisoners of any age.[1] Further, the women were subject to this humiliating and degrading punishment in public, in front of a crowd of approximately 100 witnesses.[2] These violations of dignity threaten the constitutional rights and human rights of all Malaysians. The public whipping is a clear tactic by the court adding fuel to the escalating intimidation, harassment and violence against LGBT people in Malaysia over the last month.[3] If state shariah courts are permitted to target one community in this way, then other individuals and groups in Malaysia are also at risk of the same kind of inhuman treatment.

We believe that state-imposed violence against women cannot ever be condoned, and that there can never be any justification for such inhuman and degrading punishments. Whipping is a clear form of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment, which is prohibited under international law in Article 7 of the ICCPR. Accordingly, “It is the duty of the State Party to afford everyone protection through legislative and other measures as may be necessary against the acts prohibited by Article 7, whether inflicted by people acting in their official capacity, outside their official capacity or in a private capacity”.[4] Allowing the discriminatory treatment and punishment of these women by a sharia court is also a violation of Malaysia’s obligations under CEDAW.

Further, there is no consensus at all on the punishment of whipping under Muslim jurisprudence, and many Muslim countries across the world forbid whipping as a fundamental violation of human dignity. We believe that all forms of penalisation and criminalisation of consensual same-sex relationships are in contradiction to Islamic principles of justice and equality.

We amplify the call made by the Joint Action Group on Gender Equality (JAG) Malaysia that the government “conduct a comprehensive review of the Shariah Criminal Offences laws of this country, with a view to repeal such laws, thus enabling all Malaysians to be governed by a single Penal Code under federal administration”, and that the “Shariah Criminal Offences laws to be repealed on the grounds that they have no basis in Islamic legal theory and practice”.[5]

We amplify the call made by Coalition of Malaysian NGOs in the UPR Process (COMANGO), endorsed by 52 Malaysian NGOs, that the government “eliminate all forms of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment in the criminal justice system including the practice of whipping and caning”, and ratify and accede to the UN Convention Against Torture as part of this commitment.[6]

We stand in unequivocal support of LGBT people in Malaysia, and their fundamental rights to live with dignity and free from persecution and violence.

We call on the Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and the Pakatan Harapan government to take immediate action to end the escalating persecution of LGBT communities in Malaysia, and to uphold their own manifesto “to make [Malaysia’s] human rights record respected by the world” (Promise 26), as well as the PM’s Independence Day speech that guaranteed “justice for all the people, irrespective of race or religion” and promised “Malaysia will remain strong and progressive whatever the differences, contradictions and suspicions that may arise.” [7]

SIGNED

1. Coalition for Sexual and Bodily Rights in Muslim Societies (International)
2. Antalya Women’s Counselling and Solidarity Association (Turkey)
3. Adana Women’s Solidarity Center and Shelter Foundation-AKDAM (Turkey)
4. Association Femmes Leadership et Développement Durable-AFELDD (Mali)
5. Association of Women Lawyers (Malaysia)
6. Association of Women for Action and Research (Singapore)
7. Bebaak Collective (India)
8. Beyond the Hijab (Singapore)
9. Bishkek Feminist Initiative (Kyrgyzstan)
10. Canadian Council of Muslim Women (Canada)
11. Cinsel Şiddetle Mücadele Dernegi-Association for Struggle against Sexual Violence (Turkey)
12. ESITIZ-Equality Watch Women’s Group (Turkey)
13. Erzincan Katre Women’s Initiative (Turkey)
14. Fethiye Women’s Solidarity Association (Turkey)
15. Flying Broom Foundation (Turkey)
16. Forum for Dignity Initiatives-FDI (Pakistan)
17. GAYa Nusantara Foundation (Indonesia)
18. Günebakan Women’s Association (Turkey)
19. Indian Muslims for Secular Democracy (India)
20. Indonesian Women′s Association for Justice-APIK (Indonesia)
21. International Women’s Rights Action Watch-Asia Pacific (International)
22. Istanbul LGBTI Solidarity Association (Turkey)
23. KADAV-Women’s Soldarity Foundation (Turkey)
24. KAOS-GL (Turkey)
25. Kazakhstan Feminist Initiative-’Feminita’ (Kazakhstan)
26. Kelab Warisan Wibawa-Wibawa Women (Malaysia)
27. Kirmizi Biber Association (Turkey)
28. Malaysian Atheists and Secular Humanists (Malaysia)
29. Maruf Foundation (Netherlands)
30. Mawjoudin – We exist (Tunisia)
31. Muntada—The Arab forum on Sexuality, Health and Education (Palestine)
32. Muslims for Progressive Values (International)
33. Oboyob (Bangladesh)
34. PELANGI Campaign (Malaysia)
35. Penawar Support Group (Singapore)
36. Persatuan Kesedaran Komuniti Selangor-EMPOWER (Malaysia)
37. Projek Dialog (Malaysia)
38. Rural Women’s Association-Alga (Kyrgyzstan)
39. Sayoni (Singapore)
40. Shirkat Gah Women’s Resource Center (Pakistan)
41. The Healing Circle SG (Singapore)
42. Transmen of Malaysia (Malaysia)
43. VISION (Pakistan)
44. Women Against Violence (Palestine)
45. Women for Women’s Human Rights-New Ways (Turkey)
46. Women Living Under Muslim Laws (International)
47. Women’s Aid Organisation (Malaysia)
48. Women’s Initiative for Citizenship and Universal Rights (Algeria/France)
49. Women’s Party (Turkey)
50. Anissa Helie, Professor (Algeria/US)
51. Cynthia El Khoury, independent feminist (Lebanon)
52. Donna Swita, Solidaritas Perempuan (Indonesia)
53. Evelyne Accad, Professeur Emerite (Lebanon/US)
54. Hameeda Hossain, Human Rights activist (Bangladesh)
55. Hina Noureen, President-Baidarie (Pakistan)
56. Khawar Mumtaz, Women’s Rights Advocate (Pakistan)
57. Khushi Kabir, Coordinator-Nijera Kori (Bangladesh)
58. Marieme Helie Lucas, Secularism Is A Women’s Issue (Algeria/France)
59. Meerim Ilyas, Urgent Action Fund for Women’s Human Rights (Kyrgyzstan/US)
60. Pragna Patel, Director-Southall Black Sisters (India/UK)
61. Qutub Jahan, United Religions Initiative (India/US)
62. Sabina Faiz Rashid, Dean-BRAC University School of Public Health (Bangladesh)
63. Sabra Zahid, Attorney at Law (Sri Lanka)
64. Samia Allalou, Mediterranean Women’s Fund (Algeria/France)
65. Sanjeeb Drong, General Secretary-Bangladesh Adivasi Forum (Bangladesh)
66. Sara Hossain, Hon. Executive Director-Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust (Bangladesh)
67. Shaheen Anan, Executive Director-Manusher Jonno Foundation (Bangladesh)
68. Shamsul Huda, Executive Director-Association for Land Reform and Development (Bangladesh)
69. Sheena Baharuddin, Performance Artist (Malaysia)
70. Sheepa Hafiza, Executive Director-Ain o Salish Kendra (Bangladesh)
71. Suhraiya Jivraj, Senior Lecturer in Law-University of Kent (UK)
72. Sultana Kamal, Founding President-Manobadhikar Sanskrity Foundation (Bangladesh)
73. Yasmin Rehman, Women’s Rights Activist (Pakistan/UK)
74. Zakir Hossain, Chief Executive-Nagorik Uddyog (Bangladesh)

