LGBT Groups Slam College’s ‘Sexual Deviation’ Forum
The Nation, Thailand, 8/31/2018
Thailand’s gender diversity groups on August 30, 2018, denounced a plan by the all-male Bangkok Christian College to host a seminar to help parents protect their children from ‘sexual deviation’. Saying that such an obsolete term encourages dangerous ignorance, the LGBT network – including Together for Equality and Action (TEA), Non-Binary Thailand, For-sogi, Pink Mango and Sapaan – issued a joint statement calling on the school to “stop producing hatred and violence against gender diversity people”. The LGBT groups also claim that the school may also have violated the Gender Equality Act 2015, which forbids any act that causes division, discrimination or limitation of any rights and benefits due to a person’s sexual orientation.
South Korea Rights Commission Calls for Better HIV, AIDS Patient Care
UPI, South Korea, 8/31/2018
South Korea's health ministries have adopted recommendations from Seoul's National Human Rights Commission to improve anti-discriminatory policies for HIV and AIDS patients. According to the NHRCK, South Korea's ministry of health and welfare has agreed to strengthen laws that provide for HIV and AIDS prevention and control measures, local television network MBC reported on August 31, 2018. The ministries have adopted recommendations to develop a guide to prevent the human rights violations of HIV and AIDS patients, to educate medical personnel at national and public hospitals, and develop policies to provide financial support for the patients, according to reports. Anti-discrimination education will also take place in 13 of 17 designated municipalities in South Korea.
De Lima Files Bill to Raise Age of Sexual Consent From 12 to 18
CNN - Manila, Philippines, 8/30/2018
Senator Leila de Lima has filed a bill to raise the statutory age of rape in The Philippines from 12 years old to 18. Senate The bill seeks to increase the age of sexual consent to protect children against abuse and rape. Under the present Anti-Rape Law (1997), a sexual act is considered statutory rape only when the victim is under 12 years old or is ‘mentally unstable’. De Lima said this law has to be revised as a 12-year-old child won't have enough knowledge about sexual consent and intercourse given the lack of sexuality education and reproductive health options in the country. Philippines is presently one of the few countries with the lowest age at which someone can consent to sexual activity.
Rise in Unprotected Sex among Young Points to ‘Lack’ of Education in Hong Kong
South China Morning Post - Hong Kong, China, 8/29/2018
A growing proportion of sexually active 14 to 25-year-olds in Hong Kong are choosing not to use protection during sex, reflecting a ‘serious lack’ of proper education on the subject in school, an HIV prevention NGO said on August 28, 2018. The NGO, AIDS Concern, based its remarks on surveys done over five years with 3,013 young people, who had visited its centre to get tested for HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases. While it did not provide a breakdown on the number surveyed each year, the results showed that since 2014-15, the percentage of condom use across four groups – those having sex while in a relationship, with regular partners, with casual partners and with sex workers – had declined.
Gujarat: ‘Gay prince’ Designs South Asia’s First LGBTQ Academic Module
Times of India - Ahmedabad, India, 8/28/2018
The world’s first openly gay Prince and LGBT activist, Manavendra Singh Gohil, has pioneered South Asia’s first academic module on the LGBTQ community. Titled, ‘Proclivity of Gender: Socio-legal approach to LGBTQ Community’, the compulsory course was launched at the Ahmedabad-based Karnavati University on August 27, 2018, and will be taken by undergraduate students of Law and Liberal Studies at the University. Over 60 participants, ranging from higher secondary school students to PHD scholars from across the country will also take the course. It will include topics such as the history of LGBTQ rights movements in the country, the present legal and civil scenario surrounding LGBTQ rights (with reference to laws like Section 377) and will also provide international references for rights-based movements.
China Considers Measures to Curb Workplace Harassment: Xinhua
Reuters - Beijing, China, 8/27/2018
China is considering introducing measures to tackle sexual harassment in the workplace in a civil code draft submitted to the country’s top legislature, state news agency Xinhua reported. The draft code will have ‘clear rules’ focused on the ‘intense problem of sexual harassment’, according to which, victims can demand perpetrators to ‘assume civil liability’ for sexual harassment through words or actions, or by exploiting someone’s subordinate relationship. The rules would also require employers to take reasonable measures to prevent, stop, and deal with complaints about sexual harassment at the workplace, and a failure to do so will hold employers accountable. The draft, which is part of a wider civil code, was presented to the National People’s Congress (NPC) Standing Committee.
New HIV Treatment and Prevention Guidelines Out
The Star, Kenya, 8/25/2018
The Health Ministry of Kenya released its new National HIV-ART Care and Treatment Guidelines and training documents on August 24, 2018. The documents include provisions and guidance for healthcare providers to effectively carry out HIV treatment and to create awareness around the infection. ‘With this plan, we will ensure 80 per cent of Kenyans are tested and aware of their HIV status,’ said Kenya’s Health Minister, ‘We acknowledge that as the world changes, we should be continuously rethinking and considering ways to promote HIV prevention, treatment, and for services to be of high quality and accessible to all.’ The guidelines are based on recent evidence that shows 43 per cent (four out of every 10) of the people living with HIV remain undiagnosed worldwide.
Bill Bars Divorce on Grounds of Reproductive Health
Himalayan Times - Kathmandu, Nepal, 8/25/2018
The bill on Safe Motherhood and Reproductive Health Rights, which has been registered at the Parliament Secretariat of Nepal, has a provision which bars anyone from filing for divorce citing reproductive health issues of the spouse. Anyone convicted of filing for divorce or expelling spouse from the house on grounds of reproductive health will be liable for one year imprisonment and fines. Similarly, the bill has also made provisions for taking action against the health workers deliberately referring emergency delivery and neo-natal cases to another health institution despite the facility being available in one’s health institution. It also guarantees the right to safe abortion, and makes it mandatory for the Government to allocate an annual budget for other reproductive health programmes.
With New DNA Labs, India Tackles Backlog of Sexual Assault Cases
Reuters - Chennai, India, 8/23/2018
India is bringing in new measures aimed at strengthening investigations into sexual assault, as well as reducing a backlog of cases awaiting DNA testing, a senior official said. The Government has pledged to build more labs specialising in examining DNA evidence in sexual assault cases, and has issued new guidelines to help ensure that investigators do not contaminate evidence. Less than half of the cases that go to DNA labs each year are processed, while 20 percent of lab reports do not hold up in court due to contaminated evidence. Hence, the new guidelines, released by the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL), emphasises the proper handling of samples like vaginal swabs, condoms, pubic hair and clothes to plug investigative gaps.
Saudi Arabia Seeks Death Penalty against Female Human Rights Activist
The Guardian - Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 8/22/2018
Saudi Arabian prosecutors are seeking the death sentence for five human rights activists, including a woman who is thought to be the first female campaigner in the country facing execution. Israa al-Ghomgham, a Shia activist arrested with her husband in 2015, will be tried in the country’s terrorism tribunal even though she was arrested for engaging in peaceful activism. Charges against her include ‘incitement to protest’ and ‘providing moral support to rioters’. Saudi Arabia, a monarchy where public protests and political parties are banned, has recently enacted some social and economic reforms, including giving women the right to drive. They have, however, cracked down on dissent, with dozens of activists arrested in the past year, including women campaigning for their rights.
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