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ODOS 2016: Nazra for Feminist Studies hosts “My Own Body” – a discussion on Bodily Integrity & Autonomy

For One Day One Struggle 2016, Nazra for Feminist Studies is hosting “My Own Body”, a public discussion to raise the question of women’s bodily autonomy and integrity through a feminist analytical lens. The event is being held in collaboration with the Goethe Institute, and will take place from 6-9pm on 9 November in Cairo.

“My Own Body” will bring together diverse stakeholders to sharpen the picture the restrictions and possibilities for change across fields such as the medical industry, film and creative media, civil society organizing, and academia. Topics to be explored include how contemporary medical/psychological developments reinforce patriarchal authority over women’s bodies; the role played by conservative social and political foundations in controlling women’s bodies and sexualities; how laws interact with traditions to serve as guardians of these politics of control; as well as addressing the everyday violations and violence that women encounter as their bodies are being objectified and targeted. Taking in consideration the escalation of those violations against women’s bodies and their personal spaces in addition to the traumatizing sexual violence in the public sphere, the One Day One Struggle event will explore not only how patriarchal structures of power are normalizing this violence, but also women’s every day strategies to claim their bodies.

Additionally, Nazra will be sharing articles and blogs on different aspects of bodily integrity and autonomy by feminist writers across Egypt throughout the day. Follow the online campaign with the hashtags #MyOwnBody and #OneDayOneStruggle.

See the Facebook page for more details: https://www.facebook.com/events/1457243860952778/

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تشارك نظرة للدراسات النسوية بحملة “جسدي وحدي” في إطار حملة “يوم واحد، نضال واحد” وهي حملة عالمية يطلقها تحالف الحقوق الجسدية والجنسية في المجتمعات الإسلامية. تُطلَق الحملة يوم 9 نوفمبر ولمدة يوم واحد فقط من كل عام، وتشارك نظرة للدراسات النسوية هذا العام من خلال طرح سؤال أجساد النساء من منظور نسوي تحليلي. ويُجدر الإشارة أن طرح مسائل مثل السلامة الجسدية والخصوصية تثير بدورها تساؤلات خاصة بالمنظومة الأبوية ككل. تهدف الحملة لمناقشة وتحليل الدور الذي تلعبه المؤسسات المجتمعية والسياسية المختلفة في التحكم في أجساد النساء، وكيفية تعامل المؤسسات الأبوية مع أجساد النساء بشكل يومي وذلك من الناحية الطبية والنفسية، وكذلك من منظور الفنون والآداب المعاصرة.
وفي هذا السياق تتشرف نظرة للدراسات النسوية بدعوتكن/م للحضور والمشاركة في الأنشطة المختلفة لهذا اليوم وتشمل:

1- ندوة بعنوان ” جسدي وحدي” في تمام الساعة السادسة مساء في مركز جوته بالدقي، ويتبع الندوة نشاط تصوير صور فوتوغرافية مع من لديه/ا الرغبة في المشاركة في الحملة المعنية بالتضامن.

2- النشر والتدوين والزقزقة علي هاشتاج #جسدي_وحدي و #يوم_واحد_نضال_واحد على مدار اليوم.

3- مشاركة ومتابعة مقالات رأي متنوعة حول موضوع أجساد النساء بقلم نسويات شابات من مختلف محافظات مصر، تابعوناعلى موقع “ولها وجوه أخرى” http://wlahawogohokhra.org/home وكذلك على موقع “مصريات” http://masreiat.com/ .

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

ODOS 2016: Towards a Gender Equality Act in Malaysia – Women’s Aid Organisation

For One Day One Struggle 2016, Women’s Aid Organisation (WAO) is raising awareness to end discrimination against women in the work force, with a particular focus on ‘pregnancy discrimination’. The mobilization is part of a larger push to see the domestication of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in Malaysia, through the passing of a Gender Equality Act.

WAO_CSBRODOS2016_4

Malaysia ratified the CEDAW Convention in 1995, and submitted its 1st and 2nd periodic reports at the 35th Session of the CEDAW Committee in 2006. Based on the submissions and discussion, the CEDAW Committee recommended “the creation of a State-wide legal mechanism to ensure harmony in the country’s laws, policies and programmes, and to guarantee fully that the rights of Malaysian women were upheld“. Advocates on the ground say the first step to achieving this is a Gender Equality Act.

After the 2006 CEDAW review process, advocates engaged with policy makers about drafting a Gender Equality Bill, as per the CEDAW Committee’s recommendations. However, as shared by WAO Communications Officer Tan Heang-Lee, “In Malaysia the process of passing a Bill into law requires that the Bill first be drafted and presented by Cabinet Ministers, then it is debated in Parliament, then discussed in the Senate, and final endorsement resides with the King. Unfortunately, no Bill was ever drafted by the Cabinet“.

Given that Malaysia is due for review by the CEDAW committee in January 2018, advocates have increased mobilization over the last year to revive the conversation and build support for domestication of CEDAW through a Gender Equality Act.

Focusing on Article 11 of CEDAW, WAO launched a survey to document women’s experiences with discrimination in the workplace. Their research showed that over 40% of women in the workforce have experienced job discrimination due to pregnancy.

When Malaysia was reviewed in 2006, it was the case of Beatrice Fernandez v Sistem Penerbangan Malaysia, in which Beatrice Fernandez was forced to resign from her job with Malaysia Airlines in 1991 when she became pregnant, that was cited by the Committee as a clear shortcoming that needed to be redressed through domestication of the CEDAW Convention. 15 years on, WAO’s survey results are a timely and important reminder that a Gender Equality Act in Malaysia is urgent and long overdue.

Tan Heang-Lee shared, “This survey is one part of a larger process. With the research, we wanted to document women’s experiences, to identify the gaps in practice and policies, and to help women understand as a first step what recourse options they have if they experience such discrimination. For example, if you face discrimination right now, how can you best document your experience, build up evidence, and who can you turn to. Ensuring women’s greater access to what recourse is available is a first step, while we work towards building greater public understanding and support to end discrimination through legislative and policy reform.”

For ODOS 2016, WAO will be sharing infographics from their survey and building momentum towards the next phase of their campaign, which will explore and identify best policies and practices from employers in ensuring non-discrimination.

“Malaysia has one of the lowest levels of women’s participation in the workforce in the region, hovering at about 53%. That’s an unnecessary toll on our economy, and something we need to address. With this research, down the line we also want to engage employers, to identify best practices, and to see how women’s leadership in the workplace ultimately benefits them.“

Want to get involved? Join the campaign by sharing the infographics, and keep up with Women’s Aid Organisation (WAO) on Facebook @womens.aid.org, Twitter @womensaidorg and Instagram @womensaidorg.

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

ODOS 2016: Towards Ending Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender (LGBT) Discrimination in the Philippines

For One Day One Struggle 2016, PILIPINA Legal Resources Centre (PLRC) is taking forward advocacy for policy reform that ensures non-discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people in the Philippines. This marks the 3rd year that PLRC has taken up the issue through the ODOS campaign.

Through One Day One Struggle in 2011, PLRC began advocating for the inclusion of sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) in the Davao City Anti-Discrimination Ordinance–a success that was realized in 2012. The Ordinance was the first of its’ kind in the Philippines, and provides protection from discrimination against women, ethnic minorities and people living with disabilities as well.

Recognizing that the passage of the law is the first step, in 2015, PLRC advocated for strengthening the Implementation Rules & Regulations (IRR) of the Anti-Discrimination Ordinance within Davao City. For ODOS 2015, PLRC organized an expert consultation with LGBT community members, lawyers, and municipal government officials to develop the framework for the IRR. The success of the workshop lead PLRC to be invited to lead a series of trainings for municipal government and public institutions on the agreed recommendations for the IRR.

PLRC’s advocacy at the national level has also translated to the international sphere, where along with many groups worldwide, PLRC advocated for the adoption of the UN Resolution for an Independent Expert on SOGI during the 32nd Session of the Human Rights Council in June 2016.

For ODOS this year, in collaboration with CSBR and the Davao City Integrated Gender & Development Division, PLRC is hosting two dialogues with local legislators and policy makers, with the goal of developing the final text for the Implementaiton Rules & Regulations of the Anti-Discrimination Ordinance as well as developing a city-wide action plan for more outreach activities for LGBT rights.

The first discussion takes place 9 November 2016, from 10am-12pm, at University Engagement & Advocacy, Ateneo de Davao University, Jacinto Campus, Davao City.

The second discussion takes place 10 November 2016, from 10am-11pm at Sangguniang Panglungsod ng Dabaw, San Pedro Street, Davao City

Panelists: Lorna Mandin (for updates), Dr EJ Sabado, Jhoanna Cruz, Atty. Romeo T. Caberde, Jr. (to be confirmed)

Legislators: Hon. Pilar Caneda Braga, Hon. Myrna Dalodo Ortiz, Hon. Avegayle Dalodo-Ortiz Omalza, a representative of Hon. Halila Sudagar

Facilitator: Kaye Solamo Antonio/PILIPINA Legal Resources Center

Check back for updates and results on PLRC’s ODOD 2016 action soon.

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ODOS 2016 – Muntada’s Photovoice Portraits: Strength, Multiplicity and Resilience

As part of One Day One Struggle 2016, MUNTADA is celebrating its 10^th Anniversary with an evening of discussions and photography exhibits from their pioneering work using the participatory action research method of photovoice to engage the public in conversation on women’s strength, dynamism, and resilience. See details on the proejct and the photo exhibit below.

About the Exhibit

قد تكونُ هذه الصور عبارة عن رحلةٍ للبحثِ عن الوجهِ الإنسانيّ كنافذة إلى جوهر الإنسان. رحلةٌ تستخدم أزياءً مختلفة، ووضعيّات مختلفة، وخلفيّات وأغراض، لتعرضَ ذات الوجه في مظاهر وأشكال مختلفة. بهذا، تختلط في الوجهِ الواحد هويّات اجتماعيّة متباينة، مما يُعرقل أفكارَنا المسبقة التي تتمسّك بالمظهر لتقييم الجوهر، أي تقييم الدور والموقف الاجتماعيّين.

من هنا، فإن عرض الوجه بأشكال متعددة هو خطوة تستعيد مركزيّة هذا الوجه الإنسانيّ؛ يتعطّل الدور الذي تشغله السيجارة، والطنجرة، والحجاب، والكدمات في تكوين أفكارِنا المسبقة عن الشخوص، ويبقى وجه الإنسان ذو الجمال والقوّة.