[1]https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2018/09/03/terengganu-syariah-court-acted-against-the-law-caning-can-only-be-carried-out-against-prisoners/

[2]https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2018/09/03/100-attend-public-caning-of-couple-in-terengganu-lesbian-sex-case/

[3]https://justiceforsisters.wordpress.com/2018/09/02/does-new-malaysia-mean-all-of-us-without-exception/; https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/aug/22/malaysia-accused-of-state-sponsored-homophobia-after-lgbt-crackdown

[4] HRC, General Comment No. 20, 1992, §2

[5]https://www.malaymail.com/s/1668605/with-lesbians-sentenced-to-whipping-womens-groups-want-shariah-criminal-law#.W4yOIWkDkO8.twitter

[6]https://uprmalaysia.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/UPR-STAKEHOLDER-REPORT-ON-MALAYSIA_Final.doc1_.pdf

[7]https://justiceforsisters.wordpress.com/2018/09/02/does-new-malaysia-mean-all-of-us-without-exception/

CSBR CSBR Activities, News from Member Organizations, ODOS, Videos

Forum for Dignity Initiatives (FDI) Pakistan joins CSBR!

CSBR is excited to welcome our newest member, Forum for Dignity Initiatives (FDI), from Pakistan!

FDI_logoFDI’s mission is to improve the human rights situation of invisible and marginalized sexual and gender minority groups, specifically transgender people, sex workers, and girls and young women. FDI serves as a facilitator to integrate these identified marginalized groups into the mainstream society with economic empowerment and ensure their socio-cultural inclusion at all levels with equality, equity and dignity.

As part of the 2017 One Day One Struggle campaign, FDI released a video documenting their views and approaches to solidarity, support and advocacy work with trans women in Pakistan:

At the national level, FDI has been active on issues of law reform, legal gender recognition, human rights education, the use of arts & culture as tools for awareness raising, policy dialogues, and much more. FDI is also involved in the global Right Here, Right Now partnership, working on youth and sexual and reproductive health and rights.

Find out more about FDI through their website: https://www.fdipakistan.org/

CSBR Headline, News from Member Organizations, News on Sexual & Bodily Rights, Resources & Tools

Sexual Politics in Muslim Societies: Studies from Palestine, Turkey, Malaysia and Indonesia

“Why have Muslim majority states become increasingly conservative over time, acting to reverse many hard won advances on women’s rights and those concerning gender diverse populations? How has this happened despite vigorous efforts by activists, civil society organizations and social movements in general? What are the factors that have contributed to state-sanctioned surveillance and policing of sexual morality? Is this rightward shift the result of a backlash to the success of gender and sexual rights activism? In what ways have these moves been resisted or accommodated?” 

SexualPoliticsinMuslimSocieties_CSBR2017_cover

CSBR is pleased to announce the publication of Sexual Politics in Muslim Societies (2017), an updated edited volume of original research carried out by CSBR members in Palestine, Turkey, Malaysia and Indonesia. From diverse vantage points, this volume explores complex questions on the factors that have contributed to increasing conservatism and fundamentalism against women’s rights and LGBT rights–including state-sanctioned surveillance and the policing of sexual morality–across diverse Muslim societies during the early 2000s.

In the first study on Palestine, Femicide and Racism, Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian and Suhad Daher-Nashif situate their fine-grained analysis of the “local” firmly within the broader context of Israeli settler colonialism, and the effects of the “War on Terror” and “Islamophobia”. The authors seek to analyze the intersection of formal and informal legal systems in the understanding of femicide or the murder of Palestinian women by family members. Conventionally such murders are framed as a purely “cultural” issue, the outcome of local patriarchal attitudes toward women and morality. The authors eschew this narrow framing, arguing instead that localized manifestations of patriarchal and masculine logics are empowered by processes of exclusion at both local and global levels.

In An Analysis of the ‘Conservative Democracy’ of the Justice and Development Party (JDP)–Pinar Ilkkaracan skillfully unpacks the rhetorical strategies used by the incumbent JDP to strategically deploy a secular discourse to restrict and police political and social/sexual dissent in Turkey. The chapter highlights the rise of crackdowns on women’s rights and LGBT organizations, and the strength and power of feminist and queer organizing.

In Moral Policing in Malaysia, Julian C.H. Lee and tan beng hui present a sophisticated historical and sociological account of the rise of state sanctioned moral policing, situated within multiple and intersecting histories. Their analysis sheds light the state’s determination to create an “ideal” Muslim citizen, and the impacts of Islamization on the political system, the courts, and civil society organizing in Malaysia.

In the final study, Women’s Sexuality and the debates on the Anti-Pornography Bill, Andy Yentriyani & Neng Dara Affiah present a compelling analysis of the rhetorical stakes in debates around a controversial Anti-Pornography bill that, in a modified form, was passed into Indonesian law in 2008. The authors contextualizes these debates in relation to Indonesia’s history of militarised authoritarianism, shifting state representations of the ideal Indonesian woman and popular resistance to the perceived imposition of a monolithic Indonesian Muslim identity—smuggled in through a law purportedly for the protection of morality.

As a collective research program amongst CSBR members, the methodology was designed to take into account the specific historical, political and sociological complexities of each national context. The comparative aspect of the project was critical in this respect. Together, with the introduction Sexuality as Difference? by Dina M. Siddiqi, this volume illuminates the unstable terrain and shifting constraints that sexual and bodily rights activists in Muslim societies navigate everyday.

The analysis “refuses easy oppositions and fixed definitions of Islam, culture or rights. It calls for us to be open to improbable alliances and strategies. These researchers are critically aware that there are no ‘pure’ spaces of indigeneity or of rights, that meaning is derived from the political and discursive framing of problems. Traversing as they do geographically diverse and historically distinct contexts, they remind us of the necessity to be vigilant of the analytical and conceptual lens we bring to bear on our scholarship and activism.”

