Archbishop Christian Tumi has recently been making public statements criticizing Camerounian President Paul Biya for joining 27 other African nations by ratifying the Maputo Protocol this past May. This criticism culminated in a 20,000 strong protest in Douala, Cameroun’s second largest city, just over a week ago. According to Archbishop Tumi and his supporters, President Biya’s decision to ratify this much-needed women’s rights document is an offence to the human family and opens the door to the legalization of homosexuality.

Archbishop Christian Tumi has recently been making public statements criticizing Camerounian President Paul Biya for joining 27 other African nations by ratifying the Maputo Protocol this past May. This criticism culminated in a 20,000 strong protest in Douala, Cameroun’s second largest city, just over a week ago. According to Archbishop Tumi and his supporters, President Biya’s decision to ratify this much-needed women’s rights document is an offence to the human family and opens the door to the legalization of homosexuality.

I have to say I disagree.

First, and most simply refuted, is Archbishop Tumi’s allegation regarding homosexuality. Homosexuality isn’t mentioned anywhere in the document, not one time, as Chelsea pointed out last week.

But more importantly, I’d like to examine article 14, which is the article Archbishop Tumi has taken such umbrage with. It calls on states to “protect the reproductive rights of women by authorizing medical abortion in cases of sexual assault, rape, incest, and where the continued pregnancy endangers the mental and physical health of the mother or the life of the mother or the foetus.” In Cameroun, according to laws in place long before this May, abortion is already legal in cases of rape or to save the mother’s life. Approximately 20% of women in Cameroun have had an abortion, many of which were performed in unsafe conditions resulting in a plethora of complications, including death. The Maputo Protocol seeks to decrease the number of complications and deaths, not increase the number of abortions. The World Health Organization estimates that 13% of maternal deaths are caused by unsafe abortion. That means nearly 750 women die in Cameroun from unsafe abortion each year. Losing 750 mothers, sisters, aunts and daughters every year is unacceptable and considering this, I think we can use all the help we can get to reduce the number of women’s lives that are lost.

In addition, the Maputo Protocol does a lot more than call for greater access to safe abortion services. It is a comprehensive listing of women’s rights. It calls for the elimination of discrimination against women. It calls for the end to harmful traditional practices such as female genital mutilation. It declares that every woman has the right to respect as a person, and to be protected from physical, sexual and verbal violence. It calls on the state to enforce laws about rape, promote girls education and education on gender equality, to condemn trafficking in women, and to ensure a minimum age of consent for marriage of 18, thus fighting early and forced marriage of young girls. The Maputo Protocol gives women the right to peace, to education and training, to economic and social welfare. We applaud President Biya for recognizing how much Cameroun needed this document, and we call on him to take the necessary steps to implement the Protocol and make its grand ideals a reality for the women in Cameroun.

Reine Rosine Agang works for Association pour la Lutte contres les violences faites aux femmes (ALVF), or the Association for the Fight against Violence against Women.

Pourquoi le Cameroun a besoin de Maputo

Par le Protocol de Maputo, le Cameroun a joint 27 autres nations africaines qui soutiennent les droits des femmes. La dcision du Prsident Paul Biya de ratifier le Protocol en mai dernier a t critique publiquement par l’vque Christian Tumi. Les dclarations de l’vque ont provoque une manifestation de 20,000 personnes a Douala, la deuxime ville de Cameroun, il y’a a peine de semaine seulement. Selon l’vque Tumi et ses sympathisants, la dcision du Prsident Biya de ratifier le document important que protgeant le droits des femmes est “une offense contre la famille humain” et “ouvre aussi la porte a la lgalisation de l’homosexualit.

Je dois dire que je ne suis pas en accord.

D’abord, plus simplement, est l’allgation selon de l’homosexualit. Comme Chelsea l’a remarque la semaine dernire, l’homosexualit n’tait pas du tout cite dans le document.

Mais plus important, je voudrais examiner l’article 14, qui a offens l’vque. L’article fait appel aux diffrents tats a protger les droits reproductifs des femmes, particulirement en autorisant l’avortement mdicalis, en cas d’agression sexuelle, de viol, d’inceste et lorsque la grossesse met en danger la sant mentale et physique de la mre ou la vie de la mre ou du ftus. En Cameroun, d’pres les lois existantes jusqu’a mai dernier, l’avortement est lgal en cas de le viol ou de sauver la vie de la mre. Approximativement 20% des femmes en Cameroun ont subi un’ avortement, beaucoup ont tait fait dans les conditions insalubre et a risque, rsultant en des complications multiples, mme la mort. Le Protocol de Maputo cherche a rduire le nombre de complications et de dcs, pas d’augmenter le nombre d’avortements. L’Organisation Mondiale de la Sante estime que 13% des dcs maternelles sont causes par l’avortement a risque. Pour cette raison 750 femmes meurent tous les ans au Cameroun la suite d’avortement risque. La perdue de 750 mres, surs, tantes et filles chaque anne est inacceptable, et ainsi je pense que nous pouvons utiliser tout l’aide possible pour rduire la morts des femmes.

De plus, le Protocol de Maputo traite plus de seulement avortement. Ilest une liste comprhensive des droits des femmes. Il appelle a l’limination de la discrimination contre les femmes. Il appelle a un fin a des pratiques traditionnelles nfastes comme les mutilations gnitales fminines. Il dclare que chaque femme a le droit au respect en tant que personne, d’tres protgs du viol physique, sexuel et verbal. Il fait appel a l’tat a faire respecter les lois sur le viol, de promouvoir l’ducation des filles et l’ducation sur l’galit des sexes, de condamner le transport forces des femmes et filles, et d’assurer un ge minimum de consentement au mariage de 18 ans, donc la lutte contre las mariages prcoces et forcs des jeunes filles. Le Protocol de Maputo donne aux femmes les droits a la paix, a l’ducation et la formation, au dveloppement conomique et social. Nous applaudissons le Prsident Biya pour reconnais combien Cameroun a besoin de ce document, et nous l’appelons a prendre les mesures ncessaires d’implmenter le Protocol et de faires ses grandes idaux en une ralit pour les femmes au Cameroun.

Read the original:
Why Cameroun Needs Maputo (French and English)

Call Congress Today Following weeks of debate, congressional leaders have announced that they will not vote on health care reform until September, after the summer recess. But this doesn’t mean a stop to the conversation-lawmakers will be hosting events across the country to continue the momentum for reform, and they need to hear from you. Do you believe that basic reproductive health services should be covered by public health plans? Do you believe that you and women throughout the United States have the right to coverage for needed services? Some politicians not only oppose an expansion in access to reproductive health services, but are threatening to restrict coverage. At the same time, anti-choice leaders are threatening repercussions if provisions to expand insurance coverage for abortions become law

Call Congress Today

Following weeks of debate, congressional leaders have announced that they will not vote on health care reform until September, after the summer recess. But this doesn’t mean a stop to the conversation-lawmakers will be hosting events across the country to continue the momentum for reform, and they need to hear from you.

Do you believe that basic reproductive health services should be covered by public health plans? Do you believe that you and women throughout the United States have the right to coverage for needed services?

Some politicians not only oppose an expansion in access to reproductive health services, but are threatening to restrict coverage. At the same time, anti-choice leaders are threatening repercussions if provisions to expand insurance coverage for abortions become law.

Women Can’t Afford to Lose Because of Politics. Act Now.

Call or email your representative and senators to let them know that you support access to comprehensive reproductive care and services for all women. Clickhere to find your Senator’s contact information, and clickhere to find your Representative’s contact information. Use the text below or write your own note.

Dear [Name],

Health care reform should improve access to health services and care, not restrict it.

We cannot sacrifice reproductive health care for the sake of politics. Millions rely on health care facilities that provide the following comprehensive services that women and their families need to stay healthy:

• Contraception and family planning services
• Maternal health services to ensure healthy pregnancies and safe childbirth
• Prevention, testing and treatment of STIs, including HIV
• Safe abortion services and post-abortion care

I strongly urge you to make positive health outcomes, rather than politics, the goal of health care reform. It would be unconscionable to do otherwise. Women across the country rely on your leadership- please stand strong for the essential healthcare package women need to live healthy lives.

