Resolution on the Protection against Violence and other Human Rights Violations against Persons on the Basis of their Real or Imputed Sexual Orientation or Gender Identity
Resolution 275 was adopted at the 55th Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights in Luanda, Angola, 28 April to 12 May 2014. The adoption of resolution 275 was historic, being the first time that the African Commission made a pronouncement about LGBT rights, and responding to the increased attacks against LGBT personal across Africa, and the passing of “anti-homosexuality laws” in places like Nigeria and Uganda. The resolution is an important rejection of the claims made by some that LGBT rights are somehow incompatible with “African culture”.
The resolution:
- Condemns the increasing incidence of violence and other human rights violations, including murder, rape, assault, arbitrary imprisonment and other forms of persecution of persons on the basis of their imputed or real sexual orientation or gender identity;
- Specifically condemns the situation of systematic attacks by State and non-state actors against persons on the basis of their imputed or real sexual orientation or gender identity;
- Calls on State Parties to ensure that human rights defenders work in an enabling environment that is free of stigma, reprisals or criminal prosecution as a result of their human rights protection activities, including the rights of sexual minorities; and
- Strongly urges States to end all acts of violence and abuse, whether committed by State or non-state actors, including by enacting and effectively applying appropriate laws prohibiting and punishing all forms of violence including those targeting persons on the basis of their imputed or real sexual orientation or gender identities, ensuring proper investigation and diligent prosecution of perpetrators, and establishing judicial procedures responsive to the needs of victims.
On September 22nd, during the 30th session of the Human Rights Council, AWID and Sexual Rights Initiative co-hosted a side event to discuss protection gaps around sexual rights. The five panelists discussed the nature and causes of existing protection gaps in sexual rights, and gave recommendations to further protections for all individuals in the field of sexuality.
Naureen Shameem of AWID made the case for applying an intersectional lens to sexual rights, and for recognizing the cross-over between religious fundamentalisms and violations of sexual rights.
- Without an intersectional approach sexual rights as addressed at the UN will inevitably focus on the privileged and visible, and ignore the more marginalized.
- In fundamentalist contexts, women’s bodies—always seen as carriers of culture and honor—become the site of religious and political control
- Violations of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) and sexual freedoms have been named by WHRDs as some of the top impacts of fundamentalisms
- Lack of space to discuss sexuality, unsafe abortion, denial of HIV treatment, and a range of acts of “culturally-justified violence against women” are just some of the deleterious effects of fundamentalisms on sexual rights.
- Changes in data collection practices to reflect a holistic approach, collaboration between Treaty Bodies and joint reports by Special Procedures are some of the ways the UN could tackle existing protection gaps.
- The Human Rights Council should recognize the intersections of sexual rights with its regular items of work (such as discrimination against women, violence against women, disability and economic rights)
Download Naureen’s presentation here.
Read more about the event here
United Nations LGBT Core Group
A Human Rights Day Event
This event explored the role family plays in the lives of LGBT people around the world, as well as themes of acceptance and family diversity.
FEATURING
Mary Lambert, Singer/Songwriter
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS BY
Jan Eliasson, Deputy Secretary-General of the UN
MODERATED BY
Thomas Roberts, Television Journalist, MSNBC
ADDITIONAL SPEAKERS
Rev. Kapya Kaoma, Political Research Associates, Zambia
Ms. Kenita Placide, United & Strong, St. Lucia
Ms. Theresa Sparks, San Francisco Human Rights Commission, USA
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
The report is divided into five sections. After a brief introduction in section I, section II describes the evolution of the existing international consensus regarding the role of the family in sustainable development, including poverty reduction policies.
Section III gives an overview of international human rights standards as they pertain to family life, outlining the elements of a human rights-based approach to family policies.
Section IV provides concrete examples of measures taken by State in implementing their international obligations regarding the protection of the family.
The last section puts forwards conclusions and recommendations.
Musawah
This report documents the trends identified in the Musawah research project on the Convention on the Elimination of All Kinds of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), which examined States parties’ justifications for their failure to implement CEDAW with regard to family laws and pratices that discriminate against Muslim women. The research reviewed documents for 44 Muslim majority and minority countries that reported to the CEDAW Committee from 2005-2010.
This report presents Musawah’s responses to these justifications based on our holistic Framework for Action. It includes recommendations to the CEDAW Committee for a deeper engagement and more meaningful dialogue on the connections between Muslim family laws and practices and international human rights standards. Musawah is an active participant at CEDAW meetings and strives to ensure the voices of Muslim women are heard on the international stage.
Association for Women’s Rights in Development
AWID spoke to Neha Sood, Policy and Advocacy Officer at Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights and part of the Sexual Rights Initiative, to learn the basics about two recent UN Human Rights Council (HRC) resolutions on the protection of the family.
December 2015
Sexual Rights Initiative & Association for Women’s Rights in Development
Fact Sheet
Recent moves at the UN for ‘protection of the family’ conflict with established principles of international human rights law, including universality and indivisibility.
Equality and respect for all human rights and fundamental freedoms of all family members is essential to family well-being and to society at large. We must recognize the centrality of the human rights of individuals within family contexts and condemn and effectively act on abuses of human rights that take place in family contexts.
NORAD
A Study of Religious NGOs at the United Nations
This study focuses on religiously motivated lobbying groups at the UN. This process engages powerful alliances across religious divides – Catholics and Mormons; Christians and Muslims; Russian Orthodox and American fundamentalists find common ground on traditional values at the UN.
The conservative religious lobbies comprise constellations of different organizations with various religious affiliations. However, conservative Christian actors constitute a particularly influential bloc wedded to a distinctly conservative social agenda and motivated by pre-modern ideas about family politics, gender issues and women’s health. Their influence does not reflect their number but is largely due to a striking ability to build alliances across religious boundaries as well as elicit the support of religious communities around the world.
This loose coalition of conservative, Christian and mainly US-based NGOs is unified by a critical and defensive stand against modern socio-political developments (secularisation, feminism, the sexual revolution), which they see as a serious threat, not only to religion, but to society, which depends for its stability on traditional moral values and a patriarchal social order, framed as “family values”, and conceived as absolute moral standards laid down in pre-modern sacred texts or authoritative religious teachings.
In addition to their engagement in UN committee work, the religious NGOs are effective at reaching out to member states on pro-family values and against a liberal SRHR-agenda at the UN General Assembly. Their long-term aim is to build a permanent pro-family bloc among conservative member states from Muslim and developing countries. To this end they pursue a strategy carved out by the Vatican. Having a special status as permanent observer state to the General Assembly, the Vatican has full access to the entire UN system, and plays a key role among religious actors.
This report to the Thirty-first session of the UN Human Rights Council (February/March 2016) by the Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues covers the following areas:
- Country Visit to Brazil
- Afro-Brazilians, including Quilombos and other traditional communities
- Brazilian Roma
- Religious communities of African origin, including Candomblé and Umbanda communities
- Minorities and discrimination based on caste and analogous systems of inherited status
- Specific areas of impact of discrimination in caste-based and analogous systems
- Civil and political rights
- Economic, social and cultural rights
- Situation of caste-affected women and girls
- Initiatives and good practices to address caste-based discrimination
- United Nations system
- National legislation and special measures
- Civil society initiatives