بكلمات أخرى، فإن كثافة وتطرّف هذه الاختلافات يكشفان وجوهَنا، يُظهرانها، فتتحوّل التعدّديّة إلى نوع من التعرّي – التعدّدية التي لا يُمكن للمجتمع أن يُظهر إنسانيّتَه من دونِها.

في هذه الصور، يتجوّل الوجهُ الواحد بين أدوارٍ اجتماعيّة كثيرة، بإيحاءات، وهويّات وتوجّهات مختلفة. وهي لا تُعبّر بالضرورة عن ظروفٍ اختارتها النساء، كما لا تُعبّر بالضرورة عن إكراهٍ وإخضاع. لكنّها تدعو إلى التحديق في العينين والتعرّف على القابليّة المذهلة للتعدّد والاختلاف، والانطلاق من المتساوي، والندّ، والإنسانيّ المشترك في مواجهة القمع الاجتماعيّ – لا بإلغاء اختلافات المظهر، إنما بالاحتفال بهذه الاختلافات وتقديرها.

تسعى هذه السلسلة الفوتوغرافيّة إلى رفض صورة نمطيّة واستعلائيّة عن شكل الإنسان “الحُر” ومحاولة التشبّه به، واستبدالها بفكرة التحرّر انطلاقًا من الظرف الذاتيّ للإنسان، التحرّر الذي ينطلق من حاجات وهموم الذات، وليس من “شكل” الآخر كما يهيّمن على مخيّلتنا من خلال السلطة الطبقيّة والجندريّة.

لا نطالب هنا بمجرّد السماح بالتعدّدية، إنما نسعى إلى التحرّر الاجتماعيّ من خلال تذويت التعدّدية كقيمة جوهريّة.

About the Team

عن مجموعة العمل:
كان علينا أن نختار ما نقول من خلال هذه الورشة التي أخذتنا بعيداً في عالم الفوتوغرافيا والضوء. لم تقتصر رحلتنا على الجوانب التقنية في تفعيل الكاميرا بأجزائها، وإنما امتدت بنا إلى اكتشافنا للذات وما نَعبُرُه نحن كميسرات ومرشدات ومؤسِّسات لهذا المنتدى، سواء كان ذلك مع حكايانا أو حكايا من نلتقيهن من فتيات ونساء في ورشاتنا.
إن ما نختار أن نعرضه اليوم هو بداية لمشروع جماعي مستمر، ينقل ما نعيشه ونلتقيه من حكايا نسائية من خلال عملنا وتفاعلاتنا وتجاربنا. تكمن قوة هذه الصور التي نعرضها في سيرورة ولادتها بين الصور العشوائية التي التقطتها نساء لم يحملن كاميرا من قبل. وفي خضم تعدد هوياتنا ووجهات نظرنا، أنتجنا صوراً تحمل لغة واحدة مبنية على مسار من الحوارات والتفكير في بناء المشاهد التي نصورها لتشكل في نهاية المسار مشروعاً له مقولته ورسالته متخذاً الكاميرا عنصراً مساعداً في التعبير وإثارة الأسئلة والحوار ورفع الوعي للتغيير.
المشاركات في هذا العمل:
فاديه خوري، نهال كيال، أمل حداد، ميادة أبو جبل، ديزيريه لطيف، رباب قربي، سمر قرمان، فيروز ابو شيخه، أنيسة عانق وحنان شحادة
أشرف على الورشة:
المصور محمد بدارنه
محمّد بدارنة مصوّر ومدرّب فوتوغرافيّ، وناشط اجتماعيّ وُلد في قرية عرّابة البطّوف. انخرط بدارنة في النشاط الاجتماعي منذ شبابه وشارك في تأسيس حركة “حقّ” الشبابيّة لحقوق الإنسان. بعد تخرّجه من دراسة التصوير الفوتوغرافيّ، كرّس بدارنة وقته للتصوير الفنّي والاجتماعيّ، إلى جانب تدريب المصوّرين وتعليمهم ضمن المؤسسات الأهليّة. تلقّى بدارنة عدّة منح فنيّة، وعُرضت أعماله في صالات عرضٍ هامّة، منها “دارة الفنون” في عمّان، منظمة العفو الدوليّ في جينيف ومقر الأمم المتحدة في نيويورك.

Photovoice Exhibit

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For more information and details, email Leila at pr@jensaneya.org.

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ODOS 2016: EIPR submits open letter to WHO urging change of the Arabic definition of female circumcision/FGC/ FGM on its website to correspond with English and French definitions

To mark the One Day, One Struggle campaign, the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights submitted an open letter to the World Health Organization’s high-level Working Group for the Health and Human Rights of Women, Children and Adolescents, calling on it to amend the definition of female circumcision/female genital mutilation on the organization’s Arabic website to correspond with the definition in English and French. The EIPR found substantial discrepancies between the Arabic definition of female circumcision and the definition in all other languages on the WHO website.

The Arabic definition lacks an important sentence affirming that there is no medical basis for the practice. The second paragraph of the Arabic definition also diverges completely from the definition in other languages. The problem is that this incomplete definition is the same one adopted by the Egyptian legislator in recent amendments to the Penal Code article criminalizing female circumcision. The EIPR therefore calls on the WHO to change the Arabic definition on its website and to urge the Egyptian government to alter the definition of the practice in the Penal Code to reaffirm that there is no medical basis for female circumcision.

Read the PDF full letter in Arabic here and PDF full letter in English here.

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

Un Jour Un Combat, Contre Le harcèlement sexuel en Tunisie!

For One Day One Struggle 2016, l’Association Tunisienne des Femmes Democrates (ATFD), Chouf, Mawjoudin, Waafi, and Shams, are continuing the campaign to raise visibility and awareness on street sexual harassment.

via GIPHY

This year the campaign expanded to take place over 10 days, with organizers working the streets and public transportation since November 1st. By creating resources and sharing information with people in public spaces, the actions are intended to raise visibility on the issue of street sexual harassment and encourage people to break the silence, speak out and take action when they witness sexual harassment on the streets. The collaboration has already gained attention in the media as a much needed intervention, especially in a socio-legal context where sexual harassment is only recognized in the workplace. Sexual harassment in the streets and in public spaces continues with little option for recourse, but by disrupting the normalization of street harassment through such actions and conversations, l’ATFD and co. are creating room for change.

On 9^th November, the 2016 campaign concludes with a rendez-vous at the Golden Tulip Hotel at 18h to reflect on the actions taken, lessons learnt, and experiences shared. Don’t miss it!

Check out the Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Un-Jour-Un-Combat-996099703765811/?fref=ts for more details.

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ODOS 2016: VISION holds Street Theatre Performances on Sexual and Bodily Rights of Hijras in Pakistan

For One Day One Struggle 2016, VISION will be hosting a street theatre performance on the sexual and bodily rights of hijras in Pakistan.

Previously held in 5 different areas, these performances were the culmination of a five day participatory street theatre workshop VISION conducted with trans women from 18-22 October 2016. Throughout the five day workshop, participants discussed personal lived experiences, shared insights and analysis on how to challenge narratives and experiences of discrimination to realize sexual and bodily rights. Amidst these sessions, participants also learned the basics of street theatre, including voice projection, scripting, location, basic props, and then collectively developed and shaped the storyline and direction for the performance.

Street theatre is an especially useful tool for engaging people in a public space who might not otherwise seek out or access awareness raising events. For the first two performances, VISION chose locations with high foot-traffic, including the public Murree Bus Terminal where there was a higher likelihood of attracting passers by.

Over the course of the 20 minute performance, the crowds continued to grow, and at the end of the show the response was very positive, with audience celebrating the play’s key message of bodily autonomy and integrity.

Watch a video of one of the street performances here: https://1drv.ms/f/s!Ajq4-MflHoZxlVQacvNEJ5I3QTjU

Brief synopsis:

The birth of a child is celebrated in the traditional way, and the celebration is manifold because it is a boy child. This child grows up to be different from others of his age, and manifests this difference through his activities. When the child reaches adolescence, the father and the older brother throw the child out of the house. The boy joins the transgender community. Police accesses are reflected in one Act and then in the final Act the boy, who has now been able to embrace his identity as female transgender, is hassled at a public park by some goons. At that moment, she tells the entire world that her body belongs to her, and that she will determine what she does with her body, and who she chooses as friends/companions/family.

On 9th November VISION will be performing on the streets of Islamabad. Stay tuned for more details and updates.

* All photos and videos shared by VISION with CSBR, please do not reproduce or share without acknowledgment.

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More Than 70 Organisations Come Together To Support Maria Chin Abdullah

CSBR joins 70+ organizations calling on the Malaysian government to immediately investigate death threats against Malaysian human rights defender Maria Chin Abdullah. Read the press release from APWLD below.

Demand immediate investigation of the death threats

* Demand Government stops harassment of activists organising and participating in peaceful actions *

02 November, 2016

Chiang Mai

More than 70 organisations across Asia Pacific and the globe have signed a statement to demand that the Government of Malaysia and police immediately investigate the death threats against BERSIH 2.0. Chairperson Maria Chin Abdullah and her family members, ensure their safety and security, and bring perpetrators to justice.

“The threats to Maria and her children are part of a systemic attack on human rights and democracy while taking a particularly vile, gendered form” said Kate Lappin, Regional Coordinator of Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development (APWLD). “When the government itself attacks the work of peaceful human rights advocates, it’s not surprising that extremists feel emboldened to make threats with impunity. We are calling on government and police to meet their obligations to protect the rights of human rights defenders and their families,” added Kate.

On 18th October 2016, Maria Chin received death threats against her and her family via WhatsApp messages, purportedly by local Islamic State (IS) terrorists. On 20th October 2016, a car belonging to Maria’s son was splashed with red paint at her residence. On 29th October 2016, Maria was detained by the police for distributing flyers to promote an upcoming BERSIH 5 rally.

The Malaysian Government itself has been complicit in harassing and leveling charges against Maria Chin for organising and participating in peaceful actions. State sanctioned harassment and efforts to portray Maria and BERSIH as threat to national security or unity emboldens extremists and creates a permissive culture for threats. The organizations also urge the Malaysian Government to immediately and unconditionally withdraw all charges against Maria Chin Abdullah under the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012 and Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984.