Sincerely,

[Name]

More:
Take Action Now: Dont Let Women Lose in Healthcare Reform

from a speech given at the 20th World Population Day in Abuja, Nigeria. Part one of a three part series. In 2008, it came to global attention that the world economy was experiencing recession. Stock prices were dropping, major companies and government parastatals were crumbling, and bankruptcy became commonplace among corporations and individuals.

from a speech given at the 20th World Population Day in Abuja, Nigeria. Part one of a three part series.

In 2008, it came to global attention that the world economy was experiencing recession. Stock prices were dropping, major companies and government parastatals were crumbling, and bankruptcy became commonplace among corporations and individuals.

In Nigeria, there has been debate on how hard our country has been impacted.But the facts remain: in addition to high unemployment rates and declining stock prices, development indicators in Nigeria are grim. Education, healthcare, and the provision of water and electricity have been dumped into the laps of the private sector, which is more concerned about making profit than providing services. All in the name of cutting costs in response to economic crisis.

We are here today to mark the 20th World Population Day and put half the worlds population squarely on the agenda. Women already make up 70 % of the worlds poor, and with levels of poverty set to increase due to the global recession, they are likely to be further impacted.

Women tend to be hit hard by economic recession because women are most often in temporary and insecure employment. These jobs are usually the first to go in tough times. Women who are not employed depend on their partners.

Women with children generally spend their earnings on making sure their children are well fed, clothed and educated, so when these women lose their jobs, their children lose too. And when food budgets become stretched, many women will go without to make sure their children are eating. Cuts in government spending often hit health and education first. This is potentially bad news for women.

In recessions such as the one we are experiencing, economists advise governments to curb what they consider overspending. As a result, governments often withdraw or reduce budgets for social services. This causes women’s responsibilities to increase, with women increasingly burdened by caring for the sick and children.

We are here today to align our position with that of the United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-Moon, who does nothesitate to point outthat while the global financial crisis is forcing everyone to save, investments in women of the world should not be diminished. “When you empower a woman, you empower a family, when you empower a woman, you change the world.

What we lose when we exclude half of the worlds population from participation, access, control, and benefits is staggering. If these gender inequalities persist, women, their families, communities and countries will pay high cost of slowed economic growth, weakened governments, and over all lower standards of living.

The following body of evidence illustrates why it is essential to respond differently to the current economic crisis investing in women and girls it is not only a wise investment, but the right investment.

Excerpt from:
Responding to the Economic Crisis: Why Investing in Women is a Smart Choice (Part 1)

Let’s start off with some good news- Cameroun joined 27 other African countries in promoting the health and rights of women when it ratified the Maputo Protocol on May 28 th , 2009. The Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa, better known as the Maputo Protocol, guarantees the human rights of women throughout the continent. Adopted by the African Union in 1993, the Protocol calls for the adoption and implementation of national measures that uphold women’s sexual and reproductive rights, political and social equality, and the right to live free from violence and coercion, while providing a comprehensive legal framework for holding African governments accountable for violations. Sadly, the reaction in the Camerounian press to the ratification of the Protocol has been largely negative, and predominately based on false information and deliberate obfuscation on the part of the Catholic Church. The National Episcopal Conference of Cameroun released a press statement denouncing Article 14 of the Protocol, which calls on State parties to “protect the reproductive rights of women by authorizing medical abortion in cases of sexual assault, rape, incest, and where the continued pregnancy endangers the mental and physical health of the mother or the life of the mother or the foetus.” The release, which the prelates accuse of giving “abusive reproductive rights” to women, is actually far more measured than the church’s reaction in other fora has been. At a demonstration against the ratification on July 11 , Cardinal Christian Tumi, Archbishop of Douala, once again condemned abortion as “an abomination” and conflated abortion with gay marriage, despite theabsence of gay rightsfrom the actual Maputo Protocol.

Let’s start off with some good news- Cameroun joined 27 other African countries in promoting the health and rights of women when it ratified the Maputo Protocol on May 28^th, 2009. The Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa, better known as the Maputo Protocol, guarantees the human rights of women throughout the continent. Adopted by the African Union in 1993, the Protocol calls for the adoption and implementation of national measures that uphold women’s sexual and reproductive rights, political and social equality, and the right to live free from violence and coercion, while providing a comprehensive legal framework for holding African governments accountable for violations.

Sadly, the reaction in the Camerounian press to the ratification of the Protocol has been largely negative, and predominately based on false information and deliberate obfuscation on the part of the Catholic Church. The National Episcopal Conference of Cameroun released a press statement denouncing Article 14 of the Protocol, which calls on State parties to “protect the reproductive rights of women by authorizing medical abortion in cases of sexual assault, rape, incest, and where the continued pregnancy endangers the mental and physical health of the mother or the life of the mother or the foetus.”

The release, which the prelates accuse of giving “abusive reproductive rights” to women, is actually far more measured than the church’s reaction in other fora has been. At a demonstration against the ratification on July 11, Cardinal Christian Tumi, Archbishop of Douala, once again condemned abortion as “an abomination” and conflated abortion with gay marriage, despite theabsence of gay rightsfrom the actual Maputo Protocol.

Many protesters showed similar confusion, recently highlighted on the popular television program Cartes Sur Table, which dedicated its June 23^rd episode to the controversy. Speaking on behalf of the Catholic International Press Union of Africa, Abbot Antoine Depadoue Chonang insisted that the Maputo Protocol is a “trojan horse” for homosexual rights. Fortunately, Cartes Sur Table also featured Ms. Alice Nkom, the president of the Association for the Defense of Homosexuality, or ADEFHO, who spoke eloquently on the need for Cameroun to step out from under the influence of the Catholic Church and recognize the human and civil rights of all its citizens, including sexual minorities and women. ADEFHO will continue its public information campaigntoadvance sexual and reproductive health and rights. As part ofits advocacy campaign, ADEFHO is calling upon other women’s rights organizations in Cameroun to reclaim control of the debate over the Maputo Protocol and place it back firmly where it belongs: in the hands of the women who need it.

Click here for a full report of the June 23 edition of Cartes Sur Table in PDF form.

To learn more about ADEFHO’s work on LGBTQQI rights in Cameroun, click here and here.

To learn more about IWHC’s work on women’s sexual and reproductive rights and health in Cameroun, click here.

To learn more about IWHC’s regional advocacy on sexual and reproductive rights and health, click here.

Chelsea Ricker is the Africa Program Assistant at the International Women’s Health Coalition. Read her bio here.

More here:
Ratification of Important Womens Rights Document Sparks Controversy in Cameroun

Let’s start off with some good news- Cameroun joined 27 other African countries in promoting the health and rights of women when it ratified the Maputo Protocol on May 28 th , 2009. The Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa, better known as the Maputo Protocol, guarantees the human rights of women throughout the continent. Adopted by the African Union in 1993, the Protocol calls for the adoption and implementation of national measures that uphold women’s sexual and reproductive rights, political and social equality, and the right to live free from violence and coercion, while providing a comprehensive legal framework for holding African governments accountable for violations. Sadly, the reaction in the Camerounian press to the ratification of the Protocol has been largely negative, and predominately based on false information and deliberate obfuscation on the part of the Catholic Church. The National Episcopal Conference of Cameroun released a press statement denouncing Article 14 of the Protocol, which calls on State parties to “protect the reproductive rights of women by authorizing medical abortion in cases of sexual assault, rape, incest, and where the continued pregnancy endangers the mental and physical health of the mother or the life of the mother or the foetus.” The release, which the prelates accuse of giving “abusive reproductive rights” to women, is actually far more measured than the church’s reaction in other fora has been

Let’s start off with some good news- Cameroun joined 27 other African countries in promoting the health and rights of women when it ratified the Maputo Protocol on May 28^th, 2009. The Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa, better known as the Maputo Protocol, guarantees the human rights of women throughout the continent. Adopted by the African Union in 1993, the Protocol calls for the adoption and implementation of national measures that uphold women’s sexual and reproductive rights, political and social equality, and the right to live free from violence and coercion, while providing a comprehensive legal framework for holding African governments accountable for violations.