 

Download the full publication: Sexual Politics in Muslim Societies (2017)

 

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CSBR would like to thank everyone who contributed to this collective project over the years. Especially Pinar Ilkkaracan, who initiated, coordinated and led the four-year research program on which this volume is based, providing core support and guidance to the research teams. This volume would not have been possible without the energy, commitment and dedication of each of the country partners and their vantage points embedded within national women’s rights, human rights and sexual rights movements. Credit is due to l’Association Tunisienne des Femmes Démocrates (ATFD), Helem, KOMNAS Perempuan, Mada Al-Carmel, Sisters in Islam (SIS), and Women for Women’s Human Rights—New Ways (WWHR). While logistical reasons prevented us from including the Tunisia and Lebanon studies in this volume, the work by those teams was integral to informing the analysis and synthesis of the overall project.

This volume is dedicated to Zaitun ‘Toni’ Kasim, whose political vision and unwavering commitment to human rights has guided so many in our network. Toni was an integral part of this project from its inception, and she continues to inspire us in our movements for rights and justice.

CSBR CSBR Activities, Headline, News from Member Organizations, News on Sexual & Bodily Rights, ODOS

Students hit the road to fight street harassment in Kuala Lumpur – in pictures

On a global day of action for sexual and bodily rights in Muslim societies, Malaysian students stood against harassment in public spaces.

SIS-ODOS2017demo-GroupShot
The organising team from Sisters in Islam sported shirts reading “Muslim Women Speak.” Credit: CSBR.

 

“Cats are cute, catcalls are not”; “Don’t keep calm and stop sexual harassment”; “My name is not baby.” These were some of the slogans on signs floating above a group of about 40 people gathered at Petaling Jaya city council square, in greater Kuala Lumpur last month.

The university students and activists chose to highlight fights against street harassment in the Malaysian capital as part of the annual ‘One Day One Struggle’ campaign, on 9 November, organised by the Coalition for Sexual and Bodily Rights in Muslim Societies.

Armed with audio samples of common verbal insults and catcalls, they invited passersby to listen, share their own experiences, and show support for the anti-harassment campaign.

“Cats are cute, catcalls are not”

One of the organisers Andi Suraidah said the action was inspired by “rising awareness as a result of #MeToo campaign globally.” She said: “The time could not have been better to ride on the campaign by bringing it to the local level.”

“As a woman, being harassed on the street is not uncommon,” she said, describing having to wear “clothes that will attract less attention” and “assessing my surrounding consistently when going out alone.”

She added: “The experience of harassment could even be worse, depending on which race or religion you belong to, if you do not fit within the stereotype of male/female framework; these elements give harassers extra bullets to attack you with.”


Credit: Empower Malaysia.

University of Malaya students conducted a survey with 113 respondents on campus. 80% said that they had experienced sexual harassment in public spaces before.

There is little official data on street harassment in Malaysia. There are statistics on gender-based violence, but street harassment specifically is poorly documented.


Credit: Sisters in Islam.

Activists participating in the anti-street harassment action posed for a photo. One member of the team captured it on video.

Sisters in Islam, one of the organising groups, is a leading Malaysian organisation advocating for women’s rights within the framework of Islam and human rights.


Credit: Sisters in Islam.

Passersby were intrigued by the campaign. Some stopped to listen to audio samples prepared by students with examples of common verbal insults and catcalls.

This creative tactic was designed to encourage reflection and conversations on how one could respond and intervene when witnessing street harassment.


Credit: Sisters in Islam

University students talk to members of the public collecting pledges to combat street harassment.

The action engaged passersby to think of everyday personal actions they could take to build a culture of respect.


Credit: Sisters in Islam

Sisters in Islam staff member Zaffan Ariffin acted as a ‘group leader’ for five university students talking to the public to raise awareness against street harassment during the action.

They used sandwich boards to highlight unwanted sexual advances that women commonly hear on the streets.


Credit: CSBR

Volunteers hold signs asking drivers to “Honk if you’re against sexual harassment”!

Suraidah, one of the organisers, said tackling mindsets is one strategy against street harassment. Another is anti-discrimination law and policy.


Credit: CSBR

The organising team from Sisters in Islam sported shirts reading “Muslim Women Speak.”

The group aims to amplify women’s rights within the frameworks of Islam, universal human rights, and democratic politics.

 

______

By: Rima Athar and Bérengère Sim

About the authors: Rima Athar is coordinator of the Coalition for Sexual and Bodily Rights in Muslim Societies. Bérengère Sim is a journalist based in Paris.

Re-Posted from: 50.50 Open Democracy, published 8 December 2017.

CSBR Featured, News from Member Organizations, News on Sexual & Bodily Rights, ODOS, Resources & Tools, Videos

Video: Sustainable Development Goals & LGBTI+ Organizing in Turkey – WWHR & Lambdaistanbul

Want to understand more about the intersections between the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and gender equality? Then take a look at Women for Women’s Human Rights (WWHR)–New Ways’ new video series on the topic: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnsmoVllXaROEw1KJWSr7Ow!

WWHR launched the  fourth video as part of this years’ #OneDayOneStruggle campaign (ODOS), interviewing with Sedef Cakmak from Lambdaistanbul on current challenges and opportunities for organizing for LGBTI+ rights  in Turkey and how we can link with the SDG framework.

 

* * * * *

Lambdaistanbul is a volunteer run organization that was formed in Istanbul in 1993, right after the city governor banned the Christopher Street Parade that was supposed to be held in July 1993. Learn more about Lambdaistanbul here: http://www.lambdaistanbul.org/s/

WWHR-Lambdaistanbul-ODOS2017

* * * * *

Since its establishment in Turkey in 1993, WWHR-New Ways has worked to support the active and broad participation of women in the establishment and maintenance of a democratic, egalitarian and peaceful social order as free individuals and equal citizens at national, regional and international levels. Learn more about WWHR here: http://www.wwhr.org/

* * * * *

CSBR Featured, News from Member Organizations, News on Sexual & Bodily Rights

CSBR at the RRRAP Summit: Rights, Resources and Resilience in Asia Pacific

CSBR was at the Rights, Resources and Resilience in Asia Pacific (RRRAP) Summit,  hosted by APCOM in Bangkok from 13-15 November 2017.  The RRRAP Summit was an opportunity to reflect on the gains and shifts of the last 10 years of organizing and advocacy to end HIV and improve community health outcomes with a focus on key populations, and new strategies for moving ahead.

Prior to the Summit, APCOM hosted the HERO awards, recognizing community advocates across the region who have been defining leaders in movements for rights and recognition. It was a great night for recognition of the groundbreaking work of activists across Muslim societies, including Khartini Slamah, whose 30+ years of activism has re-shaped support for transgender communities and sex workers’ rights across Malaysia and Asia Pacific.