List of Organisations That Signed The Statement

Advocacy, Research, Training and Services (ARTS) Foundation
Aksi! for gender, social and ecological justice
ALL INDIA NATIONAL LIFE INSURANCE EMPLOYEES FEDERATION INTUC
AMIHAN National Federation of Peasant Women
APVVU
APWLD
Asia Dalit Rights Forum
Asia Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA)
Asia Monitor Resource Centre
Asia Pacific Research Network
Asia South Pacific Association for Basic and Adult Education (ASPBAE)
Asociadas por lo Justo-JASS
Association For Promotion Sustainable Development
Awaj Foundation
AWID
Badhan Hijra Sangha(BHS)
Beyond Beijing Committee
Center for Trade Union and Human Rights (CTUHR), Philippines
Centre for Himalayan Integrated Development and Social Welfare
Centre for Human Rights and Development
Citizen News Service (CNS)
Computer Professionals’ Union
Colombo Plan Seretariate
Cooperative Committee of Trade Union
CSBR | Coalition for Sexual and Bodily Rights in Muslim Societies
Dhaka Single Women Association (DSWA)
Diverse Voices and Action (DIVA) for Equality, Fiji
Emonyo Yefwe International
EMPOWER
Feminist League
Fiji Women’s Rights Movement
Fundación para el Estudio e Investigación de la Mujer. (FEIM)
Global Fund for Women
Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
GRIST
Hebrew University
Human Rights Focus Pakistan
ICWAP
INSTITUT PEREMPUAN
International Migrants Alliance (IMA)
International Service for Human Rights (ISHR)
Kalyanamitra
KOCUN (Korea Center for United Nations Human Right Policy)
MADRE
Maitree
MONFEMNET National Network
Maruah
MDS
NATIONAL FORUM OF WOMEN WITH DISABILITIES
National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers
Nijera Kori
Pakistan Kisan Mazdoor Tahreek
PAN Philippines
PF “Development of Civil Society”
Rural Women’s Association “Alga”
RASTRIA VYAVASAYA VRUTHIDARULA UNION
Sahanivasa
Sathi All for Partnerships
SHAZET PA
Shobujer Ovijan Foundation
Socialist Party (India)
Tamil Nadu Women’s Forum
Tanggol Bayi, Philippines
TelengaTelengana Vyavasaya Vruthidarula union- TVVU
Terre des Hommes
TierrActiva Peru
UBINIG (Policy Research for Development Alternative)
Urgent Action Fund for Women’s Human Rights
Vote For Health campaign
We Women Lanka
WECF International
Women For Human Rights Single Women Group (WHR)
Women’ Centre
Women’s Aid Organisation
WOREC Nepal
Worldview- The Gambia
Youth LEAD

Please click here for the entire list of signatures (both organisational and individual).

About Maria Chin Abdullah

Through Bersih, human rights defenders like Maria have led some of the largest peaceful assemblies in the history Malaysia which created democratic space for their fellow Malaysians to speak out in public. She has served as the National Women’s Coalition president and All Women Action Society (Awam) president. She was also executive director of the Women’s Development Collective and executive director of APWLD member, Persatuan Kesedaran Komuniti Selangor (Empower). She has been recently awarded the prestigious Gwangju Prize for Human Rights.

About BERSIH 2.0

BERSIH started out as the Joint Action Committee for Electoral Reform, which was formed in July 2005, and the coalition’s objective was to push for a thorough reform of the electoral process in Malaysia. BERSIH was officially launched on 23 November 2006 in the Malaysian Parliament building lobby. The time came for BERSIH to continue its crusade for clean and fair elections independent of any political party. BERSIH was thus re-launched as BERSIH 2.0, a coalition of like-minded civil society organisations unaffiliated to any political party. Their aim is to effectively monitor both sides of the political divide.

Contact

For more information, please contact our communications team

Neha Gupta

Email: neha@apwld.org

Phone: + 66-53-284 527

+ 66-955 282 396

Fai Suluck

Email: fai@apwld.org

Phone: + 66-53-284 527

Please click here to download the press release.

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Response to the UN Women’s call on: “Consultation seeking views on UN Women approach to sex work, the sex trade and prostitution”

CSBR is one of 190 national, regional and international sex workers’ rights, women’s rights and human rights organizations/networks who submitted a joint response to UN Women’s Call for “Consultation seeking views on UN Women approach to sex work, the sex trade and prostitution”.

The submission focuses on five key recommendations for UN Women to consider in their policy development process:

Develop the policy through a transparent and participatory process, engaging a diverse range of sex workers from the global South and North,
Anchor the policy in human rights principles
Distinguishing between sex work and trafficking
Emphasize the importance of decriminalization and remove related punitive laws and policies
Address all forms of violence against all sex workers

Read the PDF Statement here: Joint-statement-from-womens-rights-and-sex-workers-rights-organisations-to-un-women-31-october and text below

31 October 2016

This statement has been jointly prepared by 190 sex worker rights, women’s rights, and human rights organizations.[*]

We are writing this statement in response to UN Women’s call for submissions in an e-consultation about the development of a UN Women policy on sex work. A number of sex workers’, women’s and human rights organizations have been engaging with UN Women for some months about this proposed policy, stressing the importance of a process that meaningfully engages with a broad range of sex workers’ and women’s rights organizations as essential to the process of developing a policy.

While UN Women has stated that they are engaging in an open process, we are alarmed at the possibility that the end result will not support the human rights of sex workers.[1] For instance, the wording of question 3, to us, indicates an already established point of view. They ask “The sex trade is gendered. How best can we protect women in the trade from harm, violence, stigma and discrimination?” While we would certainly agree that sex workers of all genders face discrimination, harm, stigma and violence, we note that there is ample evidence that decriminalization of sex work is the best remedy to empower sex workers to advocate for their rights and to engage with state and non-state actors to secure their rights. It is imperative to clearly distinguish consensual sex work from human trafficking, as well as recognize that there are female, male and transgender sex workers.

As a co-sponsor of UNAIDS, we urge UN Women to ensure that their policy aligns with the recommendations from the Global Commission on HIV and the Law and the UNAIDS Guidance Note on HIV and Sex Work which recommends:

“States should move away from criminalising sex work or activities associated with it. Decriminalisation of sex work should include removing criminal penalties for purchase and sale of sex, management of sex workers and brothels, and other activities related to sex work.”[2]

In the following statement, we focus on five key recommendations for UN Women to consider in their policy development process:

1. Development of the policy through a transparent and participatory process, engaging a diverse range of sex workers from the global South and North.

We are deeply concerned that the only public consultation to date is an e-consultation. Such a process risks excluding many of those who are critical to the discussion – sex workers in communities with limited Internet and not familiar with UN jargon or human rights treaties. Therefore, we call on UN Women to develop and engage in a transparent and inclusive consultation with sex workers’ rights, women’s rights, and other relevant organizations in the preparation of any UN Women policy in relation to sex work.[3]

An appropriate process should be well planned, participatory and must include sex workers representing the full diversity of classes, races, sexes, genders, ethnicities, health status, ages, nationalities, citizenships, languages, education levels, disabilities, and other factors, in order to ensure that those most impacted by such policies/guidelines in various regions of the world are significantly engaged in the process.

2. Anchored in human rights principles

UN Women, as a UN agency dedicated to advancing gender equality and the human rights of women, should take as its starting point the respect, protection, promotion and fulfilment of human rights, enshrined in international and regional conventions and national constitutions.

Any UN Women policy in relation to sex work should recognize sex workers as rights holders and decision makers. Their choices should be respected in relation to all areas of engagement in life, including in relation to their sexuality, reproduction, employment, access to services and information, freedom of movement and assembly. Sex worker’s participation in legal, policy and programmatic processes in relation to sex work should be guaranteed.[4]

In this regard, recognizing sex worker’s labour as work, not dissimilar to other forms of labour in the service sector of the economy, and hence of their economic contribution to society, is integral to respecting, protecting and fulfilling sex workers’ human rights. In this regard, it is important for UN Women to align their policy with that of the International Labour Organization (ILO). The ILO recognises sex work as informal labour in the official Report of the Committee on HIV/AIDS, which accompanied the publication of the ILO standard ‘Recommendation concerning HIV and AIDS and the World of Work, 2010 (No. 200)’.[5] The ILO is clear that sex work is covered by this instrument recognizing work in both formal and informal economies.

3. Distinguishing between sex work and trafficking

The conflation of consensual sex work and human trafficking leads to the implementation of inappropriate responses that fail to assist either of these groups in realizing their rights, and can contribute to violence and oppression.[6] At the same time the narrow concentration of anti-trafficking programmes on the sex industry also distracts from efforts to prevent other forms of trafficking such as domestic servitude and forced labour.[7] Instead of victimising women who engage in consensual sex work and questioning their capacity to make decision for themselves and their right to self-determination, UN Women should protect and promote sex worker’s rights. We recognize that exploitation and labour rights abuses exist in the sex industry; however, as shown in the literature the best way to address these human rights abuses is through the fulfilment of sex workers human rights and through the opposition to all forms of legal oppression of sex work.[8] People who choose to engage in sex work, do so because it is a viable alternative to other work and livelihood choices. Women’s agency and capacity to challenge their exploitation and exercise their rights in relation to their occupation should be recognized.

Trafficking people is not the same as sex work involving consenting persons. A distinction, drawing from the “Palermo Protocol,”[9] must be clearly demarcated between voluntary sex work and involuntary and coercive exploitation and trafficking, including the non-consensual trade of persons for this purpose.[10] UN agencies, such as WHO, UNAIDS, OHCHR, UNDP, international organizations such as ILO, UN treaty monitoring bodies, and UN Special Rapporteurs carefully distinguish between sex work and trafficking and sexual exploitation, and UN Women should follow the same practice.[11]

4. The importance of decriminalization and removal of related punitive laws and policies[12]

Strong evidence shows that criminalization and otherwise punitive and restrictive regulation of sex work puts sex workers at greater risk of violence and poor health outcomes. In contrast, an enabling legal environment for sex workers increases their access to justice and services. Indeed, The Lancet suggests that decriminalization could avert 33–46% of HIV infections globally in the next decade.[13] In doing so, decriminalization is an important tactic for reaching several of the SDGs, including SDG 3 (good health), SDG 5 (gender equality) and SDG 10 (reduced inequality).