Sadly, the reaction in the Camerounian press to the ratification of the Protocol has been largely negative, and predominately based on false information and deliberate obfuscation on the part of the Catholic Church. The National Episcopal Conference of Cameroun released a press statement denouncing Article 14 of the Protocol, which calls on State parties to “protect the reproductive rights of women by authorizing medical abortion in cases of sexual assault, rape, incest, and where the continued pregnancy endangers the mental and physical health of the mother or the life of the mother or the foetus.”

The release, which the prelates accuse of giving “abusive reproductive rights” to women, is actually far more measured than the church’s reaction in other fora has been. At a demonstration against the ratification on July 11, Cardinal Christian Tumi, Archbishop of Douala, once again condemned abortion as “an abomination” and conflated abortion with gay marriage, despite theabsence of gay rightsfrom the actual Maputo Protocol.

Many protesters showed similar confusion, recently highlighted on the popular television program Cartes Sur Table, which dedicated its June 23^rd episode to the controversy. Speaking on behalf of the Catholic International Press Union of Africa, Abbot Antoine Depadoue Chonang insisted that the Maputo Protocol is a “trojan horse” for homosexual rights. Fortunately, Cartes Sur Table also featured Ms. Alice Nkom, the president of the Association for the Defense of Homosexuality, or ADEFHO, who spoke eloquently on the need for Cameroun to step out from under the influence of the Catholic Church and recognize the human and civil rights of all its citizens, including sexual minorities and women. ADEFHO will continue its public information campaigntoadvance sexual and reproductive health and rights. As part ofits advocacy campaign, ADEFHO is calling upon other women’s rights organizations in Cameroun to reclaim control of the debate over the Maputo Protocol and place it back firmly where it belongs: in the hands of the women who need it.

Click here for a full report of the June 23 edition of Cartes Sur Table in PDF form.

To learn more about ADEFHO’s work on LGBTQQI rights in Cameroun, click here and here.

To learn more about IWHC’s work on women’s sexual and reproductive rights and health in Cameroun, click here.

To learn more about IWHC’s regional advocacy on sexual and reproductive rights and health, click here.

Chelsea Ricker is the Africa Program Assistant at the International Women’s Health Coalition. Read her bio here.

Read the original post:
Ratification of Important Womens Rights Document Sparks Controversy in Cameroun

Yesterday, the Lithuanian Parliament adopted a discriminatory law designed to ban information about sexuality in schools, the media, or any public places where it “could be seen by minors.” The Parliament overturned a previous presidential veto of the law with a vote of 87-6.

This broad-ranging lawhas majorimplicationson the rights of LGBTQQI youth in Lithuania, and sets a disturbing precedent for future laws that promote censorship and discrimination.

In a recent press release, national and international youth organizations described the legislation as going “against the fundamental human rights of minors and those who work with them.”

“Neither ‘agitation’ nor ‘family values’ are defined in the newly-adopted law. We fear it will allow the prohibition of any non-negative information about homosexuality and bisexuality accessible for minors, such as movies, websites, articles, sexual education and even psychological help, much needed when a significant proportion of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender young people experience mental health problems and attempt suicide.”

The press release goes on to describe some of the negative effects the law will have:

“The law will have a tremendously harmful effect on homosexual and bisexual children and adolescents, and potentially on other young people indirectly affected by the law. It further encourages the marginalisation and stigmatisation of young people from sexual minorities, and restricts their access to adequate information and support.”

And it outlines the policies and agreements this law violates:

“…this piece of legislation is in breach of Article 10 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which states that Everyone has the right to freedom of expression...The law also breaches the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (Chapter III, Article 21, Part 1), which states that Any discrimination based on any ground such as…sexual orientation shall be prohibited. Finally, the law is in breach of the International Convention on the Rights of the Childs Article 13, which guarantees the freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds.”

The release also briefly acknowledges the progress that has been made towards the protection of sexual minorities, before decrying the law as major step backwards:

“The World Health Organisation took homosexuality off the list of mental disorders in 1990, and national legislations in Europe have steadily progressed in the past 20 years towards greater protection of sexual minorities. The Seimas has taken several steps backwards, doing so against the rights and interests of Lithuanians.”

The letter ends with a call for the Lithuanian government and parliamentarians to acknowledge the harmful effects of the initiative on the socio-economic development of Lithuania and on its international credibility. IWHC joins Lithuanian youth organizations and international human rights groups in condemning this violation of the rights to freedom of expression and information.

For more on the law and its harmful effects, read an Amnesty International press release condemning the law here. For more information on homophobic laws around the world, check out this map of state-sponsored homophobia that we posted on Akimbo last month. Andvisit our web site for more information on the work that IWHC and its partners are doing to protect human rights and sexuality.

Chelsea Ricker is the Africa Program Assistant at the International Womens Health Coalition. Read her bio here.

Here is the original:
Lithuanian Parliament Adopts Discriminatory Censorship Law

Yesterday, the Lithuanian Parliament adopted a discriminatory law designed to ban information about sexuality in schools, the media, or any public places where it “could be seen by minors.” The Parliament overturned a previous presidential veto of the law with a vote of 87-6.

This broad-ranging lawhas majorimplicationson the rights of LGBTQQI youth in Lithuania, and sets a disturbing precedent for future laws that promote censorship and discrimination.

In a recent press release, national and international youth organizations described the legislation as going “against the fundamental human rights of minors and those who work with them.”

“Neither ‘agitation’ nor ‘family values’ are defined in the newly-adopted law. We fear it will allow the prohibition of any non-negative information about homosexuality and bisexuality accessible for minors, such as movies, websites, articles, sexual education and even psychological help, much needed when a significant proportion of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender young people experience mental health problems and attempt suicide.”

The press release goes on to describe some of the negative effects the law will have:

“The law will have a tremendously harmful effect on homosexual and bisexual children and adolescents, and potentially on other young people indirectly affected by the law. It further encourages the marginalisation and stigmatisation of young people from sexual minorities, and restricts their access to adequate information and support.”

And it outlines the policies and agreements this law violates:

“…this piece of legislation is in breach of Article 10 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which states that Everyone has the right to freedom of expression...The law also breaches the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (Chapter III, Article 21, Part 1), which states that Any discrimination based on any ground such as…sexual orientation shall be prohibited. Finally, the law is in breach of the International Convention on the Rights of the Childs Article 13, which guarantees the freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds.”

The release also briefly acknowledges the progress that has been made towards the protection of sexual minorities, before decrying the law as major step backwards:

“The World Health Organisation took homosexuality off the list of mental disorders in 1990, and national legislations in Europe have steadily progressed in the past 20 years towards greater protection of sexual minorities. The Seimas has taken several steps backwards, doing so against the rights and interests of Lithuanians.”

The letter ends with a call for the Lithuanian government and parliamentarians to acknowledge the harmful effects of the initiative on the socio-economic development of Lithuania and on its international credibility. IWHC joins Lithuanian youth organizations and international human rights groups in condemning this violation of the rights to freedom of expression and information.

For more on the law and its harmful effects, read an Amnesty International press release condemning the law here. For more information on homophobic laws around the world, check out this map of state-sponsored homophobia that we posted on Akimbo last month. Andvisit our web site for more information on the work that IWHC and its partners are doing to protect human rights and sexuality.

Chelsea Ricker is the Africa Program Assistant at the International Womens Health Coalition. Read her bio here.

Here is the original:
Lithuanian Parliament Adopts Discriminatory Censorship Law

Last month, I blogged about a Camerounian man jailed on charges of homosexuality.

This week, I have an update on the status of the case against the man. My organization, the Homosexuality Defense Association, or ADEFHO, just got the minutes from the last interrogation from June 21, 2009, the date the accused appeared before the magistrate.