Our member Bandhu Social Welfare Society was honoured in the Community Organization category, for their over 20 years of leading work as a provider of HIV programs, sexual health services and human rights advocacy throughout Bangladesh.

Bandhu_HeroAwards2017
Shale Ahmed, Bandhu Social Welfare Society

 

Our Advisory Committee member Dede Oetomo, in his role as APCOM’s Chair, opened & closed the Summit, and presented across multiple sessions on the work of Indonesian civil society in engaging cross-sector collaborations, including faith-based organizations, to further protection, recognition and respect for people of diverse sexual orientations and gender identities.

IMG_6548
Dede Oetomo, APCOM

Our Coordinator, Rima Athar, presented on a Side Event on “The Uncivil Society”: Of Priviledge, Exclusion and the Work of Social Justice for All”, and on the third day’s Plenary, “From Evolution to Revolution: Merging Movements Towards Broader Social Justice And Change”, alongside groups including Asia Pacific Network of Sex Workers (APNSW), UNAIDS Asia Pacific, ILGA-Asia, and Asia Pacific Network of People Using Drugs (ANPUD).

Rima’s contributions explored the language, questions and practices of solidarity & inclusion to strengthen cross-movement collaborations between those focused on HIV & key populations in Asia Pacific, and wider human rights movements, including women’s rights, sexual and reproductive health rights, economic justice and environmental justice as part of the larger ecosystem impacting community health and rights.

CSBR_RimaAthar-RRRAPSummit
                          Rima Athar, CSBR

 

IMG_6549
3rd Day Plenary speakers left-to-right: Bandhu Social Welfare Society, UNAIDS Asia Pacific, APCOM, CSBR, APNSW, ANPUD, and ILGA-Asia

Over the three days, over 300 advocates from the region participated in the conversations, ranging from community activists and regional networks, to funders, UN departments and government officials. The Summit highlighted challenges faced by civil society organisations and human rights advocates, opportunities to strengthen resourcing for our organizations, followed by a community forum and strategic planning process to develop stronger and more inclusive strategies moving forward.

 

Photo Credits: APCOM
CSBR CSBR Activities, News from Member Organizations, News on Sexual & Bodily Rights, ODOS

One Day One Struggle 2017 – Bigger & Brighter than ever!

Every 9 November communities around the world come together in celebration of sexual and bodily rights as human rights, as part of the One Day One Struggle! campaign (ODOS), coordinated by the Coalition for Sexual and Bodily Rights in Muslim Societies (CSBR).

CSBR_ODOS9November

Running 9 years in a row, ODOS 2017 is bigger and brighter than ever with actions planned by groups across Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippines, Turkey and Uganda!

See a brief listing of the planned actions below, and keep up with us on Twitter (@SexBodyRights, #OneDayOneStruggle) and Facebook (facebook.com/CSBRonline) on November 9th for more details and updates as the actions occur!

 

 

*     *     *     *     *

AFGHANISTAN

In Afghanistan, sexual and reproductive health advocates are holding a workshop with women university students to discuss sexual health and negotiating healthy relationships.

 

BANGLADESH

In Bangladesh, Bandhu Social Welfare Society is hosting a sensitization discussion with journalists to discuss how to improve reporting and coverage of third gender rights in Bangladesh. Bandhu-Logo-2

Bandhu started its journey in 1996, and after 20 years, Bandhu is sincerely continuing to serve the communities with undivided commitment and is paving the way for obtaining their social justice, equality, sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). Find out more: http://www.bandhu-bd.org/

 

EGYPT

Building on last year’s action on bodily integrity and autonomy, Nazra for Feminist Studies is holding an interactive online campaign on “Prejudgement”.

Nazra-ODOS2017-Prejudgement“Pre-judgement” highlights the social stigmatization of bodies that transgress the social norms and rules relating to imposed concepts of masculinity and femininity. For this year’s campaign, Nazra opened a call for submissions for personal reflections, writings and graphics about people’s relationships to their bodies; the extent to which community-based stigma and social policies impact that relationships, whether on a physical or psychological level; and how individuals overcome and negotiate their bodily autonomy and integrity.

On 9 November 2017, the submissions will be shared online through Nazra’s website: http://nazra.org/    and Facebook: @Nazra.for.Feminist.Studies, using the hashtag #حكم_مسبق .

 

INDIA

Building on their work on self-care and well-being for lesbian, bisexual and trans people assigned female at birth, Nazariya is publishing a reflective piece detailing some of the lessons and insights for strengthening movements for queer justice moving forward.

Nazariya_Logo
Nazariya is a Delhi-based resource group that was established in 2014, which works towards affirming the rights of queer people (LBT) by making visible their lives and creating an enabling environment where queer lived realities is a non negotiable and informs the work and discourse of organizations and institutions. Find out more about Nazariya here: https://nazariyaqfrg.wordpress.com/

 

 

INDONESIA

In Indonesia, on 9 November GAYa NUSANTARA begins a documentary film project that explores transgender Muslims’ experiences and perspectives on faith, gender and sexuality. The film will be launched at the end of the month through community screenings and online as a resource.

 

Qbukatabu_TerlahirKembaliQbukatabu is a new collective formed in March 2017 to establish an Indonesian language online resource center on sexuality. Each month Qbukatabu produce new content amplifying feminist and queer perspectives: November’s theme is “Terlahir Kembali”, or “Reborn”.

On 9 November, Qbukatabu is taking to social media to amplify women and transpeople’s perspectives on  bodily autonomy, including the moments when struggle is transformed through thought, action, and embodied meaning.

Keep an eye out for pop-media content throughout the day, including articles, videos, and interviews on Qbukatabu’s Instagram, Twitter & Facebook. Follow along with the hashtags #ODOS2017ID, #1Hari1Perjuangan, #ODOSLahirKembali #QbukaODOS.

KAZAKHSTAN

Feminita_ODOS2017In Kazakhstan, Feminita – the Kazakh Feminist Initiative – created a video of personal reflections from two activists on the importance of solidarity that cut across identity politics, especially in times of rising stigmatization, discrimination and violence against women who defy the norms; whether through their sexuality or religion or cultural background. Stay tuned for the launch!


KYRGYZSTAN

BishkekFeminists-LogoIn Kyrgyzstan, Bishkek Feminist Initiative along with teenage magazine Boktukorgon, will launch a video in support of bodily autonomy and self-expression in Kyrgyzstan. The video shows the double edges of dress code regulations, and the stigma and discrimination women and girls face, whether they wear a hijab or shorts. Stay tuned for the launch! 