Criminalization and the application of other punitive or restrictive regulations that violate the rights of sex workers and foster discriminatory practices and stigmatizing social attitudes, do not eliminate sex work, but rather, create barriers to sex worker’s access to essential services like health care or legal redress. It places women engaging in sex work at a higher risk of violence,[14][15] and reduces sex workers’ ability to organize with the aim to improve their health and safety or advance their rights.[16]

Positive measures, including decriminalization of sex work, that respect and protect the rights and promotes the well-being of sex workers should be supported. This includes full decriminalization of sex work consultation with sex workers prior to any introduction of regulations that aim to protect the rights, health and safety of sex workers, including the formulation and implementation of workplace occupational health and safety standards; recognizing sex work as labor and as an economic contribution to society; provision of non-discriminatory health and social services; non-discriminatory access to health insurance and social protections such as maternity leave; protection of labor rights; and protection from forced eviction, police brutality and violence. [17]

5. Addressing all forms of violence against all sex workers

UN Women’s policy should be anchored in evidence, and comprehensively address all forms of discrimination and violence against sex workers. Violence against sex workers occurs not only because of economic, social and legal disadvantages, but it is perpetrated with impunity by state (law enforcement officers) and non-state actors. Sex workers are often left without legal recourse or access to health and legal services. Hence, a comprehensive structural response is needed in order to eliminate violence against sex workers.[18] And indeed, full decriminalisation of sex work in combination with the recognition of sex worker’s rights and introduction of health and safety protections for sex workers can lead to a dramatic reduction of violence against sex workers of all genders and the reduction of corruption or organized crime.[19]

UN Women’s sex work policy should emphasize the importance of advancing sex workers’ access to equal protection of the law,[20] and address their lack of access to justice, remedies and redress. As suggested by the call by UN Women and the IOM to the UN General Assembly on the occasion of UN Summit for refugees and migrants[21], national or migrant sex workers should have access to justice mechanisms, as well as fair and adequate compensation for their work. They should also have access to health care facilities. The access should be non-discriminatory, free from stigma, youth-friendly, and the testimony and wishes of sex workers should be prioritized.[22] Health services should be available upon request and should not require second-party (spousal guardian or parental) consent.

SIGNATORIES:

NSWP/Global Network of Sex Work Projects (UK/Global)
CREA (India)
CREA (Global)
VAMP/Veshya Anyay Mukti Parishad (India)
Dandelion Kenya (Kenya)
IWHC/International Women’s Health Coalition (US/Global)
African Sex Workers Alliance/ASWA (Kenya/Regional)
Mama Cash (Netherlands/Global)
Davida – Prostituição, Direitos Civis, Saúde (Prostitution, Civil Rights, Health) (Brazil)
Daspu (Brazil)
RedTraSex, (Regional)
Asia Pacific Network of Sex Workers/APNSW (Regional)
Global Fund for Women (US/Global)
Urgent Action Fund Sisterfunds (Fondo Acción Urgente (UAF-Latin America), Urgent Action Fund Africa, Urgent Action Fund)
Caribbean Sex Work Coalition (Regional)
Guyana Sex Work Coalition (Guyana)
Balance (Mexico)
UHAI, EASHRI (Eastern Africa)
African Women’s Development Fund/AWDF (Regional)
La Strada International (Europe)
Rose Alliance (Sweden)
South Asia Women’s Fund (Sri Lanka/Regional)
Sexuality Policy Watch, a project based at ABIA (Brazil)
Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice (US)
Foundation Aid Care Prostitution/SHOP- Stichting Hulpverlening Opvang Prostitutie (Netherlands)
SWAN/Sex Workers’ Rights Advocacy Network in Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia (Hungary/Regional)
International Network of Women who use Drugs (Global)
Akahata – Equipo de Sexualidades y Generos (Argentina)
Associação Mulheres Guerreiras (Brazil)
Rights4Change (Netherlands)
UCO Legalife-Ukraine (Ukraine)
TAMPEP International Foundation (Europe)
Arab Foundation for Freedoms and Equality
GATE/Global Action for Trans Equality (Global)
SWOP/Sex Workers Outreach Project (US)
Arab Foundation for Freedoms and Equality
Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women/GAATW (Global)
ARC International (Canada)
Red Umbrella Alliance, New Jersey (US)
RESURJ/Realizing Sexual and Reproductive Justice Alliance (Global)
Red Umbrella Fund (Global)
Red Umbrella Sexual Health and Human Rights Association (Turkey)
HIVOS (Netherlands/Global)
International HIV/AIDS Alliance (UK/Global)
AJWS/American Jewish World Service (US)
The Asian-Pacific Resource and Research Centre for Women (ARROW) (Malaysia/Regional)
Best Practices Policy Project (US)
Youth Coalition for Sexual and Reproductive Rights (Global)
Prostitution Policy Watch – Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil)
Atria – Institute for Gender Equality and Women’s History (Netherlands)
Netherlands Council of Women (Netherlands)
Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights (Canada)
PONY, Prostitutes of New York (US)
Global Health Justice Partnership, Yale University (US)
Gender at Work (Canada/Global)
Point of View (India)
Count Me In! Consortium (Partnership of AWID, CREA, JASS, Mama Cash and the Urgent Action Funds)
Coalition for Sexual and Bodily Rights in Muslim Societies (Global)
IWRAW-AP/International Women’s Rights Action Watch Asia Pacific (Malaysia/Global)
SANGRAM/Sampada Gramin Mahila Sanstha (India)
CASAM/Centre for Advocacy on Stigma and Marginalisation (India)
Nazariya (India)
Coalition of African Lesbians (South Africa, Regional)
Sexual Rights Initiative (Global)
Center for Women’s Global Leadership (US)
Naripokkho (Bangladesh)
AWID/Association for Women’s Rights in Development (Global)
Just Associates/JAS (Global)
Sex Workers Project, Urban Justice Center (US)
Hydra e.V. (Germany)
ASTRA anti-trafficking action (Serbia)
Women’s Global Network for Reproductive Rights/WGNRR (Global)
African Sky
FairWork, (Netherlands)
LEFÖ – Information, Education and Support for Migrant Women (Austria)
Association of Women and the Law/Vereniging Vrouw en Recht (Netherlands)
Rede Brasileira de Prostitutas (Brazilian Network of Prostitutes)
Gempac (Grupo de Mulheres Prostitutas do Pará – Brasil )
Rutgers: for sexual and reproductive health and rights (Netherlands)
DAWN/Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era (Global)
TIYE International (Netherlands)
Association PROJOB (Netherlands)
Pathways of Women’s Empowerment (UK)
International Committee on the Rights of Sex Workers in Europe/ICRSE (Europe).
Coyote, Rhode Island (US)
Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network (Canada)
MATCH International Women’s Fund (Canada)
Taso Foundation – Women’s Fund and Memory Research Center (Georgia)
CFEMEA – Centro Feminista de Estudos e Assessoria (Brazil)
Dutch CEDAW Network (Netherlands)
Stepping Stone Association of Halifax, Nova Scotia (Canada)
CVC/Caribbean Vulnerable Communities (Jamaica/Regional)
Sex Worker Education and Advocacy Taskforce (South Africa)
Sisonke National Sex Worker Movement of South Africa
AMSHeR/African Men for Sexual Health and Rights (Continental Africa)
Asia Pacific Network of People Living With HIV (APN+)
International Council of AIDS Service Organizations/ICASO (Canada/Global)
Coalition of Asia-Pacific Regional Networks on HIV/AIDS (7 Sisters)
Simone de Beauvoir Leadership Institute/Instituto de Liderazgo Simone de Beauvoir (Mexico)
Stella, l’Amie de Maimie (Canada)
Sex Workers Education and Advocacy Taskforce (South Africa)
Sisonke National Sex Worker Movement of South Africa (South Africa)
Maggie’s Toronto Sex Workers Action Project (Canada)
APDES (Portugal)
Asociación Civil Angel Azul (Peru)
Feminist Ire (Ireland)
Gender and Sexual Health Initiative (Canada)
Healthy Options Project Skopje (Macedonia)
Ghapro VZW (Belgium)
Comitato per i Diritti Civili delle Prostitute onlus (Italy)
OTS-ES (El Salvador)
STAR-STAR (Macedonia)
Pace Society (Canada)
Operation Snatch (Canada)
L’association Nationale de Protection des Femmes et Enfants Haïtiens (Haiti)
Pacific Rainbows Advocacy Network (Fiji)
Zi Teng (Hong Kong)
Respect Inc. (Australia)
Women’s Network for Unity (Cambodia)
HPLGBT (Ukraine)
HIV/AIDS Research and Welfare Centre (Bangladesh)
WONETHA (Uganda)
Espace P (Brussels)
Asociación de Mujeres Las Golondrinas (Nicaragua)
Genera: Asociación en defensa de los derechos de las mujeres (Barcelona)
Athena Network (US/Global)
Kenya Sex Workers Alliance -KESWA
Sisonke Botswana
Alcondoms Cameroon
WOPI -Nigeria