At present, Alice Nkom (President of ADEFHO), who is representing the defendant, believes that the judge has all the information he needs to allow him to close the investigation on this case, in which it appears that there is no longer a plaintiff or a witness.

The family of the supposed victim hasn’t responded to the summons from the magistrate, and the medical certificate needed to link the accused to the accuser states that there was no evidence of sodomy.

The attorney has in effect proven through her submissions to the court that the prosecution lacks legal bases, while the detainment, arrest, custody and subsequent preventative detention violate the fundamental tenants of the Penal Code.

At this stage of the judicial proceedings, the judge must either close the investigation, or send the defendant to the Tribunal to face trial without charge, without accuser, and without proof.

Ms. Nkom is waiting to see what the judge will do in order to know what the next step will be.

That’s all the information we have right now on this particular case, but I’d like you remind you that, unfortunately, this case is just one more example of a long history of homophobia in Cameroun. Over a dozen people have been jailed on similar charges in this country since 2005. All of these arrests were men, but the situation is dire for people of all genders, as most Camerounians don’t acknowledge that women who want to have relationships with other women even exist.

I will certainly continue to keep you posted as we find out more.

Sebastien Mandeng is a candidate to become a lawyer as well as a human rights advocate in Cameroun. He currently works as the Vice-President of the Homosexuality Defense Association (ADEFHO). For more information about this case, or about defending homosexuality in Cameroun, you can contact him directly at adefho@live.com.

Read more:
Status Update: No Evidence, No Case Against Man Jailed in Cameroun on Charges of Homosexuality

In a landmark Indian Delhi High Court ruling on July 2, only days after people worldwide took to the streets for gay pride, Chief Justice Ajit Prakash Shah struck down Penal Code 377, overturning a colonial-era law criminalizing “carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal.”

The ruling is the result of the remarkable efforts of many dedicated activists. IWHC is proud to congratulate Voices Against 377 and the Naz Foundation for leading the efforts to repeal 377. Our partners at Creating Resources for Empowerment in Action (CREA), SANGRAM, the Action Plus network, and the YP Foundation stood strong with these advocates in working towards this landmark decision.

Please join us in celebrating this important victory by sending a congratulatory note to our partners. Send your notes to communications@iwhc.org, and we will forward them to our partners. You can write your own letter, or use the text below.

Dear Advocates,

Thank you for your work to eliminate discrimination by advocating for the repeal of Penal Code 377. The progressive wording of the Supreme Court ruling statement citing the value of an inclusive society and noting that the recognition of equality “will foster the dignity of every individual” is a testament to the great value of your work, and a nod to the importance of your continued efforts to bring about inclusion, equality, and dignity.

Particularly in India, where individuals face discrimination, stigma, and violence due to sexual orientation, your work has resulted in a tremendous step forward for human rights. This victory is important to me because .

Thanks to this ruling, others, in India and beyond, will be inspired to advocate for a more inclusive, safe, and just society.

Sincerely,

[Name]

Read more from the original source:
Action Alert: Commend Activists in India on the Repeal of Penal Code 377

In a landmark Indian Supreme Court ruling today, Chief Justice Ajit Prakash Shah struck down Penal Code 377, overturning a colonial-era law criminalizing carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal.

The victory is a historic step forward for human rights only days after people worldwide took to the streets for gay pride, particularly in a country where LGBTQII individuals face discrimination, stigma, and violence on a daily basis.

Longtime sexual and human rights advocate Pramada Menon called todays ruling a wonderful moment that will live inside of me for years.

Did I walk into the courtroom thinking justice would prevail? I wasnt sure, said Menon. But now, I cannot think of the morning [ruling] without crying. [Ive received] calls from friends who are elated, who have come out to their families once this news was out The battle has been worth it.

In 2002, the Naz Foundation, a human rights organizing working on HIV/ AIDS in India, filed a Public Interest Litigation case challenging the constitutionality of this code. This law has legitimized violence and discrimination, including horrific acts of rape and torture, against transgendered, lesbian and gay people, particularly by the police.

While the original petition against 377 cited its adverse impact on HIV/ AIDS prevention efforts, the Supreme Court ruling statement was far more progressive, citing the value of an inclusive society:

The inclusiveness that Indian society traditionally displayed, literally in every aspect of life, is manifest in recognising a role in society for everyone It cannot be forgotten that discrimination is antithesis of equality, and that it is the recognition of equality which will foster the dignity of every individual.

According to the New York Times, todays decision applies only in the territory of Indias capital city, but it is likely to force Indias government either to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court, or change the law nationwide.

The International Womens Health Coalition congratulates and commends our partners in bringing about this important step forward for fundamental human rights.

The rest is here:
At the End of Pride Month, a Historic Step Forward

In her new book The Means of Reproduction: Sex, Power, and the Future of the World, author Michelle Goldberg exposes the global battle over women’s reproductive rights that pit reformers against an international alliance of fundamentalists, with profound consequences for both individual lives and worldwide development.

Last night IWHC hosted an event with Michelle so our friends and staff could learn more about her approach to writing the book. We were especially interested to hear what she had to say because she chronicles the rise of the international women’s movement, including the key roles played by our founders Joan Dunlop and Adrienne Germain.

Lori Adelman was able to get a few minutes with Michelle to talk about her work on video.

View original here:
(Video) Michelle Goldberg on the Global Battle Over Reproductive Health

Sbastien Mandeng This post is also available in French below. In Cameroun, as in many African countries, the Penal Code states that sexual acts between two people of the same sex is illegal and punishable with six months to five years in prison and a fine of $50 to $500. In Cameroun, it is believed that homosexuality is an offense, a madness not to be mentioned, the ultimate aberration, and a contradiction to African values and traditions. Well over a dozen men in Cameroun have been imprisoned on charges of homosexuality since 2005 . And Cameroun isn’t the only African country where this is happening: in January of this year, nine men were convicted on similar charges in Senegal . In early May of this year a 28 year-old Camerounian man, whom I’ll call Jean, was arrested after being accused of engaging in acts of homosexuality. Jean apparently originally denied these claims and was subsequently subjected to eight days of beatings and torture, including being kept in the nude and without visitation rights until he “confessed” to the charges being made against him. Only after this false admission was made was he allowed clothing and visitation rights. After three weeks of being held without formal charges against him, he was sentenced by a local judge to continued imprisonment for an undetermined period of time.

Sbastien Mandeng

This post is also available in French below.

In Cameroun, as in many African countries, the Penal Code states that sexual acts between two people of the same sex is illegal and punishable with six months to five years in prison and a fine of $50 to $500. In Cameroun, it is believed that homosexuality is an offense, a madness not to be mentioned, the ultimate aberration, and a contradiction to African values and traditions.

Well over a dozen men in Cameroun have been imprisoned on charges of homosexuality since 2005 . And Cameroun isn’t the only African country where this is happening: in January of this year, nine men were convicted on similar charges in Senegal. In early May of this year a 28 year-old Camerounian man, whom I’ll call Jean, was arrested after being accused of engaging in acts of homosexuality. Jean apparently originally denied these claims and was subsequently subjected to eight days of beatings and torture, including being kept in the nude and without visitation rights until he “confessed” to the charges being made against him. Only after this false admission was made was he allowed clothing and visitation rights. After three weeks of being held without formal charges against him, he was sentenced by a local judge to continued imprisonment for an undetermined period of time.

I had the opportunity to speak with Jean on May 26^th, and he reported continued beatings by the prison guards, being deprived of meals, and that he is currently sleeping on the floor, which has resulted in several open boils on his backside.

Jean was held for three weeks before formal charges were brought against him, and continues to be held in inhumane and degrading conditions. Article 119 of Cameroun’s Penal Code states that a person cannot be held without being charged for a crime for more than 96 hours. Cameroun’s Constitution states that all people have the right to physical and moral integrity as well as be treated with humanity and never subjected to torture or cruel, inhumane or degrading treatments. Cameroun has also signed the United Nations “Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.” It is evident after speaking with Jean that he has been the victim of multiple human rights abuses as well as violations of both Cameroun and international law.