A group of community organizers in Kyrgyzstan will be holding a two day event, including a film screening and a discussion on the theme of faith & sexuality.


MALAYSIA

Women’s Aid Organisation is taking the conversation online to challenge the policing of women’s dress in Malaysia, which has seen a spike since April 2017 when women lawyers being stopped from entering court because their below-the-knee skirts were deemed “indecent” by security guards. WAO-WomensClothesMoralPolicingFollow Women’s Aid Organisation on Facebook @womens.aid.org, Twitter @womensaidorg and Instagram @womensaidorg and amplify the conversation!

 

PAKISTAN

In Pakistan, VISION along with the United Nations Information Center (UNIC) and the National Human Rights Commission of Pakistan is hosting a screening of the documentary “My Body My Right”, followed by a policy discussion to strengthen the human rights perspective in the proposed Protection of Transgender Persons Bill, which was introduced in September 2017.

Vision-ODOS2017-Invite
The panelists include: Honorable Senator Ms. Sitara Ayaz, head of the Senate’s Sub-Committee on reviewing the bills on protection of female transgender; Honorable member NCHR Mr. Chaudary Shafique; and Honorable Director General Human Rights Mohammad Arshad from Ministry of Law and Human Rights. “My Body, My Right”, showcases the efforts of transgender women from three districts: Mardan, Multan and Rawalpindi, who participated in VISION’s participatory street theatre program and developed performances based on their lived realities, in Urdu and Pashto. There were 28 performances of this street theater in the above districts in 2016, some of which were performed as part of ODOS 2016.

 

Creative Alley, PakistanCreative Alley is publishing an article on the theme of love, sexual and reproductive health and disability.

Creative Alley is a Lahore based initiative that provides a platform for those who believe in themselves and feel they have what it takes to be in the limelight. Creative Alley seeks out young, enthusiastic, people who want to come up front and reveal themselves–people who can be handed a mic, given a stage, an audience and last but not least a chance! Stay tuned!

Learn more about Creative Alley here: https://www.facebook.com/CreativeAlleyHQ/

FDI_logoForum for Dignity Initiative will launch a video amplifying transwomen’s perspectives on bodily autonomy and community leadership. FDI is a rights-based organization in Islamabad that strives for an equitable society for transgender people, sex workers, and girls and young women. Read more about FDI here: https://www.fdipakistan.org/.

 

PHILIPPINES

The Philippines is set to pass national level legislation against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity this year, which is the result of country wide mobilization. Building on their work through ODOS in the past five years, PILIPINA Legal Resources Center (PLRC) along with PILIPINA Davao will be holding a public lecture and policy discussion workshop to strengthen support for sexual & bodily rights as human rights amongst the women’s movement in the Philippines. This includes support for the national level legislation, as well as the implementing rules and regulations of the Davao municipal legislation.

TURKEY

Women for Women's Human RightsWomen for Women’s Human Rights-New Ways (WWHR) and LAMBDA Istanbul joined forces to create a video advocating for the holistic integration of LGBTIQ rights in human rights based work, as part of WWHR’s ongoing ongoing video series targeted towards civil society organizations (CSOs) working in fields such as education, environment, climate change, youth and SRHR.

Through this project, WWHR aims to empower the cross-sectoral alliances among CSOs, while also documenting on-going efforts and initiatives towards realizing the SDGs in diverse fields.


UGANDA

Safe spaces for young women and girls to discuss sexual violence are few and far between. As part of opening such spaces and fostering community support, Islamic Women’s Initiative for Justice, Law and Peace (IWILAP) is holding round table discussion with young Muslim women on sexual harassment, sexual violence and rape. After the round-table IWILAP will support girls to strategize how they can best raise awareness and lead change to speak out against gender-based violence in their communities.

 

ACROSS CONTEXTS

This year, CSBR and IWRAW-Asia Pacific are co-hosting a Twitter chat on advocating for #SafeandLegal abortion through the human rights framework, this 9 November 2017, from 5pm – 6.30pm (GMT+8).  Mark your calendars and join us!

Twitter chat flyer - Abortion and CEDAW (2)

We’ll be in conversation with the Asian-Pacific Resource & Research Centre for Women (ARROW), Aware Girls (Pakistan), Women’s Aid Organization (Malaysia), RESURJ, Hidden-Pockets Collective (India), Rutgers WPF Indonesia, Balance AC (Mexico), and Fondo MARIA.

*    *     *     *     *

As always, our greatest appreciation to the efforts of the organizers and participants of the campaign!

CSBR CSBR Activities, Headline, News from Member Organizations

Toppling Walls, Building Bridges: The Rise & Prospects of New Global Feminism

CSBR is honoured to have been able to connect with our sisters in Turkey, and those from around the world as far as Peru, Poland, Ukraine, Hungary, Ireland and more–for an important and timely conversation on “Toppling Walls, Building Bridges: The Rise and Prospects of New Global Feminism“, sponsored by Heinrich Boll Stiftung in Istanbul, from 2-3 November 2017.

kureselfeminizmmailing.19.10.17.rev1_

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Over two days speakers shared lessons & insights for strengthening feminist organizing in a political moment where authoritarianism, the “polypore state“, militarism and neoliberal global economic interests are coalescing in new ways to suppress and threaten women’s human rights around the world.

 

Aliyme Demir (KAOS-GL), Rima Athar (CSBR), and Berfu Seker (WWHR-New Ways) - Istanbul 3 November 2017
Aliyme Demir (KAOS-GL), Rima Athar (CSBR), and Berfu Seker (WWHR-New Ways) – Istanbul 3 November 2017

* * * * *

On the fourth panel on “Resisting & Organizing Locally and Globally“, our Advisory Committee member Aliyme Asli Demir discussed the interconnected rise of ‘right-populism’ globally, from the Turkey to the US to India and beyond, and the shifting terrain and tools we have available as activists to resist and organize creatively.

CSBR Coordinator Rima Athar, discussed transnational networks of anti-rights actors–including evangelical Christian NGOs, the OIC block, the Russian Orthodox Church and others–that are pushing an international campaign to suppress sexual and bodily rights under the guide of “protection of the family” and “traditional values”. She highlighted implications for new feminist organizing that recognizes that recent hate-campaigns against LGBT communities in Indonesia, Egypt, Malaysia are not isolated events, but rather connected to similar campaigns that have taken place in Russia, Uganda, and at international UN forums with increasing frequency and coordination in the last decade.

Emily Morgan Waszak, an organizer of the organic and powerful women’s protest against the Anti-Abortion Law in Ireland, discussed the methods and considerations of calling the women’s strike to repeal the 8th amendment, which equates the life of a pregnant women with that of an unborn fetus. The #Strike4Repeal was inspired by the Polish women’s black protest the year before, and brought thousands to the streets in Ireland to claim reproductive autonomy.

