Number of Chinese HIV and AIDS Patients Rise by 14 per cent
South China Morning Post, China, 9/30/2018
The number of people living with HIV and AIDS in China has risen by 14 per cent, with most cases transmitted through sex rather than blood transfusions, State media said on September 29, 2018. More than 820,000 people had AIDS or were HIV-positive at the end of June, and more than 40,000 new HIV and AIDS cases were reported in the second quarter alone, with 93.1 per cent having contracted the virus through sex. The number of HIV infections caused by blood transfusions has ‘essentially been reduced to zero’, which is a departure from the past, where HIV infections had rapidly spread in some parts of China due to unsafe blood transfusions. This shows the growing need for awareness around sexual health and safer sex practices in China.
Egyptian Court Sentences Activist to Jail for 'False News' over Sexual Harassment Video
Reuters - Cairo, Egypt, 9/29/2018
An Egyptian court has sentenced an activist to two years in jail over a video she posted on social media criticising the Government for failing to protect women against sexual harassment, her lawyer said. Amal Fathy, a member of the now banned April 6 youth movement which played a role in 2011 protests that forced President Hosni Mubarak from office, was also fined 10,000 Egyptian pounds ($562). She was charged with spreading ‘false news’ that threatened national security. ‘We have provided all the evidence to prove that she didn’t spread false news,’ said her husband, Mohamed Lotfy, also a human rights activist, talking about how this is a systematic attempt to silence a woman speaking out against gender injustice.
Supreme Court Lifts Ban on Entry of Women of All Ages into Sabrimala Temple
NDTV - New Delhi, India, 9/28/2018
Women of all ages can enter the Sabarimala temple in Kerala, the Supreme Court ruled on September 28, 2018, ending an age-old ban on the entry of women between 10 and 50 years. ‘The practice of age restriction on women entry to Sabrimala temple can't be treated as an essential religious practice,’ said the court in a majority four-one judgement. The only judge who dissented on the five-judge constitution bench was Justice Indu Malhotra. Women said to be of menstrual age were previously restricted from entering the temple as its presiding deity, Lord Ayyappa, is considered to be a celibate. Though the judgement has received backlash from religious groups, it is still a landmark victory for the mobility and rights of women in public spaces.
Adultery Not a Crime, Supreme Court Strikes Down Section 497
India Today - New Delhi, India, 9/27/2018
The Supreme Court on September 27, 2018, unanimously struck down Section 497 of the Indian Penal Code, the 158-year-old law that considers adultery to be an offence committed by one man against another, and has been criticised for treating women as ‘possessions’ rather than human beings. The Chief Justice Dipak Misra, along with the other judges on the panel, ruled that the unequal treatment of women invites the wrath of the Constitution, and that any provision like this, which treats women unequally, isn't constitutional. The other judges on the bench were Justice RF Nariman, Justice DY Chandrachud, and Justice Indu Malhotra. Though adultery is no longer a crime, it will still continue to be grounds for divorce.
Blood Not Needed if You're Gay: The Stigma Attached to Mumbai Blood Banks
Business Standard - Mumbai, India, 9/26/2018
Despite a landmark verdict on Section 377 by the Supreme Court, which decriminalised gay sex in the country, the Maharashtra arm of National Blood Transfusion Council (NBTC) recently issued a newly-updated blood donor screening questionnaire to Mumbai-based blood banks. The new questionnaire will now mandate the blood collectors to ask the male donors about their sexual behaviour and whether they have multiple partners or engaged in the same-sex sexual activity. For the first time after the apex court judgement, a government-body has chalked out a clear ban on homosexual men and women donating blood. Earlier blood bank questionnaires only asked donors whether they have reason to believe that they might have HIV, and did not link it to their sexual orientation.
Kerala High Court Allows Woman to Live with Same-Sex Partner
Indian Express - Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, 9/25/2018
Weeks after the Supreme Court read down Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code and legitimised same-sex relationships, a Division Bench of the Kerala High Court on September 25, 2018, allowed a 40-year-old woman to live with her 24-year-old female partner. A Division Bench of C K Abdul Rahim and Narayana Pisharadi acted upon a habeas corpus petition moved by S Sreeja, 40, of West Kallada in Kollam. In her petition, Sreeja told the court that she wanted to live with her partner, Aruna, 24, of Neyyattinkara, who, she claimed, was in the illegal custody of her parents. Hinging upon the historic Section 377 judgement, the petitioner argued her case, which ultimately led to a positive verdict from the court.
Uganda Court Throws Out Petition against Polygamy
The East African, Uganda, 9/24/2018
Uganda’s Constitutional Court has dismissed a petition seeking to declare polygamy illegal. Mifumi, a women’s rights advocacy non-governmental organisation, had petitioned the court to rule the practice that allows men to marry more than one wife as unconstitutional, since it often leaves these women disenfranchised and prone to domestic violence. Mifumi also argued that polygamy denied women rights to equality in marriage and was in violation of Article 21 (1) of the Constitution, which states that all people are equal before the law. But the five-judge bench court lead by Deputy Chief Justice Alphonse Owiny Dollo on September 24, 2018, unanimously dismissed the petition, first filed eight years ago. The court cited the many ‘unnecessary delay’s as the reason for dismissing the petition.
Suhakam Does Not Support Gay Marriage
Malay Mail - Kuala Lampur, Malaysia, 9/22/2018
The Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) said on September 22, 2018, that it was not in favour of same-sex unions, but also noted that everyone had the same ‘basic rights’ under the Federal Constitution. Suhakam also said ratifying international human rights treaties would not likely oblige the Government to legalise same-sex marriages. Suhakam chairman Tan Sri Razali Ismail said that same-sex marriages were a conflict of ‘values’ in the Muslim-majority country, but reassured that the Commission continues to believe in LGBT rights and anti-discrimination, and recognises the need for the same in light of the recent cases of violence against transgender people and others from the queer community. Earlier in the week, Malaysia’s Prime Minister, Dr Mahathir Mohamad had said that LGBT rights and same-sex marriages were unacceptable in Malaysia.
Tanzania’s Decision to Suspend Family Planning Deplorable: Amnesty International
New Vision, Tanzania, 9/22/2018
The Ministry of Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children in Tanzania recently banned the airing of all family planning advertisements on radio and television pending further notice. In a communiqué responding to this news, Seif Magango, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for East Africa, criticised the move as being ‘deplorable’, and said the Tanzanian authorities must immediately stop obstructing access to sexual and reproductive health services and end the intimidation of anyone providing information about such services – be they health workers, journalists or activists. Consequently, Magango called on the Government to repeal any laws, policies or other barriers to the services and information women and girls need for a healthy life.
Paving Way for Oscar Bid, Kenyan Court Overturns Ban on Film Featuring Lesbian Love
The Washington Post - Nairobi, Kenya, 9/21/2018
A judge in Kenya has temporarily lifted a ban on a film that features a lesbian love story, allowing its producers to fulfil the criteria necessary to submit it to next year’s Oscars as a nominee for Best Foreign Language Film. The film, called ‘Rafiki’, which means friend in Swahili, depicts two young women from opposing political backgrounds who nevertheless fall in love. Kenya’s Film Classification Board had banned it back in April 2018, saying it violated the country’s ‘family values’. Homosexuality is criminalised in Kenya, as it is in many former British colonies, and can carry up to a 14-year prison sentence. But this ruling on ‘Rafiki’ may be a precursor to overturning those laws.
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