In fact the article condemning homosexuality in Cameroun’s Penal Code was never voted on by Parliament, meaning it is not an official law in our country. Therefore, homosexuality in Cameroun should not be considered a crime. On behalf of Jean and LGBTI communities, I would like to urge international communities to help us free Jean and work together to abolish practice in Cameroun that penalizes homosexuality so that we can finally put an end to these egregious human rights violations. Please send letters of support to Sebastien Mandeng at adefho@live.com or gomencido25@yahoo.fr. Your support can make a difference both for Jean and LGBTI communities everywhere.

Sebastien Mandeng is a candidate to become a lawyer as well as a human rights advocate in Cameroun. He currently works as the Vice-President of the Homosexuality Defense Association (ADEFHO).

Un Camerounais Emprisonne Pour Motifs Homosexuels

Au Cameroun, comme dans bon nombre de pays africains et mme dans le monde, la Code Pnal pnalise de six mois cinq ans et d’une amende de $50 a $500 les pratiques sexuelles entre personnes de mme sexe. Au Cameroun, on croit que l’homosexualit est un dlit, une folie voire, une aberration ultime et contraire aux valeurs et traditions africaines.

Au Cameroun, plus d’une douzaine personnes accuses de s’tre livres a des actes homosexuels ont t emprisonnes depuis 2005. Et le Cameroun n’est pas le seul pays ou l’homosexualite est punie; au Sngal en janvier 2009 neuf hommes ont t inculpes du mme crime. Au dbut du mois de mai, un homme de 28 ans, que je vais appeler Jean, a t accus et apprhend pour motif d’homosexualit. D’abord Jean a dclar que c’tait faux. Plac en garde vue pendant huit jours, il tait nu, n’avait pas droit aux visites. Torture il a admit ses pratiques homosexuelles. Aprs quoi, il a eu choit aux vtements et aux visites. Aprs trois semaines de garde a vue, le juge local a dclar que Jean serait emprisonne pour une dure indtermine.

J’ai parle avec Jean le 26 mai et il m’a dit que les officiers de police judiciaire le battent, qu’il ne fait pas de repas rgulirement et qu’il dort parterre ce que a provoqu une ruption cutane suivie d’une apparition de furoncles au niveau des fesses.

Jean a passe trois semaines en dtention avant des charge aient t portes contre lui. Il continue a tre trait de faon inhumaine et humiliante. L’article 119 du nouveau code de procdure pnale nonce que: Le dlai de la garde vue ne peut excder quarante huit heures (48) renouvelable une fois. Or Jean a pass plus de trois semaines en garde vue. La Constitution du Cameroun stipule que Toute personne a droit l’intgrit physique et morale. Elle doit tre traite en toute circonstance avec humanit. En aucun cas, elle ne peut tre soumise la torture, des peines ou traitements cruels, inhumains ou dgradants. En outre l’tat du Cameroun a ratifi la Convention contre la Torture et autres peines ou traitements cruels, inhumains ou dgradants. Dans le cas de Jean il est vident que les droits humains ont t violes et que les lois camerounaises et internationales n’ont pas t respectes.

Effectivement, l’article qui condamne l’homosexualit dans la Code Pnal n’a pas t vot par le Parlement et, par consquent, n’est pas une loi de la Rpublique. C’est-a-dire que l’homosexualit ne doit pas tre un crime au Cameroun.

Au nom de Jean et la communaut Lesbiennes, Gays, Bisexuelles, Transsexuelles et Intersexuelles (LGBTI), je voudrais encourager la communaut internationale s’impliquer davantage dans l’abolition des pratiques de pnalisation au Cameroun. Pour soutenir cette cause humanitaire crivez Sbastien MANDENG adefho@live.com ou gomencido25@yahoo.fr. Vos efforts feront une diffrence pour Jean et la communaut LGBTI dans le monde.

Sbastien Mandeng est postulant dans un cabinet d’avocat et activiste de droits humains au Cameroun. Il est prsent Vice-prsident de l’Association pour la Dfense de l’Homosexualit (ADEFHO).

More:
Camerounian Man Jailed on Charges of Homosexuality (English and French)

In India, a fiery debate regarding surrogacy illustrates how we, including those in the womens movement, have still to resolve a number of uncomfortable questions when it comes to womens choice and autonomy. Continued from Part I.

Surrogacy opponents raise diverse ethical, religious and nationalist arguments against the practice. Women and men alike have proclaimed that womens bodies and their reproductive capacity are reflections of God, and should not be the sites of production within a capitalist system. Nationalists oppose wealthy, white westerners benefitting from the purchase of poor brown bodies. Another principle of some of these arguments is that womens bodies, and their reproductive capacities, are public goods, belonging to families, states and religions, rather than women themselves.

However, these arguments are founded on the same underlying assumptions about womens agency. While concern about the power imbalance between poor women in developing countries and rich families in the West is understandable, an unstated implication of many of these arguments is that poor women are intrinsically without rights and incapable of making decisions themselves regarding their bodies, and therefore, must be protected by laws that prevent them from selling their wombs.

In many ways, this debate has illustrated similar tensions that exist about sex work, an old and still-burning fire amongst feminists. Many feminists believe that sex work is inherently a form of violence and mistreatment against women, and therefore deny that thousands of women worldwide choose to engage in sex work. On the other hand, sex workers’ rights activists argue for the need to respect womens different decisions regarding how to use their bodies for paid labor.

A few feminist organizations in India, like CREA , have wisely recommended that feminists try to learn some lessons from the sex workers movement: Respect womens rights to make decisions about their own bodies and lives, and work on social, political and economic empowerment for all women through a long- term commitment.

Issues regarding consent and choice are complicated. Most of us make rational decisions based on a set of circumstances. Women throughout the world face difficult circumstances, but that does not change our right to make those decisions. In India, it is clear that peoples ideas of nationhood and manhood are threatened by the “outsourcing of reproduction.” However, it is important that we focus on the issue at hand- ensuring fairer circumstances and greater choices for women. Women have the right to be surrogates, just as they have a right to make various other kinds of decisions about their bodies and lives. The role of policymakers is to ensure that labor and health regulations protect the rights of women in cases where they opt to be surrogates.

As a sex worker with SANGRAM in Maharashtra recently told me, Those working to make brick-making a safer profession dont try to ban brick-making, so why are people trying to get us to change our professions?

View original here:
What the Surrogacy Debate Can Learn from the Sex Workers Movement: Part 2

In India, a fiery debate regarding surrogacy illustrates how we, including those in the womens movement, have still to resolve a number of uncomfortable questions when it comes to womens choice and autonomy. Continued from Part I.

Surrogacy opponents raise diverse ethical, religious and nationalist arguments against the practice. Women and men alike have proclaimed that womens bodies and their reproductive capacity are reflections of God, and should not be the sites of production within a capitalist system. Nationalists oppose wealthy, white westerners benefitting from the purchase of poor brown bodies. Another principle of some of these arguments is that womens bodies, and their reproductive capacities, are public goods, belonging to families, states and religions, rather than women themselves.

However, these arguments are founded on the same underlying assumptions about womens agency. While concern about the power imbalance between poor women in developing countries and rich families in the West is understandable, an unstated implication of many of these arguments is that poor women are intrinsically without rights and incapable of making decisions themselves regarding their bodies, and therefore, must be protected by laws that prevent them from selling their wombs.

In many ways, this debate has illustrated similar tensions that exist about sex work, an old and still-burning fire amongst feminists. Many feminists believe that sex work is inherently a form of violence and mistreatment against women, and therefore deny that thousands of women worldwide choose to engage in sex work. On the other hand, sex workers’ rights activists argue for the need to respect womens different decisions regarding how to use their bodies for paid labor.

A few feminist organizations in India, like CREA , have wisely recommended that feminists try to learn some lessons from the sex workers movement: Respect womens rights to make decisions about their own bodies and lives, and work on social, political and economic empowerment for all women through a long- term commitment.