* * * * *

The full program can be seen on Heinrich Boll’s website here: https://calendar.boell.de/en/node/111607, and is copied below.

 

programeng.20.10.17

CSBR CSBR Activities, Featured, News from Member Organizations, News on Sexual & Bodily Rights

Regional Training Workshop on Sexual Rights – Amman, September 2017

Through a private donation received in January 2017,  CSBR launched our first Participatory Seed Grant program for our members.Muntada - CSBR Seed Grant

After a round of proposals, a collective review and decision-making process by our members,  the grant went to Muntada-the Arab Forum on Sexuality, Health and Education, to support an Arabic language MENA Regional Training Workshop on Sexual Rights for service providers.

The training was held in Amman, Jordan from 12-17 September 2017. It brought together seventeen professionals from Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia, Sudan, and Syria. Over six intensive full days, the training focused on providing basic knowledge on sexuality, challenging traditional concepts of Sexual Rights, developing trainees’ skills, and providing them with professional tools to be used when working with different target groups in their societies. The workshop provided a safe space for learning, reflection, and for intellectual discussions where participants shared their personal and professional experiences and analyzed similarities and differences between the multiple contexts within the Arab Region.

This valuable experience is part of a series of regional training courses around the Arab Region carried out by Muntada. Currently, Muntada is preparing for its fifth regional training which will take place in Egypt this month in cooperation with “Love Matters – Egypt”. In addition, a sixth regional workshop which will be held in Tunisia by the beginning of 2018 in cooperation with the Tunisian Family Planning Association.

 

 

Trainees Reflections:

Below are some reflections shared by participants by the end of the training,Muntada - CSBR Seed Grant 2 which illustrate the real
change that occurred both on personal and professional levels:

 

  • “I learned new skills and concepts in dealing with children’s sexual issues, professionally I learned new awareness techniques and communication methodologies, you gave me huge power to go back home and address sexual issues in the community with no feelings of shyness nor fear”.

 

  • “I learned to trust myself, my choices, my paths, I’m proud of myself and proud that I’m part of a worldwide feminist movement. The biggest important lesson was facing myself! Professionally the training was a turning point! I learned a lot from the experience sharing, I took lots of energy and power and gave you all my expertise from the field”.

 

  • “This was the second training I participate facilitated by a woman! I come from religious background yet the learning path provided during the training was beyond expectations! The knowledge transformation techniques and the active participatory method used throughout the
    training, were very professional and classy. Accepting “the other” was distinctive, the group was
    diverse and I’m sure that selecting such combination was hard yet very effective!”

 

  • “On professional level, I gained new information and corrected previous ones. The course was a chance for confrontation with reality and diversity compared to the other theoretical courses I participated in. On personal level I need to work more to increase my passion and intimacy
    aspects.”

 

  • “The most important thing I learned is the techniques and methods that should be used when addressing sexual topics with children. I learned to be honest with children. Personally the group gave me a lot particularly courage and passion to change.”

 

  • “The training was one of the richest experiences that I had in my life, I benefited from every minute and every detail. The training path was a golden opportunity to break taboos, it’s an adventure with new people in a new country. I learned how to re-think what I think. New, creative and participatory tools were produced, effective communication techniques were given
    and professional facilitation skills were gained”.

 

  • “I learned to speak out my story to others, I learned how to reconsider my vision, to stand in front of the mirror and get to better understand and know myself. Understanding relations and categorizing them has a great effect.The change that happened to me on personal levels had
    definitely affected me on professional levels, the “Journey through sexuality” activity was a very
    good example that illustrates this effect. Several concepts were corrected and new facilitation
    skills were gained. I acquired strength I wouldn’t have gained in any other place in the world!”

 

What was special in this training workshop?

Throughout the tens of training workshops conducted by Muntada during the last ten years within the
Arab communities, we never had a participant who is “declared” as a person living with HIV, nor a gay sex worker. Their presence and sharing of their personal and intimate experiences were a huge contribution to the learning process for the rest of the participants.

 

What’s next?!

In the last session of the course, a timetable was set for a series of activities including awareness workshops to be carried out by each trainee in his/her country by the end of November 2017, with diverse community groups including professionals and University students, women, parents, publication of articles on Sexual Rights at local and regional media. In addition, two guides on puberty–“I became a young man” and “I became a young woman”, published by Muntada three years ago in Palestinian slang–will be re-written in the Tunisian dialect. It is worth mentioning that these guides were previously transformed into the Egyptian dialect by the initiative of an Egyptian graduate who participated in the first regional workshop in 2015.

Action plans were set together with each participant to promote sexual rights in his/her own country. These included the following:

1. Algeria: A University professor will conduct a sexual awareness workshop and discussion rounds with University students.

2. Tunisia: A Human Rights Activist will conduct sexual rights awareness workshops for adolescents aging 14-26. They will work together on translating sexual concepts to theatre sketches to be performed in rural areas. Moreover, she will work together with Muntada’s Media and Website coordinator to launch a Radio Web.

3. Tunisia: A professional will conduct awareness workshops to several groups of persons with HIV at the care proving centers. He will also re-write the two guides “I became a young woman” and “I became a young man” in Tunisian dialect language so it can be published and distributed in Tunisia.

4. Lebanon: a professional who works in a UN agency called “The International Rescue Committee” will conduct a sexual awareness workshop for her co-workers, in addition to that she will train professional cadres mainly social workers who work with groups of women and girls at impoverished localities in the North of Lebanon.

5. Lebanon: an educator will initiate a small project focusing on interactive theatre with women on sexuality issues. Moreover she will write an article on related sexual topics to be published in local media.

6. Syria: an advocate will: (a) conduct an awareness workshop for her co-workers, (b) network with local civil society organizations for people with disability, (c) initiate an interactive theatre with a group of people with disability on sexuality concepts, and (d) will use sexual rights terminologies in UNFPA and Y-Peers campaign in Syria which focus this year on gender violence and Femicide.

7. Syria: a professional will conduct two workshops one with her co-workers and another with children using music and theatre.

8. Syria: a professor will conduct awareness workshop for university students and will work on updating the Reproductive Health Program curriculum provided by Family Planning Association in Syria.

9. Syria: an educator will implement awareness workshops at Family Planning Association’s Youth Centers and will integrate sexuality concepts in their training curriculum.

10. Syria: a youth advocate will initiate a blog with scout youth groups and will write an article on sexual rights.

11. Sudan: an advocate will conduct and awareness workshop with youth activists through networking with Al Nouby Woman Center, moreover she will write an article in English for the use of the Sexual and Reproductive Rights Network in Sudan.

