Sexuality Education Programme Falling Short in Thailand: UNICEF Study
The Nation, Thailand, 5/31/2017
Although the Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) programme is being taught in almost all secondary schools in Thailand, more teaching time and better teacher training are needed for students to build the knowledge and skills they need to manage their sexuality and sexual lives, a UNICEF-supported study on CSE revealed on May 31. The study found that important topics such as sexual rights, gender equality and diversity, respect for the rights of others are often neglected in the delivery of the CSE programme. This leaves many students with damaging attitudes to gender roles, sexual rights, and to domestic violence.
Chinese Lesbian Dating App Rela Shuts Down
BBC News, China, 5/30/2017
A Chinese dating app for lesbians that has more than five million users has been shut down. The app, Rela, is no longer available in the Android or Apple app stores, and its website and Sina Weibo account have been deleted. Users began to notice that the app was not accessible last week. It is unclear why it has been shut down. Rela told its users on WeChat that the service had been suspended for an ‘important adjustment in service’. Some users have suggested that it was connected to Rela's support for parents of LGBT children who wanted to take part in a ‘marriage market’ in Shanghai on 20 May.
Govt Initiative to Save Transgender Persons from Deadly Diseases
Dawn News - Peshawar, Pakistan, 5/29/2017
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government will launch a programme to impart skills to transgender persons and safeguard them against sex-borne ailments, especially HIV and AIDS. The programme will cost Rs200 million and will target over 1,000 transgender persons in the province by providing them treatment and training in embroidery to earn their livelihood. Officials said that under the programme, the gurus of transgender persons would be accessed to seek their permission for holding awareness sessions and giving them tips to stay safe from diseases. They said that transgender persons would be also tested for HIV and AIDS, hepatitis and other diseases.
AIDS Charity on Verge of Collapse; 600 Families under Threat
Saudi Gazette - Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, 5/29/2017
The Saudi Charity Association for AIDS Patients (SCAAP) in Jeddah is struggling with its finances as many benefactors have abandoned the charitable organization. This has curtailed the charity’s operations and only a smaller number of people now benefit from its food baskets program. The cash crunch is also threatening the running of the organization’s headquarters. People behind SCAAP found themselves left with two options: pay the annual rent or get evicted by the building owner. Despite requests by the association to the Ministry of Labor and Social Development to provide an emergency subsidy, it is still on the waiting list, Al-Watan newspaper reported.
Creating Awareness on Adolescent Health through Street Plays
The Morung Express - Peren, India, 5/28/2017
Adolescent Clubs performed street plays in Peren district and Kohima to create awareness on adolescent health and Non Communicable Diseases on May 27. The programmes were organized by respective District Health Society. They focused on teenage pregnancy and early marriage – Adolescent Reproductive & Sexual Health (ARSH) and Non Communicable Diseases (NCD) – prevention and control of cancer, hypertension, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. The plays aimed to educate and create awareness on the above issues, their causes and risk factors and consequences. Health talks were also given by the district IEC personnel to create more intensive awareness and to reach out more.
Parly Urges Students to Use Condoms
News Day, Zimbabwe, 5/27/2017
Parliament has urged students at tertiary institutions to use condoms, provided by the National Aids Council (NAC) to reduce HIV prevalence, even if they disliked them. Senators visited different universities to discuss HIV and AIDS issues, only to find out that students were shunning condoms distributed by NAC, describing them as ‘ugly, smelly condoms’. ‘Students were unhappy with a particular brand of condom distributed at all institutions visited, these were dubbed ‘panther condoms’, and the condom is given by NAC and other partners, and students reported that they did not like the look or smell of it and, therefore, do not use it,’ the committee report read.
300,000 Sign Petition to Lift Contraceptive TRO
The Philippine Star - Manila, Philippines, 5/27/2017
The Commission on Population has submitted to the Supreme Court (SC) 300,000 signatures of women calling for the lifting of the temporary restraining order (TRO) on the distribution and sale of contraceptive implants. But there will be no immediate lifting of the TRO. The high court said it would lift the TRO, which has been in place since June 2015, if it is proven that the contraceptive implants are not abortifacient. Filipino women may end up buying and using unsafe and ineffective contraceptives if the SC will not lift the TRO on contraceptives, according to a women’s rights advocacy group.
How Dangal Challenged Gender Stereotypes and Became a Blockbuster in China
Hindustan Times, India, 5/26/2017
A Bollywood film based on the true story of a wrestler’s struggle to challenge gender stereotypes and turn his daughters into world-class fighters, has become an unlikely hit in China, the country with the most serious gender imbalance in the world. The critically acclaimed Dangal, starring Aamir Khan, is running to packed houses in China, and has quickly become the top non-Hollywood foreign film in the country. It has earned more than $125 million since its May 5 release, data showed. ‘... the ideas of breaking gender roles and reforming education inspired by the film have struck a chord with many Chinese parents,’ the official Xinhua news agency said.
West Java Police Sets Up Anti-LGBT Taskforce
The Straits Times - Jakarta, Indonesia, 5/25/2017
Police in Indonesia's most populous province plan to deploy a taskforce to investigate lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) activity, a move likely to fuel concerns of a widening crackdown on the community in the Muslim-majority country. West Java police chief Anton Charliyan disclosed the plan on May 23 as two gay men in the province of Aceh were publicly flogged, and days after police raided a gay club in Jakarta and distributed photos of suspects in varying states of undress to the media. With the exception of Aceh, homosexuality is legal in Indonesia.
Ruling Puts Taiwan on Verge of Being First in Asia to Have Same-Sex Marriage
The China Post, Taiwan, 5/24/2017
The LGBT community and its supporters across Asia and the world are celebrating after a landmark ruling in Taiwan that paves the way for same-sex marriage. The Constitutional Court ruled that restricting people of the same gender from marrying was unconstitutional, and it ordered the government to revise the offending article within two years. Supporters burst into cheering as well as tears of joy outside the court after the decision was announced. Despite the landmark ruling, a number of challenges still need to be overcome before the Legislature can formally legalise same-sex marriage.
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