Issues regarding consent and choice are complicated. Most of us make rational decisions based on a set of circumstances. Women throughout the world face difficult circumstances, but that does not change our right to make those decisions. In India, it is clear that peoples ideas of nationhood and manhood are threatened by the “outsourcing of reproduction.” However, it is important that we focus on the issue at hand- ensuring fairer circumstances and greater choices for women. Women have the right to be surrogates, just as they have a right to make various other kinds of decisions about their bodies and lives. The role of policymakers is to ensure that labor and health regulations protect the rights of women in cases where they opt to be surrogates.

As a sex worker with SANGRAM in Maharashtra recently told me, Those working to make brick-making a safer profession dont try to ban brick-making, so why are people trying to get us to change our professions?

Go here to see the original:
What the Surrogacy Debate Can Learn from the Sex Workers Movement: Part 2

In India, a fiery debate regarding surrogacy illustrates how we, including those in the womens movement, have still to resolve a number of uncomfortable questions when it comes to womens choice and autonomy.

As a premier site for medical tourism, India has increasingly attracted couples facing fertility challenges. In addition to offering services for a fraction of surrogacy services in Western countries, Indias largely unregulated commercial medical system presents few legislative or administrative hurdles to surrogacy.

Since 2007, popular Indian culture has had a strange obsession with the topic of surrogacy, with newspaper articles, radio and blazing national dialogues. The 2008 case of Baby Manji, or Baby Mborn to a surrogate mother using a Japanese mans sperm and an egg from an unknown donorresulted in fierce legal battles and was covered extensively by the media. In this case, the larger question of the citizenship of the child loomed uncomfortably as traditional Indian culture faced a head-on collision with the ethical complexities raised by global capitalism.

At the policy level, the Indian Council of Medical Research has been calling for pro- market and consumer- friendly guidelines that give surrogates virtually no rights. Meanwhile, the womens movement and the Ministry of Women and Child Development have fought back with draft legislation that give more expansive rights to surrogates regarding consent, information, health rights and price of services.

The number of women in India opting to be surrogate mothers remains relatively small100 to 150especially when compared with the number of women in India who are estimated to die of childbirth. Then why is surrogacy the topic of the hour? One can only surmise that the surrogacy issue brings us deeper cultural conflicts within the modern Indian psyche.

Khushbu Srivastava is the Program Officer for Asia at the International Womens Health Coalition. Read her bio here.

Go here to see the original:
What the Surrogacy Debate can learn from the Sex Workers Movement- Part 1

Last week, we blogged about the discrimination often experienced by women who are HIV positive. Specifically, we highlighted a case in Maine in which a judge issued an extended jail sentence for a pregnant, HIV positive woman in violation of immigration law.

This morning, we have a disturbing addendum to the list of rights violations experienced of HIV positive women: forced sterilization.

An article by Geoffrey York in todays Globe and Mailhighlights the case of Hilma Nendongo, an HIV positive woman who found out she had been sterilized when she went back to the hospital to have stitches removed after giving birth to a baby boy by Caesarian section.

Hilma is not alone, according to York, who writes that perhaps hundreds of women in Namibia alone have been sterilized without their knowledge or consent in recent years because they were HIV-positive.” York describes the experience of several HIV positive women who received bilateral tubal ligation, or sterilization, either unknowingly or forcibly amidst pressure from their healthcare providers. In these caases “consent is often obtained by having illiterate patients sign forms that they are unable to understand, without explanation of the procedure to which theyll then be subjected, as well as incorrectly informing patients that the sterilization operation is mandatory if they want to stay alive, or if they want medical assistance in delivering their baby.

Unfortunately, there is plenty of evidence to indicate that Namibia is not the only country in which such rights violations are taking place. Cases have been reported in countries all over the world, from Congo and South Africa to and in the United States. Angela Castellanos reports on RHRealityCheck.org that in Chile, a woman living with HIV and sterilized without her consent filed a complaint against before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) last February, charging that the government failed to protect her from being forcibly sterilized.

The pervasive nature of this tragic and infuriating global phenomenon confirms that this is more than a few cases of bad healthcare advice or doctor manipulation: this is an issue of womens health and human rights being blatantly and consistently undermined, ignored, and violated due to the stigma, discrimination, and misinformation associated with HIV/AIDS.

And so, as tragic as the cases of forced sterilization of HIV positive women documented by York in Namibia are, we must remember that they are not just tragic. As outrageous, blatant, and infuriating as they are, they are not only these things. Forced sterilization of a woman- any woman, regardless of her HIV status- is a violation of every womans fundamental human right to sexual and reproductive autonomy. The right of women to control their sexualitythe basis for sexual rightsis an indivisible part of their human rights, and without it, women cannot fully realize their other human rights.

Doctors and healthcare providers- in Namibia and around the world- must be held accountable for delivering respectful and consensual healthcare. Stigma, discrimination, and misinformation cannot be allowed to continue to stand in the way of ensuring the basic human rights of women around the world.

Check out this report issued in March by the International Community of Women Living With HIV/AIDS (ICW) for more information on forced sterilization in Namibia.

More here:
In Namibia and Beyond, Forced Sterilization is a Human Rights Violation

This week womens health and rights activists are celebrating President Manual Zelaya Rosales decision to veto a bill that would have outlawed emergency contraception in Honduras. The bill, which the national Congress of Honduras passed last month, would have made it illegal to sell, purchase, distribute, or use emergency contraception. As soon as Congress passed the bill, womens rights advocates in Honduras mobilized by sending letters and demonstrating to demand a Presidential veto.

This week womens health and rights activists are celebrating President Manual Zelaya Rosales decision to veto a bill that would have outlawed emergency contraception in Honduras.

The bill, which the national Congress of Honduras passed last month, would have made it illegal to sell, purchase, distribute, or use emergency contraception. As soon as Congress passed the bill, womens rights advocates in Honduras mobilized by sending letters and demonstrating to demand a Presidential veto. In the end, they succeeded in persuading President Zelaya that the bill violated womens human rights, which are protected under the Honduras Constitution and international human rights treaties. See also Women Outraged that Honduras Outlaws EC for a brief recap.

Please write to President Zelaya today (jvalladares@presidencia.gob.hn) and thank him for standing strong for the women of Honduras and ensuring they can continue to legally access emergency contraception, which is a crucial part of comprehensive sexual and reproductive health services.

Sample letter text in English is below. For Spanish click here.

Excelentsimo Seor
Presidente de la Repblica de Honduras
Don Manuel Zelaya Rosales
Su Despacho
Email: jvalladares@presidencia.gob.hn

Seor Presidente:

On behalf of women worldwide, thank you for your unwavering support for womens health and human rights.

Ensuring womens access to comprehensive sexual and reproductive health services such as emergency contraception is one crucial step towards securing every womans right to a just and healthy life. As a result of your veto of Decree No. 54-2009 from April 2, 2009, more women will be able to decide when and if they want to get pregnant.

Thank you again for helping girls and women access the sexual and reproductive health services they need to stay healthy and safe.

Sincerely,

[Insert your name]

Protesters against the outlawing of EC in Honduras.

Susanna Smith is the Program Officer for Communications at the International Womens Health Coalition. Read her bio here .

See more here:
Support Activists in Honduras: Thank President Zelaya for Keeping EC Legal in Honduras

** Al final de esta pagina puede leerlo en espaol.

At a recent meeting, the XI Latin American and Caribbean Feminist Meeting in Mexico City, IWHC staff caught up with Milagros de Rama from Manuela Ramos. IWHC staff Lucina Di Meco and Marisa Viana-Aitchison taped Milagros talking about her work with young people in rural Peru.

Founded in Lima in 1978, the Manuela Ramos Movement is one of Peru’s leading feminist organizations. For more than 30 years, Manuela Ramos has worked in rural and urban settings and at the local, regional, and international levels to stop violence against women; to teach young people about sex and how to prevent unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections; and to empower women economically and politically.