12. Egypt:a professional who works at “Ma’looma Center” will implement an awareness workshop for his co-workers who are responsible to answer more than one and a half million questions received from the public. In addition to that he will add sexuality concepts to “Al Arakoz” Theatre project which targets nurseries and moves between rural areas in Egypt.

13. Egypt: an organizer will conduct an awareness workshop for groups of mothers as part of Coptic Church community activities.

14. Egypt: an NGO worker who lives in the UAE, will work with parents of children with disabilities and will initiate awareness classes at school level as a preventative action. She will also network Muntada with UAE Y-Peers and with UAE Red Crescent.

15. Jordan: an advocate will work with groups of teenagers and parents who are part of “Community Rehabilitation” Program which works with people in their homes. She will also initiate discussion rounds on sexual concepts with Jordanian activists who work on sexual harassment and child marriage issues.

16. Egypt: a coordinator for the Y-Peer Network in the Arab Region will write an article on sexual rights concepts and circulate it through Y-Peer, to integrate these concepts in their upcoming regional campaigns on Reproductive Health.

17. Morocco: an organizer will conduct two awareness workshops–one with LGBTI youth group and another with an association that works with displaced women. He will also work on integrating sexuality to the training curriculum in terms of therapy and individual counseling. Further to that, he will initiate a workshop with Y-Peer Morocco and prepare Theater Interactive Sketches as part of “The oppressed” Theater which works in rural areas.

*     *     *     *     *

For more information on Muntada, visit their website: http://www.jensaneya.org/en/News.

If you’d like to support CSBR to continue our seed grant program, get in touch with us as coordinator@csbronline.org.

 

 

CSBR News from Member Organizations, News on Sexual & Bodily Rights, Statements

EIPR demands the immediate release of detainees and warns against violations in detention EIPR calls on the media to halt its hate speech and incitement against LGBTQI individuals

Press ReleaseEIPR

متوفر بالعربية
Wednesday, 4 October, 2017
 
The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) condemns the ongoing crackdown targeting LGBTQI individuals, or those perceived to be, that began on September 22 after some audience members at a concert in Cairo raised the rainbow flag, known to symbolize sexual diversity and acceptance of all genders. Since the campaign began at least 57 individuals have been arrested in Cairo and a number of other governorates (the number now stands at 54). Little evidence exists to link the overwhelming majority of those arrested to the incident at the concert let alone the fact that the act itself is not punishable by law. Sexual relations between two consenting same-sex adults should also not be considered a punishable offense.EIPR also condemns the lack of guarantees of due process and fair trial for those arrested, particularly the refusal to allow detainees to contact their families and lawyers and the speedy referral of cases to court without adequate time for the defense to review police reports or investigation records. Detainees have also been subjected to various forms of violations while in detention.

Finally, EIPR condemns the parallel campaign in Egyptian media that employs a discourse of hate and discrimination to incite against a segment of Egyptian citizens based on their sexuality. EIPR calls on the media to demonstrate a minimum degree of professionalism and moral responsibility.

 

Unprecedented crackdown and massive violations

The crackdown started when a small number of people waved the rainbow flag, recognized commonly as a symbol of sexual diversity and acceptance of all genders, during a concert by Lebanese band Mashrou’ Leila at one of Cairo’s biggest malls on September 22. After the concert, photos circulated on social networking websites and several media figures, as well as political and religious personalities joined voices against those who were assumed to have waved the flag. In response to this incitement, police forces arrested dozens of individuals — who are either LGBTQI or perceived to be — most of whom have no link to the concert whatsoever, in the most vicious clampdown of its kind in two decades.

EIPR documented at least 57 arrests in Cairo, Giza, Ismailia, South Sinai and Damietta. The majority of those arrested are facing charges of “habitual debauchery,” or “promoting debauchery,” in accordance with articles 9 and 10 of Egypt’s anti-prostitution and debauchery law 10/1961. Others face charges of facilitating debauchery, and two face charges of joining an outlawed group that aims to disrupt the provisions of the Constitution and the law through inciting “deviancy.” Remarkably, a number of these individuals have already been found guilty of charges and 10 defendants in 9 cases have received harsh prison sentences, ranging from one to six years.

Police forces are continuing their campaign to arrest individuals assumed to have been involved in waving the rainbow flag. Starting at 9 pm Monday, up until the writing of this statement, police were still raiding homes.

Security forces arrested both Ahmed Alaa and Ali Farag in Damietta, and transferred them to the Damietta police precinct, from where Farag was later released. Before his release, Farag was questioned by a National Security Agency officer about his involvement in the flag waving “incident,” and was asked about his knowledge of others who may have been involved. Sarah Hegazy was also arrested in Cairo simultaneously. Hegazy and Alaa were both interrogated on Monday morning at the Supreme State Security Prosecution, and were charged with joining outlawed groups that aim to disrupt the provisions of the Constitution and the law, as mentioned above. The police also raided the homes of a number of other women suspected to have participated in waving the flag, but who escaped arrest as they weren’t home at the time.

“We are sure that the scale of the crackdown is much larger than we know. Every single time lawyers have been to the prosecution, or to court, they have discovered more arrests than they expected. They also noticed that all of those arrested, either through online entrapment, or from LGBTQI friendly spaces, were being interrogated in separate cases,” says EIPR executive director Gasser Abdel-Razek.

The arrests, interrogations and indictments are all replete with blatant violations of the right to a fair trial and its guarantees, as stipulated by the Constitution and international conventions that have been ratified by successive Egyptian governments. In particular, EIPR expresses its deep concern at the rapid referral of these cases to court, without enabling defendants to exercise their constitutional rights to contact their families and choose their lawyers.

“They wanted to refer the arrested to court so quickly, that the prosecution referred some cases to divisions that have no competent jurisdiction, which they pointed out,” explains Alaa Farouk EIPR’s lawyer.

In at least one case, the public prosecutor’s office referred a minor to the Misdemeanor court. Ahmed Hossam, the human rights lawyer who attended the inquiry recounts: “The prosecution had a health inspector present a certificate stating that the age of the arrested is 19. We had to present a birth certificate to the court to prove that he is 17. In the second session, the court decided not to try him as an adult and referred him to juvenile court.”

Testimonies from lawyers, as well as similar experiences over the past few years, suggest the strong possibility that the detainees are being subjected to degrading and harsh treatment, in addition to forced anal examinations that are often conducted soon after arrest. In 2002, the United Nations Committee against Torture stated that these tests are “a form of cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment that can rise to the level of torture.”