131. Rights Not Rescue Trust (Namibia)

SWATU (Swaziland)
Rwanda Sex Worker
Bar Hostess Empowerment and Support Programme (Kenya)
Philippine Sex Worker Collective (Phillipine)
The Stepping Stone Association (Canada)
Réseau Solidarité pour le Droit des Travailleuses du Sexe (Burundi)
Association Nle de Protection des Femmes et Enfants Haitiens (Haiti)
Safe Harbour Outreach Project (Canada)
Sexual Health Options, Resources & Education Centre (Canada)
Sex Professionals of Canada / SPOC (Canada)
Voices of Women in Western Kenya/VOWWEK (Kenya)
East Africa Trans Health and Advocacy Network (EATHAN)
Fundación Arcoiris (Mexico)
The Global Network of People Living with HIV/GNP+ (Netherlands/Global)
Center for Health and Gender Equity/CHANGE (US)
Options for Sexual Health (Canada)
FEM Alliance Uganda
SCOT-PEP (Scotland, United Kingdom)
Associação das Prostitutas dr Minas Gerais (Brazil)
Caribbean Sex Work Coalition (Caribbean, Regional)
Jamaica SW Coalition (Jamaica)
Guyana SW Coalition (Guyana)
HIPS (United States)
Crested Crane Lighters (Uganda)
OPSI (Indonesia)
Organization for Gender Empowerment and Rights Advocacy (Uganda)
Amitiel Welfare Society (Pakistan)
Aids Myanmar Association (Myanmar)
Philadelphia Red Umbrella Alliance (United States)
Kisauni Peer Educators (Kenya)
Lady Mermaid’s Bureau (Uganda)
Malawi Sex Workers Alliance (Malawi)
Transgender Equality Uganda (Uganda)
Tanzania Community Empowerment Foundation (Tanzania)
Ohotu Diamond Women Initiative (Nigeria)
Sex Workers Outreach Project Chicago (United States)
Homme pour Les Droits et la Santé Sexuelle (Congo)
Alcondoms (Cameroon)
Cameroon Sex Worker Alliance (Cameroon)
SeksworkExpertise (Netherlands)
Aids Fund/Soa Aids (Netherlands)
PROUD (Netherlands)
Geledes Instituto da Mulher Negra (Brazil)
CEPIA/Cidadania Estudo Pesquisa Informação Ação (Brazil)
Rede Nacional Feminista de Saúde Direitos Sexuais e Direitos Reprodutivos (Brazil)
Pivot Legal Society (Canada)
Astitva Trust (India)
Asia Pacific Transgender Network
Uganda Health and Science Press Association
LGBTI and Sex Workers Rights to Health in Public Health Policy and Law in Uganda
Empower Foundation (Thailand)
JJJ Association (Hong Kong)
Teenz Links Uganda (Uganda)
Action Humanitaire pour la Santé et le Développement Communautaire (Congo)
MAIZ (Australia)
Association of HIB Affected Women and their Families (Lithuania)
Le Collectif Femmes de Strasbourg-Saint-Denis (France)
Butterfly Asian and Migrant Sex Workers Support Network (Canada)
Gay and Lesbian Coalition of Kenya/GALCK (Kenya)
Asia Pacific Transgender Network/APTN (Thailand/Regional)

[*] All signatories are listed at the end of the letter. Several of the signatories are networks that represent a number of other organizations, each of which did not sign individually but as part of the network. The Global Network of Sex Work Projects, for instance, has over 200 members.

[1] Sex workers include “female, male and transgender adults and young people (over 18 years of age) who receive money or goods in exchange for sexual services, either regularly or occasionally”. Sex work may vary in the degree to which it is “formal” or organized. It is important to note that sex work is consensual sex between adults, which takes many forms, and varies between and within countries and communities.

[2] UNAIDS. UNAIDS Guidance Note on HIV and Sex Work, Geneva, 2012. http://www.unaids.org/en/media/unaids/contentassets/documents/unaidspublication/2009/JC2306_UNAIDS-guidance-note-HIV-sex-work_en.pdf

[3] UNAIDS Guidance Note on HIV and Sex Work that has been published in 2012. http://www.unaids.org/sites/default/files/sub_landing/JC2306_UNAIDS-guid…

[4] UN Women. Note On Sex Work, Sexual Exploitation and Trafficking. 2013. See also UNAIDS Guidance Note On HIV and Sex Work, 2012; UNFPA Guidance Note On HIV/Aids, Gender and Sex Work – complete reference; NSWP Consensus Statement reaffirms NSWP ’s global advocacy platform for sex work, human rights and the law. 2013.

[5] International Labour Organization, Recommendation concerning HIV and AIDS and the World of Work (No. 200) adopted 2010. Available at http://www.ilo.org/aids/WCMS_142706/lang–en/index.htm

[6] Report of the Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, Anand Grover. New York (NY): United Nations; 2010 (A/HRC/14/20); see also Global Alliance Against Trafficking in Women (GAATW), “The Cost of a Rumour” available at http://www.gaatw.org/publications/WhatstheCostofaRumour.11.15.2011.pdf; and Global Network of Sex Work Projects (NSWP) “Sex Work is not Trafficking” available at http://www.nswp.org/resource/sex-work-not-trafficking.

[7] See, for instance, Joanna Busza. Sex work and migration: the dangers of oversimplification-a case study of Vietnamese women in Cambodia. Health and Human Rights, 7:2, 231-249, 2004.

[8] See citations listed in footnote 6. See also the Lancet Special Issue on HIV and Sex Work, July 2014 at http://www.thelancet.com/series/HIV-and-sex-workers; Decker, et al., “Human rights violations against sex workers: burden and effect on HIV, in the Lancet, Volume 385, Issue 9963, 10–16 January 2015, Pages 186–199; J. Amon et. al., Evaluating Human Rights Advocacy on Criminal Justice and Sex Work, International Journal of Health and Human Rights, Jun2015, Vol. 17 Issue 1, p91-101.

[9] The Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons Especially Women and Children, supplementing the
United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (Palermo Protocol). GA resolution 55/25, adopted 15 November 2000. Available at http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/ProtocolTraffickingIn…

[10] UN Women. Note On Sex Work, Sexual Exploitation and Trafficking. 2013;

[11] Global Commission on HIV and the Law. (2012) HIV and the law: risks, rights and health. New York (NY): United Nations Development Programme; 2012; Technical guidance for Global Fund HIV proposals Round 11 (complete), The report of the UNAIDS Advisory Group on HIV and sex work. Geneva: Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS; 2011; WHO, UNFPA, UNAIDS, NSWP, World Bank & UNDP, 2013, “Implementing Comprehensive HIV/STI Programmes with Sex Workers: Practical Approaches from Collaborative Interventions” available athttp://www.who.int/hiv/pub/sti/sex_worker_implementation/en/. UNODC 2006 Protocol to prevent, suppress and punish trafficking in persons, especially women and children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime. New York (NY): United Nations; 2000 (A/55/49 (Vol. I)); http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/ProtocolTraffickingIn…

[12] Decriminalization measures should include: every consensual act relating to exchanging sex for money; or specific or surrounding acts, such as buying sex and/or soliciting for the purpose of sex work, renting a room for this purpose, or brothel-keeping; and/or use of administrative and local regulations, such as charging with offences like vagrancy, public nuisance, being in parks or other public places after hours and the like. Persons who shall not be punished for activities related to consensual sex work, includes sex workers, clients, third parties such as brothel keepers, receptionists, maids, drivers, landlords, hotels who rent rooms to sex workers and anyone else who is seen as facilitating sex work, as well as families, partners and friends. See The report of the UNAIDS Advisory Group on HIV and sex work. Geneva: Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS; 2011. Global Commission on HIV and the Law 2012; Sexual Health, Human Rights and the Law. World Health Organization 2015.; UNAIDS Guidance note on HIV and sex work. Geneva: Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS; 2009.; Report of the Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, Anand Grover. New York (NY): United Nations; 2010 (A/HRC/14/20; CREA, NSWP

[13] Shannon et. al. Global epidemiology of HIV among female sex workers: influence of structural determinants. Lancet Special Issue on HIV and Sex Work, 2015; 385: 55–71.

[14] (UNAIDS 2011b). (Burris et al. 2010; Global Commission on HIV and the Law 2012; Mossman 2007). WHO 2015 (Betteridge 2005; Day and Ward 2007; Reckart 2005; UNAIDS 2009, United Nations 2010). CREA, NSWP; Understanding the De- Criminalisation Demand: Aarthi Pai and Meena Saraswathi Seshu. 2014.

[15] UN Women. Note On Sex Work, Sexual Exploitation and Trafficking. 2013

[16] Sex work, HIV and access to health services in Namibia: national meeting report and recommendations. Windhoek: UNFPA/Namibia; 2011; Prevention and treatment of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections for sex workers in low- and middle-income countries. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2012.; Sexual Health, Human Rights and the Law. World Health Organization 2015. Eight working papers/case studies: Examining the intersections of sex work law, policy, rights and health. New York (NY): Open Society Institute; 2006. (India related reference)

[17] Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. (2012) Dutch Policy on Prostitution. Questions and answers 2012 (http://www.minbuza.nl/binaries/content/assets/minbuza/en/import/en/you_and_the_netherlands/about_the_netherlands/ethical_issues/faq-prostitutie-pdf–engels.pdf-2012.pdf, ; New Zealand. (2003) Prostitution Reform Act 2003. Public Act 2003 No 28; República de Colombia Corte Constitucional (Constitutional Court of the Republic of Colombia). (2010) Sentencia T-629/10.Decided on 13 August 2010; South Africa Labour Appeals Court. (2010). Kylie v. Commission for Conciliation Mediation and Arbitration and Others. Case No. CA10/08. Decided on 26 May 2010; Bangladesh Society for the Enforcement of Human Rights and Others v. Government of Bangladesh and Others. Case 53 DLR (2001) 1. Dhaka: High Court Division, Supreme Court; 2000 (e.g. Bangladesh; Bangladesh Supreme Court 2000). Prevention and treatment of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections for sex workers in low- and middle-income countries. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2012. Global Commission on HIV and the Law. (2012) HIV and the law: risks, rights and health. New York (NY): United Nations Development Programme; 2012; Sexual Health, Human Rights and the Law. World Health Organization 2015.

[18] UN Women. Note On Sex Work, Sexual Exploitation and Trafficking. 2013

[19] Sexual Health, Human Rights and the Law. World Health Organization, 2015.

[20] (General Recommendation No. 19: Violence against women. New York (NY): United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women; 1992 (A/47/38). United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women; 1999. (A/54/38/Rev.1, Chapter I Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography. New York (NY): United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child; 2000 (A/RES/54/263) (Entered into force 18 January 2002).; Protocol to prevent, suppress and punish trafficking in persons, especially women and children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime. New York (NY): United Nations; 2000 (A/55/49 (Vol. I); Report of the Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, Anand Grover. New York (NY): United Nations; 2010 (A/HRC/14/20). Prevention and treatment of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections for sex workers in low- and middle-income countries. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2012.

[21] http://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2016/9/statement-un-women-and-iom-call-on-world-leaders-to-make-migration-policies-that-work-for-women

[22] NSWP Consensus Statement sets out sex workers entitlements and demands around sex work, human rights and the law. 2013.

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

What’s behind Indonesian authorities’ desire to control LGBT sexuality?

DO_Conversation — *Article by Dede Oetomo, CSBR Advisory Committee Chair*

Indonesia’s LGBT community has been weathering “unprecedented attacks” through hateful public comments by top public officials since early this year.

But the biggest threat yet has come recently in a legal move by a conservative group, the Family Love Alliance (AILA), to criminalise any sexual activity outside marriage. The Constitutional Court is deliberating the alliance’s request to change the definitions of adultery, rape and sodomy in the Criminal Code.

The police have joined the chorus of discrimination against LGBT people by urging the government to ban online gay dating applications. The Communication and Informatics Ministry has declared it will ban the apps.