In particular, Manuela Ramos has focused its work with young people on those living in rural areas. For example, in the town of Pucallpa in the Central Amazon of Peru, the main industry is timber and gas, which attracts primarily male, migrant labor. Young women, who have few employment options and little access to sexual and reproductive health care, are vulnerable to early and forced sex, sex trafficking, and unwanted pregnancies. This is evidenced in the data: 27 percent of adolescent girls in this region have been or are pregnant, as compared to the national average of 13 percent. Pucallpa has one of the highest HIV/STI rates in the country.

Responding to the realities of young Peruvians lives, Manuela Ramos implemented the first gender- and culturally-sensitive sexual and reproductive rights and health program for adolescents in the Central Amazon. The program built cross-cultural alliances with public health administrators, educators, and young people by working in schools, health centers, and with youth groups. The program also trained a group of young people as peer educators to spread messages about health and rights to other young people. Similar projects are underway in three other rural regions of Peru, Huancavelica, Ayacucho, and Lima.

(Video) Manuela Ramos Ensenado Los Jovenes a Ser Lideres
Recientemente, al XI Encuentro Feminista en la Ciudad de Mexico, Lucina Di Meco y Marisa Viana-Aitchison de IWHC hablaron con Milagros de Rama del Movimiento Manuela Ramos sobre su colaboracin con jvenes Peruanas de los zonas rurales.

Fundado en 1978 en Lima, el Movimiento Manuela Ramos es una de las organizaciones feministas ms respectadas en el Per. Para ms de 30 aos Manuela Ramos ha trabajado en zonas rurales y urbanas, as como a nivel local, regional e internacional para acabar con la violencia contra las mujeres, ensear a los y las jvenes sobre sexualidad, cmo prevenir embarazados no deseados e infecciones de trasmisin sexuales y a empoderar a las mujeres econmicamente y polticamente.

En particular, Manuela Ramos ha enfocado su proyectos con jvenes a aquellos jvenes que viven en zonas rurales. Como por ejemplo en la ciudad de Pucallpa, Amazonia Central de Per, donde las industrias ms importantes son la madera de construccin y la gasolina, que atrae a muchos trabajadores migrantes. Las mujeres jvenes, con pocas oportunidades de trabajo y limitado acceso a clnicas para la salud sexual y reproductiva, resultan siendo ms vulnerable a relaciones sexuales precoces, violencia sexual, trfico de personas y embarazos no deseados. Segn las estadsticas, 27% de las adolescentes en esta regin est o estuve embarazada en mientas que la media nacional es de 13%. Pucallpa tiene el nivel de VIH/SIDA ms alto del pas.

Para responder a las realidades las jvenes Peruanas, Manuela Ramos implement el primer programa sobre derechos y salud sexual y reproductiva con enfoque cultural y de gnero para la Amazonia Central. El programa instituy alianzas interculturales entre los responsables del sector salud, los educadores y los jvenes, a travs del trabajo en escuelas, centros de salud y grupos de jvenes. El programa tambin ha capacitado a un grupo de jvenes para que educaran a sus coetneos con informaciones sobre salud sexual y reproductiva. Proyectos parecidos se estn dando en otras regiones rurales del Per como Huancavelica, Ayacucho, y Lima.

Susanna Smith is the Program Officer for Communications at the International Womens Health Coalition. Read her bio here.

See more here:
(Video) Partner Highlight: Manuela Ramos Teaching Young People to Lead

Earlier this week we urged everyone to write to the Embassy for the Dominican Republic in their countries and speak out against the disturbing restrictions that Article 30 would put on reproductive health and access. Yesterday there were protests in the Dominican Republic: La Gran Marcha

Earlier this week we urged everyone to write to the Embassy for the Dominican Republic in their countries and speak out against the disturbing restrictions that Article 30 would put on reproductive health and access.

Yesterday there were protests in the Dominican Republic: La Gran Marcha. Our colleagues at Colectiva Mujer y Salud were there, and Lorena Espinoza Pea was taking pictures. More information on what’s happening is on the ColectivAndo blog (in Spanish).

You can see more of these great photos by Lorena Espinoza Pea on our Flickr photostream.

Original post:
May 6 Gran Marcha in Dominican Republic

We have another update from our Dominican colleagues Colectiva de Mujer y Salud : For the past few weeks, the national Congress of the Dominican Republic has been reviewing a controversial bill that would amend the Constitutionand definethe right to life from conception to death .” On April 21, 2009, Article 30 , was approved by the executive branch under pressure and threats from the Catholic hierarchy and right-wing extremists. Article 30 would represent a significant step back for womens human rights, and approximately 100 civil society organizations have organized anumber of mobilizations, including a national march on Congress on May 6. To see photos of the protests, click here . In addition to voicing opposition to Article 30, women’s rights organizations are asking that during the second reading, when, according to the regulations governing the assembly, Article 30 must be discussed and is once again subject to approval, Congress modify its language or maintain the current language of the Constitution.

We have another update from our Dominican colleagues Colectiva de Mujer y Salud:

For the past few weeks, the national Congress of the Dominican Republic has been reviewing a controversial bill that would amend the Constitutionand definethe right to life from conception to death.” On April 21, 2009, Article 30, was approved by the executive branch under pressure and threats from the Catholic hierarchy and right-wing extremists.

Article 30 would represent a significant step back for womens human rights, and approximately 100 civil society organizations have organized anumber of mobilizations, including a national march on Congress on May 6. To see photos of the protests, click here.

In addition to voicing opposition to Article 30, women’s rights organizations are asking that during the second reading, when, according to the regulations governing the assembly, Article 30 must be discussed and is once again subject to approval, Congress modify its language or maintain the current language of the Constitution.

In light of this serious situation, Colectiva isrequesting support and a show of solidarity on May 6. Please write to the Dominican Republic embassy in your country and let them know that women’s health and rights will be compromised if the language of Article 30 is approved as it is now written.

Here is a sample letter, which you can send to the Embassy of the Dominican Republic in the United States by emailing
embassy@us.serex.gov.do:
Dear Mr. President of the Dominican Republic, Dr. Leonel Fernndez Reyna; Mr. President of the Parliamentary Assembly for Constitutional Review, Senator Reynaldo Pared Prez; Mr. Vice-President of the Parliamentary Assembly for Constitutional Review, Deputy Julio Csar Valentn:

On April 21, 2009, Article 30, which amends the current Constitution of the Dominican Republic by establishing the right to life from conception to death, was approved under pressure and threats from the Catholic hierarchy and right-wing extremists.

This article will severely and negatively impact public policies, medical practice, scientific development and womens lives, especially poor women. It also violates international agreements signed and ratified by the Dominican Republic, such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the American Convention on Human Rights and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.

Article 30 limits womens autonomy, and denies them their human rights.In light of the significant step backwards that the approval of Article 30 would represent for the human rights of Dominican women,Iask that during the second reading, when Article 30 must be discussed and is once again subject to approval, you reject the proposed language andmaintain the current language of the Constitution.

Sincerely,
[NAME]

Read the rest here:
Protect Reproductive Rights in the Dominican Republic

Last week we blogged about the worrisome approval of Article 30 in the Dominican Republic , which seriously restricts reproductive freedoms in the country. Our colleagues at the Colectiva Mujer y Salud have been keeping us updated on the activist mobilizations around the issue. Photographer Lorena Espinoza Pea sent us a fantastic set of photos taken at a protest last week

Last week we blogged about the worrisome approval of Article 30 in the Dominican Republic, which seriously restricts reproductive freedoms in the country.

Our colleagues at the Colectiva Mujer y Salud have been keeping us updated on the activist mobilizations around the issue. Photographer Lorena Espinoza Pea sent us a fantastic set of photos taken at a protest last week. Check them out in the slideshow below or on our Flickr photostream. The signs you see being held up in lots of these pictures translate to, “Shame, shame, shame on Congress.” Amnesty International has also released a statement (PDF) urging the Dominican Republic to pass legislation that enhances women’s health and rights instead of restricting them.

The folks at Colectiva are putting together a statement that we’ll post here once it’s finalized and has been translated from the original Spanish. In the meantime, check out this flier for a protest in the Dominican Republic on Thursday (click image for hi res version).