“It has been proven over and over again that forced anal examinations are based on flawed science. Not only are the detainees’ bodies violated without their consent, but they also face violations in the transfer from the police department to the forensic department. They are subjected to insults and defamation on the street by the policemen accompanying them. Moreover, these examinations reflect a prevailing notion among the state that debauchery only afflicts the person being penetrated,” says Dalia Abdel-Hameed, EIPR’s Gender and Women’s Rights Officer.

 

Egyptian media promotes hate speech and is a partner in incitement

 
Since the first day of the security crackdown, Egyptian media has incessantly called on the police and other state institutions to pursue LGBTQI people, or those suspected of being LGBTQI. They have promoted a speech of hate and discrimination against individuals by claiming that the waving of the flag, as well as anyone who is LGBTQI, poses an illusionary threat to the values and morals of Egyptians.

In one newspaper, an article was published titled: “Leila’s audience thanks those waving the gay flag at the concert,” in a thinly-veiled insinuation that all those attending the concert are LGBTQI. Another newspaper reviewed reactions on social networks, including comments by those who welcomed the waving of the flag and those who condemned it. This has contributed to inflaming the general climate and aided in the incitement and mobilization against LGBTQI people.

Other media outlets hosted or held calls with guests that included religious figures and public personalities, such as the head of the Musicians Syndicate, who all joined the chorus of incitement, calling on security services to act. One caller demanded “Islamic retribution” against those who waved the flag, as well as the organizers of the concert. This is in addition to the leveling of insults against anyone who participated in the concert, and claims of “sexual deviancy.”

The campaign widened in the days following the concert, and included members of the National Council for Human Rights and members of parliament, some of whom filed requests for investigations. A member of the Legislative and Constitutional Affairs committee in Parliament announced that the committee would look into strengthening the penalty for homosexuality, despite this not constituting a crime in Egypt.

Some media outlets went as far as publishing news about the expulsion of a Helwan University student by the university council, after they allegedly established he was at the concert waving the flag. The paper failed to conduct any fact checking and did not comment on the standards by which such decisions should be undertaken, including proper investigations, etc.

Media outlets continue to publish news in a manner that encourages the pursuit of LGBTQI individuals, mostly through entrapment online, without considering the illegality of their actions. This is in addition to the slander of those arrested by publishing their personal details in the news before interrogations are concluded or formal charges are made.

The Supreme Council for Media also issued a statement which read: “Homosexuals should not appear in visual, broadcast media or the Press,” and considered homosexuality to be “a disease and a shame that is best kept hidden, not promoted,” in flagrant violation of the most basic rules of the profession, and in clear contradiction of modern medicine and the knowledge provided by the World Health Organization on homosexuality.
 

Not an isolated incident

 
The current crackdown on LGBTQI individuals shouldn’t be seen in isolation from the organized campaign that has been waged by the “morality police” against LGBTQI individuals for over four years. EIPR has recorded the arrest of 232 people, who are either LGBTQI, or are perceived to be, between the last quarter of 2013 and March of 2017. The overwhelming majority of those arrested were referred to court under the aforementioned anti-prostitution and debauchery laws.

Through the cases collected by EIPR and the testimonies of former prisoners and defendants, we have compiled evidence of a wide range of violations against LGBTQI individuals throughout this campaign, particularly against men having sex with men and transgender individuals. The common manner of arrest is through online entrapment, in which an officer or member of the morality police uses a gay or transgender dating application to pose as a man seeking gay sex, luring others to meet, at which point they are arrested. This entrapment and assumed intention is considered clear incitement to commit a crime by security forces.

Moreover, all interviewees confirmed having been subjected to various forms of harsh and inhumane treatment, amounting to torture in many cases. These include vicious beatings, persistent insults in police stations and threats of sexual violence. Some have been threatened with being placed in a cell with other prisoners who have been incited to rape them. EIPR noted that several of those arrested in this crackdown were subjected to anal examination, which as explained above is a degrading and inhumane measure that could amount to torture.

 

Re-posted from: https://eipr.org/en/press/2017/10/egyptian-state-wages-unprecedented-arrest-campaign-against-individuals-based-their

CSBR News from Member Organizations, News on Sexual & Bodily Rights, Statements

Human rights and freedom of expression in Egypt – trapped between security services and the media

Human rights and freedom of expression in Egypt:

Trapped between security services and the media

Following the escalating violent attempts to suppress and divide civil society organizations, restrict their resources, and increase security measures to silence advocates for human rights and freedom of speech and expression in Egypt, the Egyptian state and media have exceeded all expectations in spreading fear, discrimination and encouraging hate speech inciting Egyptian citizens against each other.

During the past week, the Egyptian state arrested Egyptian citizens for raising a rainbow flag during a concert organized by a band, “Mashrou’ Leila”, on Friday, September 22, 2017. The local media supported these arrests by publishing numerous articles and interviews encouraging hate speech against groups and individuals that have gender non-conforming identities and sexual orientations, especially targeting LGBT people in Egypt. These provoking articles invaded most news and social media platforms.

Consequently, the security attacks increased causing the arrest of more citizens who were charged of “inciting immorality” and attending the abovementioned concert. The Egyptian police’s statement alleged that arrested individuals are “homosexuals who raised the LGBT flag and encouraged the practice of immoral acts.” Political figures, political parties’ representatives, Members of Parliament and Al-Azhar religious scholars have also pressured the state to put an end to – what they called – attempts to corrupt the youth.

In addition, many media organizations – news websites, newspapers and broadcast media – launched campaigns to promote for hate speech using stigmatizing and demeaning terminology against individuals and their dignity. In doing so, these media organizations have neglected the journalism’s code of ethics, international human rights’ values, objectivity and violated the dignity of citizens and their rights to privacy and security against violence, social discrimination and their freedom of speech and expression.

We, the undersigned individuals and organizations, would like to remind media outlets that inciting hate speech violates human rights’ values, diversity and freedoms; we disapprove with repeated state arrests based on sexual orientation and gender identity; we refuse all acts that violate international laws and conventions such as torture in prison, humiliations and forced anal tests; and we confirm our commitment to freedom of expression and the right to security.

First: We call for human rights organizations, civil society, the international community, journalists, media experts, lawyers and all individuals who are interested in protecting human rights values to join their voices to ours and sign this statement.

Second: We remind the Egyptian state of its important responsibility of protecting the security of Egyptian citizens and guaranteeing the freedom of speech and expression as stated by the Egyptian Constitution and International Conventions.

Third: We call for media organizations to respect the values of professionalism during their coverage and defend human rights and avoid hate speech and demeaning terminology against Egyptian citizens, and refrain from giving a space to sources who intentionally spread fear and hate.

#الألوان_مش_عار

#ColorsRNotShame

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2 October 2017