Both AILA and the police say their demands are based on a need to protect children from sexual abuse and child prostitution. In a recent police raid of a child prostitution ring, police found the gay dating apps on the suspect’s iPad.

Sexual violence against children and child prostitution in Indonesia are serious problems which the government must tackle. Yet it begs the question of why, in doing so, the police are only interested in banning gay dating apps.

Numerous social media platforms such as Facebook also provide potential platforms for crimes, including child prostitution.

Amid the rhetoric of protecting children, AILA also seems to ignore Indonesian marriage law that allows child marriage.

Impact to private lives

Criminalising extramarital sex will greatly impact the wellbeing of LGBT people in Indonesia. Their lives are hard enough in the current legal landscape, where same-sex behaviour is not criminalised under national law.

LGBT rights activism in the past four decades has slowly empowered some LGBT people to be comfortable expressing themselves, mostly in the bigger cities.

But even after decades of struggle many LGBT people in Indonesia who are born in conservative families or in highly religious communities feel they have no choice but to hide their sexual orientation and gender identity to avoid discrimination and social prejudice. This can be deeply alienating.

If AILA succeeds in its request, state control over citizens’ bodies will be repressive for both for trans and cisgender people interested in adult consensual sex with the opposite or same sex.

But while heterosexuals have the option of “lawful” sex under marriage, LGBT people, having no option to marry as marriage in Indonesia is defined as being between a man and a woman, would have no space at all for privacy in their sexual lives.

Religious conservatism, sexualised nationalism

AILA and its expert witnesses argued in the Constitutional Court hearings that extramarital sex, especially same-sex relations, violates national and religious values in Indonesia. These arguments reject the universal human rights principle of the right to privacy.

They deem universal human rights principles as foreign values that are different from the concept of human rights in Indonesia. This is reminiscent of the particularist “Asian values” argument used by the likes of the dictator Soeharto and his ilk.

AILA’s supporters have the right to their beliefs. But imposing these values on other people is religious extremism wrapped in sexualised nationalism.

Nationalism and being Indonesian in this sense are defined through heterosexuality and heterosexual family principles, what writer Julia Suryakusuma calls state ibuism, excluding others who do not fall into this category.

This is dangerous not only for LGBT people but for pluralism in Indonesia in general. It would legalise the act of “othering” and criminalise minority groups who hold different values from the majority Indonesian (Sunni) Muslim community.

Indonesia, with its hundreds of different ethnic groups spread out across thousands of islands, has always been a blend of different cultures with differing value systems, including those brought from foreign shores.

In fact, all of the six religions that the Indonesian state officially acknowledges, including Islam, are originally foreign to the people living in the islands that now make Indonesia. The word AILA does not mean anything in the Indonesian language, but it means “big family” in Arabic.

Sexual repression for political purposes

Disconcerting as it is, AILA members are practising their rights as citizens to request a review of a law that they deem in conflict with their values. It is the support from state officials for their repressive and anti-pluralist ideas that is worrying.

To understand the situation, we can look back to history. Sexuality, since it is imbued with moral panics, has for a long time been used strategically for political purposes.

In the Dutch Indies era from 1938 to1939, when colonial powers were threatened by wars in Asia and Europe, a newly created morality police – polisi susila – conducted a massive hunt to arrest homosexual men who were allegedly guilty of having sex with underage boys.

According to historian Marieke Bloembergen, the actual reason for the sudden “moral cleansing” is that the decreasing authority of the colonial government led it to target homosexuals to reassert its power and prove it could maintain order and security.

Perhaps the overemphasis on sexuality, especially gay sexuality, by Indonesian officials in the current context may be connected to a sense of declining public trust in state institutions, especially the judiciary and law enforcement institutions.

Public lack of trust in the police has also been exacerbated by their alleged involvement in drug trafficking described in the confessions by convicted drug lord Ferry Budiman, before he was executed, to a human rights activist.

The justification of “child protection” used in the anti-LGBT rhetoric also successfully spreads prejudiced sentiments and fears of LGBT people.

By conflating LGBT people with violence against children, one of the most vulnerable groups as well as the symbol of the next generation to sustain the nation-state, Indonesian state officials are able to promote an image that they are “protecting the future of the nation”.

This is a narrative that could easily win nods from the public who have difficulties in distinguishing between paedophilia and consensual same-sex relationship between adults.

This article was co-authored by Hendri Yulius, author of Coming Out. Yulius is taking his second master’s degree in gender and cultural studies at the University of Sydney.

Originally published in The Conversation, 23 September 2016

CSBR CSBR Activities, Featured, News on Sexual & Bodily Rights, Resources & Tools, Statements

Holding governments to account for the sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights of women and girls around the world

On the occasion of the 1st Anniversary of the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), CSBR joined 60+ organizations and International Planned Parenthood Federation in writing to the UN General Assembly President and UN Secretary-General to urge them to hold UN Member States accountable to their committments to sexual and reproductive health rights, gender equality and women’s empowerment. Read the letter below.

* * * * * *

13 September 2016

To the President of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), HE Ambassador Peter Thomson of Fiji and the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban-Ki Moon,

On the anniversary of the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) we, the undersigned, call on you, in your roles as the President of the United Nations General Assembly and the Secretary-General of the United Nations, to hold Member States to account for their progress towards achieving SDG 5 on gender equality and women’s empowerment. As you know, gender equality is central to achieving sustainable development, and the target on universal access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights is a pre-requisite for that change.

The ambition set out in the SDGs is clear. Gender equality, women’s and girls’ human rights, and the empowerment of girls and women will not be possible without the realization of sexual and reproductive health and rights. Providing the full range of sexual and reproductive health services, information and education so that all women and girls can make free and informed choices about their sexuality and their reproductive lives is a basic human right and central to realizing the full range of women’s rights, and to progressing gender equality.

Achieving sexual and reproductive health and rights, and gender equality is not just an end in itself. Enabling everyone to access these life-changing services will support the elimination of poverty and hunger, achievement of gender equality and quality education, reduction of inequality, adaptation to climate change, and sustainable consumption. Without access to sexual and reproductive health services and education achieving some of the other goals will become a much harder task, while others will be impossible to realize.

We must ensure that the commitments made just one year ago are not forgotten. We cannot risk failing on all the goals due to a lack of political will to implement those related to gender equality and SRHR.

In this 71st Session of the United Nations General Assembly, one year after the SDGs were adopted, we urge you to work with Member States to turn their ambition into reality by supporting their efforts for implementation, encouraging effective partnerships and ensuring their commitment through strong accountability mechanisms. In advance of The High Level Political Forum in 2017, which will be focusing on goals 3 and 5, now is the opportunity to work with Member States to help them to meet their commitments on SRHR and move towards a sustainable world where no one is left behind.

Signed

Action Works Nepal

AFLED Mali

AKAHATÁ

Akina Mama wa Afrika

American Jewish World Service

Arab Women Organization of Jordan

Association for Farmers Rights Defense, AFRD – EUFRAS Georgia

Balance from México

Caidre Cameroon Association

CARE International

China Family Planning Association

Coalition for Sexual and Bodily Rights in Muslim Societies

Coordinadora de la Mujer – Bolivia

Danish Family Planning Association

Family Planning New Zealand

Family Planning NSW

Family Planning Tasmania

Family Planning welfare Northern Territory

FOKUS- Forum for Women and Development

Forum International des Femmes d’lespace Francophone

Fundación para el Estudio e Investigación de la Mujer

Gender and Development Network

Gender-Center Republic of Moldova

GENDERS AC

GROOTS Trinidad & Tobago

INPPARES- Perú

International Community of Women Living with HIV

International Council of AIDS Service Organizations

International Federation of Women in Legal Careers

International Federation of Women Lawyers

International Peace Initiatives

Isis-Women’s International Cross Cultural Exchange

Japan Family Planning Association

Japanese Organization for International Cooperation in Family Planning

medica mondiale

Mexfam

Mongolian Family Welfare Association

National Alliance of Women’s Organisations Nigerian Network of Women

Exporters of Services Orchid Project

‘Pacificwin’ Pacific Women’s Indigenous Networks

Papua New Guinea Family Health Association

Planned Parenthood Federation of America

Red Federación Mujeres & Municipalidades A.L.C- Enlace Perú

Regional Centre for International Development Cooperation

Rural Women’s Network Nepal

Rutgers

Samoa Family Health Association

SDGs Kenya Forum and GCAP Kenya

Sexual Health information networking & education SA Inc

Sexual Health Switzerland

Society of Catholic Medical Missionaries

Solar Cookers International

SOVA Somalia

Stichting Ultimate Purpose

Support for Women in Governance Organization

The Association of War Affected Women

The Central America Women’s Network

The German Medical Aid Organization

The Global Initiatives for Human Rights – Heartland Alliance for Human Needs & Human Rights

The International Alliance of Women Equal Rights – Equal Opportunities

The Swedish Women’s Lobby

Tonga Family Health Association

Trust for Indigenous Culture and Health Union de l Action Feministe

Väestöliitto ry

Vision Spring Initiatives Lagos Nigeria Womankind Worldwide

Women for Women’s Human Rights-New Ways

Women Peacemakers Program

Women’s Global Network for Reproductive Rights

World Vision Finland

View the PDF letter here: http://www.csbronline.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/IPPF_UNGALETTER_SRHR_SDGS_SEPT-2016.pdf

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

Justice for Hande Kader

31 August 2016

H.E. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

President of the Republic of Turkey
T.C. Cumhurbaşkanlığı Genel Sekreterliği
06689 Çankaya, Ankara, Turkey
Tel: +90 312 525 5555
Fax: +90 312 525 583
Email: contact@tccb.gov.tr

Your excellency,

As members and allies of the Coalition for Sexual and Bodily Rights in Muslim Societies (CSBR), we are writing to call for justice, and to express our grief and despair, at the fate of Hande Kader, the 23 year-old transgender woman who was tortured, raped, and burned to death earlier this month.

Her body was found in Istanbul on 12 August 2016, and to our knowledge no effectual investigation has been made into her murder, and no steps taken by the authorities to bring the perpetrators of this unlawful act and violent crime to justice.

Hande Kader was a strong and outspoken young woman, who proudly worked for Turkish citizens to be able to exercise their inalienable civil, political and human rights. She earned a living as a sex worker. She is one of but too many Turkish citizens whose bodily integrity and lives have been brutally violated and cut short, by people whose bigotry and fear has manifested in unacceptable violence against women, violence against transgender youth, and violence against those who speak up for justice.