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

The rest is here:
Dominican Republic Activists Protest Repro Rights Restrictions

On Monday, the Court of Appeals in Dakar, Senegal, took an encouraging but surprising decision to overturn the convictions of same-sex conduct for nine men arrested in December 2008 and sentenced to eight years in prison earlier this year. While we celebrate the courts order to release these men who were wrongly detained, this case warrants serious consideration of how many nations continue to criminalize homosexuality and propagate already-entrenched homophobia. Like many other places, homosexuality is a crime in Senegal, and a single charge carries a maximum sentence of five years.

On Monday, the Court of Appeals in Dakar, Senegal, took an encouraging but surprising decision to overturn the convictions of same-sex conduct for nine men arrested in December 2008 and sentenced to eight years in prison earlier this year. While we celebrate the courts order to release these men who were wrongly detained, this case warrants serious consideration of how many nations continue to criminalize homosexuality and propagate already-entrenched homophobia.

Like many other places, homosexuality is a crime in Senegal, and a single charge carries a maximum sentence of five years. The nine men arrested in December were charged with acts against nature and the creation of an association of criminals. The criminal association charge comes from the fact that these men are also members of AIDES Senegal, an organization devoted to providing condoms and antiretroviral treatment to men-who-have-sex-with-men in Senegal. It was their association with this groupthey were arrested in the founders living roomthat bumped their sentences up to eight years.

Internationally, this caused something of a stir. LGBTQQI advocacy groups sent out action alerts. European governments released statements condemning the convictions. The United Nations (UN) got involved: UNAIDS worked with a broad coalition on the appeal. And it was successfulthese men are now free to return to their lives, or what remains thereof.

But the underlying problem remains. Too many men and women face stigma, discrimination, violence, and the threat of imprisonment for having sex with another consenting adult. In much of the world, a minority sexual orientation or gender identity can be a death sentence. In December, Argentina read a statement promoting defending human rights, sexual orientation and gender identity at the General Assembly of the UN . It was signed by 66 nations; the United States signed on later. Yet:
More than 80 countries continue to criminalize homosexuality or sodomy and,
59 countries signed a UN counterstatement rejecting the idea that gender identity or sexual orientation deserved protection. Senegal was one of them.

So now what? We need to redouble our efforts to demand that sexual rights are universally recognized as human rights. The UN Statement, while landmark, is non-binding. Sexual orientation and gender identity must be recognized and protected in the international halls of power and at the national, state, and local levels. We need to continue to support those activists who devote their lives, often at great personal risk, to advocate with and on behalf of LGBTQQI communities. Countries MUST decriminalize homosexuality. We need to stop homophobia in its tracks and use education, community awareness, and responsible media coverage to address the stigmatization of LGBTQQI people. I congratulate the newly released advocates in Senegal, and those who worked for and with them, and I hope your progress is progress for us all.

Chelsea Ricker is the Africa Program Assistant at the International Womens Health Coalition. Read her bio here.

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Good News from Senegal Buoys Push for Decriminalization of Homosexuality

Yesterday we blogged about the need for people to voice their opinions and lend support to the reproductive rights movement in the Dominican Republic . Unfortunately, we just got word from our colleagues at Ipas that yesterday the National Assembly voted by a huge majority, 167-32, to approve Article 30: This decision will have serious repercussions for the health and rights of women and girls in the Dominican Republic. While the word conception was not defined in Article 30, legislators and the Catholic Church have made it clear that they define life as beginning before implantation .

Yesterday we blogged about the need for people to voice their opinions and lend support to the reproductive rights movement in the Dominican Republic.

Unfortunately, we just got word from our colleagues at Ipas that yesterday the National Assembly voted by a huge majority, 167-32, to approve Article 30:

This decision will have serious repercussions for the health and rights of women and girls in the Dominican Republic. While the word conception was not defined in Article 30, legislators and the Catholic Church have made it clear that they define life as beginning before implantation. This means that efforts to modify the penal codes that criminalize abortion would have no legal standing.

Adding insult to injury, at yesterdays session some legislators also discussed increasing the criminal penalties for illegal abortions.By defining life as beginning before implantation legislators and others can then argue that most forms of contraception, including IUDs, EC, and hormonal contraceptives, could be considered as violating the right to life.

Emphasis mine. Scary stuff indeed. According to our colleagues in Latin America, there is some possibility that some of this will be renegotiated. We’ll keep you updated as we know more.

The rest is here:
Reproductive Rights in the Dominican Republic Under Siege

Yesterday we blogged about the need for people to voice their opinions and lend support to the reproductive rights movement in the Dominican Republic . Unfortunately, we just got word from our colleagues at Ipas that yesterday the National Assembly voted by a huge majority, 167-32, to approve Article 30: This decision will have serious repercussions for the health and rights of women and girls in the Dominican Republic. While the word conception was not defined in Article 30, legislators and the Catholic Church have made it clear that they define life as beginning before implantation .

Yesterday we blogged about the need for people to voice their opinions and lend support to the reproductive rights movement in the Dominican Republic.

Unfortunately, we just got word from our colleagues at Ipas that yesterday the National Assembly voted by a huge majority, 167-32, to approve Article 30:

This decision will have serious repercussions for the health and rights of women and girls in the Dominican Republic. While the word conception was not defined in Article 30, legislators and the Catholic Church have made it clear that they define life as beginning before implantation. This means that efforts to modify the penal codes that criminalize abortion would have no legal standing.

Adding insult to injury, at yesterdays session some legislators also discussed increasing the criminal penalties for illegal abortions.By defining life as beginning before implantation legislators and others can then argue that most forms of contraception, including IUDs, EC, and hormonal contraceptives, could be considered as violating the right to life.

Emphasis mine. Scary stuff indeed. According to our colleagues in Latin America, there is some possibility that some of this will be renegotiated. We’ll keep you updated as we know more.

Go here to read the rest:
Reproductive Rights in the Dominican Republic Under Siege

Women in the Dominican Republic face a dire threat of losing their rights to contraception, assisted reproduction services, and safe abortion care. Please take two actions today to support Dominican women as they fight to retain access to the sexual and reproductive health care they need and want: (1) Sign a petition , asking the Senate President Reinaldo Pared Prez and President of the House of Representatives Julio Cesar Valentin Jiminian to stand strong for womens rights, and (2) Send a letter to the Presidents of the Senate and House to express your concern womens rights are being eroded in the Constitutional reform process and demand that they stand up for womens rights and health. Read a sample letter, Spanish language only, here

Women in the Dominican Republic face a dire threat of losing their rights to contraception, assisted reproduction services, and safe abortion care.

Please take two actions today to support Dominican women as they fight to retain access to the sexual and reproductive health care they need and want:

(1) Sign a petition, asking the Senate President Reinaldo Pared Prez and President of the House of Representatives Julio Cesar Valentin Jiminian to stand strong for womens rights, and
(2) Send a letter to the Presidents of the Senate and House to express your concern womens rights are being eroded in the Constitutional reform process and demand that they stand up for womens rights and health. Read a sample letter, Spanish language only, here.

What is happening with womens rights in the Dominican Republic?
The Dominican law that criminalizes abortion is over 100 years-old and prohibits abortion even in cases of rape. Spurred by a push from womens rights advocates, the executive branch decided to reform the law in August 2006. In the summer of 2007, public hearings were held on decriminalizing abortion. While this review process is still ongoing, it has been further complicated by a decision to undertake Constitutional reforms.

Recently, President Leonel Fernandez proposed new Constitutional language to establish the right to life from conception. Womens rights and health advocates, led by Colectiva Mujer y Salud, are concerned that this new language could make it illegal for women to use contraceptives or assisted reproduction and stop any progress on making abortion safe and legal. Please speak out today on the right of all women and girls to access comprehensive sexual and reproductive health care, which must include contraceptives, safe abortion care, and other services they need to fully realize their rights.

Susanna Smith is the Program Officer for Communications at the International Womens Health Coalition. Read her bio here .

Originally posted here:
Take Action Today to Support Dominican Womens Rights