As many in the international community are asking, we ask you now, ‘how is beating, raping and burning someone to death more acceptable than being transgender?’ #HandeKadereSesVer

According to a civil society report, Turkey has the highest rate of reported murders of transgender persons in Europe, and the 9^th highest rate of reported murder of transgender persons in the world.[1]

There is never an excuse for violence against women, and violent hate crimes cannot continue with impunity.

In 2012, Turkey took a historic step in being the first country to ratify the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, which explicitly includes gender identity as categories of non-discrimination under Art. 4(3). It is the obligation of the state to fully address violence against women in all its forms and to take measures to prevent violence against women, protect its victims, and prosecute the perpetrators.

In accordance with Turkey’s commitments under the Istanbul Convention, we ask you:

To publicly denounce the rape, torture and murder of Hande Kader, and ensure a full, effective investigation into her murder and the prosecution of the perpetrators;

To ensure effective investigations of all reported gender-based hate-crimes in Turkey, including by allocating adequate resources and trainings to investigating agencies;

To regularly run awareness-raising campaigns on prevention of violence and discrimination against transgender women and women sex workers, with effective collaboration from civil society groups;

To consistently monitor, collect and publish statistical data on the number of complaints of violence against transgender women and women sex workers, the responses from the authorities to each complaint, and the results and redress available in each investigation of a complaint;

To take all administrative measures to strengthen legal protections to prevent discrimination and violence against transgender women and women sex workers, in consultation with Turkish civil society groups.

Hande Kader and all young women have the right to live their lives free from violence. We ask you to take action today to uphold that right.

We thank you for your attention and look forward to your response.

Yours sincerely,

Rima Athar
Coordinator, Coalition for Sexual and Bodily Rights in Muslim Societies (CSBR)

Ahlem Belhaj
Chairwoman, Association Tunisienne des Femmes Démocrates (ATFD), Tunisia

Dede Oetomo
Founder & Trustee, GAYa NUSANTARA Foundation, Indonesia

Evelyne Accad
Professeur Emerite, University of Illinois & Lebanese American University, Lebanon

Isabelita Antonio
Executive Director, PILIPINA Legal Resources Center, Philippines

Najma Kousri Labidi
Co-Coordinator, Commission on Sexual & Reproductive Rights, ATFD, Tunisia

Nursyahbani Katjasungkana
National Coordinator, Indonesian Women′s Association for Justice (APIK), Indonesia

Saskia E. Wieringa
Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research (AISSR), University of Amsterdam, Netherlands

Şehnaz Kıymaz Bahçeci
Executive Board Member, Women for Women’s Human Rights – New Ways, Turkey

Tahir Khilji
Executive Director, VISION, Pakistan

Kaos Gey ve Lezbiyen Kültürel Araştırmalar ve Dayanışma Derneği

Flu Baykuş

SPOD Sosyal Politikalar Cinsiyet Kimliği ve Cinsel Yönelim Çalışmaları Derneği

Pembe Hayat LGBTT Derneği

Hevi LGBTI Derneği

Mersin LGBT 7 Renk Eğitim ve Araştırma Derneği

Kırmızı Şemsiye Cinsel Sağlık ve İnsan Hakları Derneği

Ah Tamara LGBTI Wan

Istanbul LGBTI Dayanışma Derneği

T-Kulüp (Transmaskülen Kültür Üretim Platformu)

Trabzon Mor Balık

HDK LGBTİ Meclisi

LGBTİ Barış Girişimi

CC:

H.E. Prime Minister Binali Yildirim
Office of the Prime Minister
Başbakanlık, 06573 Ankara, Turkey
Fax: +90 312 417 0476

Women’s Status General Director Gülser Ustaoğlu
T.C. Aile ve Sosyal Politikalar Bakanlığı
Eskişehir Yolu Söğütözü Mahallesi 2177.Sokak No:10/A
Çankaya, Ankara, Turkey
Email: gulser.ustaoglu@aile.gov.tr
Fax: +90 (312) 705 53 49

[1] See http://transrespect.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/TvT_TMM_IDAHOT2016_Tables_EN.pdf, and http://dagmedya.net/2016/08/16/dunyadaki-trans-cinayetleri-verileriturkiye-trans-cinayetinde-avrupada-1-sirada-dunyada-9/

****

PDF of Letter sent to H.E. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, H.E. Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, and Women’s Status General Director Gülser Ustaoğlu: http://www.csbronline.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/CSBR_JusticeforHandeKader_31Aug2016-1.pdf

CSBR Featured, News from Member Organizations, Resources & Tools

Bandhu Social Welfare Society, Bangladesh, joins CSBR!

We are excited to welcome Bandhu Social Welfare Society (BSWS) in Bangladesh as a new member of the Coalition for Sexual and Bodily Rights in Muslim Societies (CSBR)!

Over the last year, we’ve had the pleasure of connecting more closely and learning from BSWS about their outreach, capacity-building, social organizing and advocacy efforts on issues such as youth sexual health, legal aid & education, as well as sexual and reproductive health rights across Bangladesh.

In October 2015, Shale Ahmed joined CSBR’s panel on “Strengths & Challenges of LGBTI Organizing in Muslim Societies”, a first of its kind session at the ILGA-Asia conference in Taipei, Taiwan.

Shale_2CSBR-ILGAAsia — *Shale Ahmed: “Recognition of Hijra as Third Gender in Bangladesh” at ILGA-Asia 2015*

Shale Ahmed profiled the work that Bandhu has been doing to ensure Hijra access to education, health and housing rights, since the landmark 2011 decision by the government of Bangladesh officially acknowledging the Hijra’s as third gender. The presentation focused on the strategies and challenges of engaging institutional mechanisms–such as the National Human Rights Commission of Bangladesh, drafting national Anti-Discrimination Legislation, and reporting at the UN Universal Periodic Review–to monitor progress & effect long-term change at the national level.

View Shale Ahmed’s presentation here: ShaleAhmed_HjraRights_CSBR-ILGAAsia2015, and read more about Bandhu’s work below.

Bandhu_Logo
Bandhu Social Welfare Society (Bandhu) started its journey in 1996, and works toward the well-being of sexual minorities by facilitating sexual and reproductive health services and supporting human rights, dignity and livelihoods of their choices.

Bandhu Social Welfare Society envisions a Bangladesh where every person, irrespective of their gender and sexuality, is able to lead a quality life with dignity, human rights and social justice.

Main Activities & Projects

Current Programmatic activities:

Community strengthening and mobilizing to more effectively engage in governance, policy and service delivery

Provision of safe spaces to meet, socialize and educate
Outreach and networking
Health and rights education
Capacity building
Knowledge generation
Policy and advocacy
- Sensitization Meeting/workshop/consultation session at policy level
- Project Facilitation Team (PFT) Meeting with local level administration, social elites, Lawyers and Journalists
- Local elected bodies
- Law Enforcement Agencies

2. Social welfare and support services

Drop-in services
Psychosexual, psychosocial and Mental health counseling
Livelihood program
- Vocational training and skills building
- Community building activities

3. Health services

STI and general health treatment services
HIV voluntary testing and counseling
Care and support services
- Free medical consultation
- Free medicine
- Referrals for ARV access and other health services

4. Legal support

Legal counseling
Document harassment and violation cases
Monitoring and evaluation of the cases
Refer the cases to the appropriate authority

For more information visit: http://www.bandhu-bd.org/

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

Turkey – Stop Sexual Violence! Infographic on the Istanbul Convention

Blast from the Past: For the 2014 One Day One Struggle campaign, our members in Turkey–Lambda Istanbul, KAOS-GL and Women for Women’s Human Rights-New Ways—organized around Turkey’s responsibilities to implement the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combatting Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (Istanbul Convention).

Check out their Infographic below, and download a copy here: http://www.csbronline.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/ODOS2014-Turkey-IstanbulConvention-Info.pdf

View the online campaign on Twitter with the hashtags: #istanbulsozlesmesi and #ortakmucadelehepbirlikte

CSBR CSBR Activities, Featured, News on Sexual & Bodily Rights

CSBR Call for Submissions! Sexual Pleasure, Sexual Rights

We’re accepting submissions on a rolling basis.

#SexPleasureRights - CSBR

What is #SexPleasureRights?

The #SexPleasureRights blog/arts series seeks to create a space for conversation, dialogue and curiosity on what it means to conceptualize sexual pleasure as an inherent and integral part of our personal and political advocacy across our diverse feminist movements for social, economic, gender, racial and ecological justice.

We invite submissions that reflect on and expand our own personal experiences with advocacy around sexuality, while trying to push the boundaries of our feminist discourses, practices and approaches to the issue of sexual pleasure.

We want to create a space to celebrate, with frank and candid openness, the rights to speak about our sexualities, and our experiences & desires for pleasure.

We are particularly interested in voices and ideas of young people (anywhere from age 13 – 35), with submissions from feminists/activists/organizers across the Global South welcome. No previous experience blogging, writing, filming necessary. Share your views!

What Questions will the Series Explore?

For this opening series we want to create the space for a diversity of conversations. Below are initial questions to get us started, and we encourage people to expand on them.

With an eye to personal lived realities: We want to bring out personal stories, about how we were raised, what role models we had, where we learned what we did, when we began to rebel, what moved us to strive towards sexual pleasure as an integral part of who we are and the change we want to see.

With an eye to cultural pasts and presents: What words do we have for all the different aspects of sexuality, eroticism and pleasure? How does language impact our conceptions of what pleasure is, and who has the right to pleasure? What historical and contemporary literature, films, architecture, and other art forms in our countries, cultures and languages have positively expressed our rights to sexual pleasure? What creative works celebrating women’s sexuality & pleasure; lesbian, bisexual and queer sexuality & pleasure; and third gender, intersex and trans* sexuality & pleasure have moved you? What’s the story behind that?

With an eye to advocacy and community organizing: How can we not simply pay lip service to sexual pleasure in our sexual rights discourses (i.e. tacking it on under health), but really work to embody the core principles of consent, respect, autonomy, self-expression, voice and choice in our advocacy and actions? What do these principles mean in practice?

How do we encourage deep engagement with consent, as central to our movement building? How does the right to sexual pleasure intersect with other rights? How can we deepen a sexual rights approach to our movements for economic, environmental, migrant, disability and racial justice? What other lessons can we learn from the right to sexual pleasure that will strengthen our collective struggles for solidarity and self-determination?

What does it mean for us to be responsible for our own sexual pleasure? What support do we need to ensure children, adolescents and young adults grow up with empowering conceptions and practices around sexuality and sexual pleasure?

How can we move our conceptions of sexual pleasure as a right forward in a way that ensures individual autonomy, dignity and integrity? What roles does the state play in upholding sexual pleasure as a right? Should the state play any role at all?

With an eye to feminist futures: What radically transformative imaginings and understandings of sexuality, eroticism and pleasure do you have to share? (Creative fictions pieces are also welcome!) What visions, conceptions and understandings of sexual pleasure are still missing in our homes, our circles of friends, our communities and across our movements? How can we work to promote new understandings, to stop marginalizing peoples, voices and experiences, when it comes to celebrating sexuality and the right to pleasure? How can we increase this solidarity?

What do I submit?

Submissions should be in English (or with English subtitles/voiceovers/written description); can be written, visual, or audio; in any creative form (such as comic strip, visual art, poetry etc.), and adhere to the general guidelines below:

Written submissions:

Poetry / Blogs Post, Op-Eds, Short Essays (400–1200 words) / Short Fiction (max. 2200 words)

Format: .doc
Accessibly written

Audio Submissions:

Interviews / Soundscapes / Recorded Spoken Word / Short Stories (up to 3 minutes) / Original Musical Compositions (up to 8 minutes) / Etc.

Format: .mp3
Quality: 192 or 256 kpbs
Short description of the piece
Statement of usage rights
For file sizes above 3MB, submit via a Wetransfer link: https://www.wetransfer.com/

Visual Submissions:

Images: Photos / Graphic Essays / Posters / Collage / Comics / etc.

Format: high resolution .jpg, .jpeg
A short narrative description of the piece
Statement of usage rights
For file sizes above 3MB, submit via a Wetransfer link: https://www.wetransfer.com/

Videos:

Format: .mp4
Resolution: 720p/1080p
A short narrative description of the piece
Statement of usage rights
Submit via a Wetransfer link: https://www.wetransfer.com/

Accompanying Biographies: All submissions should contain a short biography (150 words) about the author. Confidentiality and privacy is an important concern of ours – we encourage people to submit taking all privacy measures necessary. Pseudonyms welcome. We will not publish any personal details without full and written consent of the authors.

*** * * Submissions accepted on an ongoing basis * * ***

Send your submissions by email to csbrblogs@gmail.com, with the title “Call for Blogs: Sexual Pleasure, Sexual Rights” in the subject line.

___________________________

CSBR welcomes all submissions that meet the above guidelines, but may not be able to publish all submissions that we receive. In selecting pieces for the series, our focus will be on publishing submissions that reflect views, experiences and topics that are less discussed, publicized and circulated in mainstream and social media. We also maintain the right to edit written and audio submissions for purposes of clarity, and will liaise with contributors when this is needed.

Questions?

Write to us at csbrblogs@gmail.com with any questions. We look forward to hearing from you!

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

Bishkek Feminist Initiative Kyrgyzstan joins CSBR!

We are excited to welcome Bishkek Feminist Initiative – Kyrgyzstan, as a new member of the Coalition for Sexual and Bodily Rights in Muslim Societies (CSBR)!

Read more about BFI’s work below, and check out their terrific One Day One Struggle 2015 video, “Bishkek Girls Unite for their Sexual and Bodily Rights!”, challenging gender stereotypes in Kyrgyzstan:

From BFI’s Website:

Bishkek Feminist Initiatives (BFI) is a feminist group of activists in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, based on the principles of collective emancipation, solidarity, mutual support and equal decision-making, and non-violence.

BFI’s mission is to promote feminist values of ending all forms of oppression (sexism, homophobia, transphobia, ageism, ableism, nationalism, xenophobia, islamophobia, class and socio-economic oppression, etc.) in Bishkek. Some of our goals are: to create a feminist network of residents, communities, organizations and initiatives in Bishkek for a meaningful engagement; to contribute to building solidarity with existing civil society movements, which share our values of justice and human rights; to provide feminist space and practices, especially educational resources and activities on resisting oppression and violence, and building informed alliances and partnerships.

BFI recognizes the complexities and intersectionality of oppression, and are therefore committed to prioritizing activism needs, voices and issues of the most underrepresented communities in our city of Bishkek. We promote a culture of peaceful civil disobedience, alternative activism, feminist philanthropy and issued-based solidarity activism. Our priorities are (1) feminist movement-building in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan and Central Asia, including security and wellbeing of activists; (2) feminist multi/media/arts and writing; (3) sexual and bodily rights, integrity and autonomy education and mobilization.

For more information, see: https://bishkekfeminists.org/ and @bishkekfeminists

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

Three years of willful disregard: Egyptian government refuses to implement ruling of African Commission ordering renewed investigation of Black Wednesday case. Survivors of mass sexual assaults have no recourse to remedies

Wednesday 25 May 2016

The anniversary of Black Wednesday, when in May 2005 several female demonstrators and journalists were sexually assaulted by demonstrators in support of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, comes this year as freedom of opinion, expression, and peaceful assembly have been seriously eroded. Only a few weeks ago, a similar scene was enacted when police forces stormed the Journalists Syndicate, in a wholly unprecedented move, and when during a general assembly meeting of the syndicate on May 4, 2016, individuals in civilian clothing standing with security forces attacked demonstrators and journalists.

In this context, the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights again reminds the Egyptian government of the ruling obtained by the EIPR and the International Center for the Legal Protection of Human Rights (Interights) on March 14, 2013 from the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights. The decision requires Egypt to reopen the investigation into the incident and ensure accountability for the persons responsible for the sexual and physical assault of female journalists and demonstrators who were on the steps of the syndicate protesting constitutional amendments instituted by President Mubarak. The ruling also requires the Egyptian government to pay compensation of LE57,000 to each of the four complainants, all journalists, on whose behalf the EIPR filed the suit: Shaimaa Abu al-Khair, Abir al-Askari, Nawal Ali (d. 2009), and Iman Taha.

The African Commission gave the Egyptian government six months (180 days) from the time of its notification of the ruling to submit a report to the commission detailing the steps it would take towards implementation. Although the EIPR alerted the Foreign Ministry of the importance of implementing the ruling, the Egyptian government continues to ignore it, offering no clear reasons for this disregard.

After the ruling was issued, the EIPR initiated contact with the Foreign Ministry and the Ministry of International Cooperation to discuss the mechanisms and deadline for implementation, but all correspondence, and the six-month deadline, were ignored. The EIPR then contacted to African Commission regarding non-implementation, after which the Egyptian government submitted a response in October 2013. Pursuant to this response, the EIPR sent a letter clarifying its points of disagreement with the government response. In its response, the Egyptian government said that its failure to implement the ruling was largely due to the issue of compensation. Citing lack of new evidence, it also refused to officially reopen the investigation, which had been closed. The African Commission considered both responses in December 2013.

The EIPR reiterates the importance of the government offering compensation for the victims of the assaults. This would establish an important rule for reparations for victims of sexual assaults, which increased markedly after January 2011, with repeated cases of mass sexual assault both by ordinary citizens and security forces. With the exception of a very few convictions in the rare cases in which the perpetrators were identified, women victims of mass sexual assaults have no clear recourse to justice or measures to guarantee them legal remedy and compensation for the harm they sustained. International law affirms the right of survivors of sexual assault to redress, including the right of restitution, compensation, rehabilitation, and guarantees of non-repetition. International legal literature also affirms that victims’ compensation must be proportional to the gravity of the crime committed against them.

The EIPR condemns the Egyptian government’s failure to implement the ruling, which is a clear breach of Egypt’s international and regional obligations to protect and uphold human rights and constitutes flagrant disregard for the constitution, which in Article 11 affirms the state’s obligation to protect women from all forms of violence.

The EIPR also notes that the government cannot be serious about combating sexual violence against women without an admission and true accounting of the role of security personnel in sponsoring or committing crimes of sexual violence against individuals and without ending the impunity they currently enjoy. We appeal to the National Council for Women to urge the government to take action to implement the ruling in line with the principles underlying the national strategy to combat violence against women.

The read the government’s response, click here.

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

Rights Spotlight: IDAHOT

Yesterday and today – people around the world continue to be denied their basic and fundamental human rights, targeted on the basis of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity and expression. And not only do violence, criminalization, discrimination, and impunity remain widespread, anti-rights actors frequently justify them at the national and international level in the name of culture, religion and tradition.

Over 70 countries continue to criminalize consensual same-sex relationships, and many people who are non-conforming in terms of their gender identity and expression and sexual orientation, including LGBTIQ people, undergo torture and ill-treatment in everyday life, in custody, and in clinics and hospitals. Across contexts, the law is employed to punish individuals on the basis of their sexual orientation and gender identity and to restrict rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly. Still today, region across region, entrenched discriminatory attitudes thrive in legal and policy vacuums and hate-motivated violence blights and ends the lives of many.

Yet states are legally bound by international human rights law to respect, protect and fulfil the human rights of all persons, no matter their gender identity and expression and sexual orientation.

Human rights are for each and every one of us. To reserve rights for the powerful in society and to withhold them from the marginalized makes a mockery of our human rights system and of state obligations to their citizens, and to deny any group or individual their essential rights is nothing less than to try to define them as less than human.

Join OURs today in celebrating the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia(IDAHOT) and stand in solidarity with activists and individuals worldwide. Let us call for all states to uphold the universality of rights for everyone, everywhere – equally and without discrimination.

What is OURs?

OURs aims to monitor, analyze, and share information on anti-rights initiatives threatening our human rights systems. Our goal is to strengthen the work of activists facing direct challenges to rights, especially rights related to gender and sexuality.

Resources and further information

This IDAHOT, OURs highlights a selection of resources for activists working on rights related to sexual orientation and gender identity and expression worldwide.

Please share these with your networks, let us know of your key resources, and tweet using the hashtags#RightsAreUniversal and #IDAHOT

Resources:

*Demand immediate investigation of the death threats*

* Demand Government stops harassment of activists organising and participating in peaceful actions *

Impact to private lives

Religious conservatism, sexualised nationalism

Sexual repression for political purposes

What is #SexPleasureRights?

What Questions will the Series Explore?

What do I submit?

* * * Submissions accepted on an ongoing basis * * *

Demand immediate investigation of the death threats

*** * * Submissions accepted on an ongoing basis * * ***