The Right to Sexuality factfile 39—43 editorial 2—4 Legal Frameworks Around the monitoring countries and Right to Sexuality Reaffirming the Right regional activities 25—33 to Sexuality editorial and Decriminalising the Right to production team 44 Love: An Indian Success spotlight 5—20 The Internet and Our Mind The Gap: Trans Sexualities: The Need for an published by Intersectionality, Identities, Inclusive Internet / What the Rights Reform in Uruguay the asian-pacific resource and and Institutions Internet Means to Us / Queer research centre for women Muslim Movement - Building The Question of Gender (arrow) Lost in Words: Navigating Through Stories and Sexuality in Pakistan the Terminology of LGBT Brunei: A Reflection on the Criminalising Choice: in our own words 21—25 Ongoing Saga Case Studies from Gujarat Invisibility and Erasure Recognising the Rights of published with the funding The LGBTQI+ Experience Within LGBTIQ Adolescents to Sexual and support of in Fiji Communities: An Reproductive Health Interview with Rima Information and Services Aurat March: Honour, and Athar the Violent Control of Women’s Bodies Making Space for Sexual resources from the arrow Rights Within the Religious srhr knowledge sharing Dynamics Around the Sphere: Islam and Sexual centre 34—36 Provision of Comprehensive Rights: Insisting that Youth arrow receives institutional Sexuality Education (CSE): Walk on the Tightrope of other resources 37 support from the Ford Foundation Insights from the South Asian Ignorance / Hinduism and and the Foundation for a Just Region Sexual Rights definitions 37—38 Society 2 arrow for change | vol. 25 no. 1 2019 editorial By Chayanika Shah REAFFIRMING THE RIGHT Member of LABIA - A Queer Feminist LBT Collective in Mumbai TO SEXUALITY Email: [email protected] Sexuality is an intensely personal, in what manner. One indicator that has Work done over the years has helped dynamic, and individual experience, been chosen globally is of the rights understand the ways in which lives of which is also a central and defining of those who are excluded from most the marginalised have been controlled aspect of being human. The WHO working discourses. Women, young people and and their liberties and rights violated definition of sexual rights states that adolescents, and LGBTIQ+ people are differently across cultures and times and all persons should have the right to the seen as the outliers in different ways in people. This in turn indicates how the highest standard of health in relation to most countries. normative is constructed, though this is sexuality which includes access to SRH clearly not the same across different services; to seek, receive and impart Usually any assertion of the parts of the world. The predominant information in relation to sexuality; normative, however, is of a binary right of sexuality for any sexuality education; respect for bodily gendered heterosexually oriented integrity; choice of partner; to decide individual from their location system maintained through cultural, to be sexually active or not; consensual is immediately confronted with social, religious, legal, and economic sexual relations; consensual marriage; to debates of culture and tradition practices that are a product of a complex, decide whether or not and when to have and even religion. hierarchical structure. children; and to pursue a satisfying, safe and pleasurable sexual life.1 However, Usually any assertion of the right of the right to sexuality also remains one of In this editorial, instead of doing an sexuality for any individual from their the most hotly contested topics globally overview of access to the right of location is immediately confronted with because sexuality is shaped, realised, sexuality across the globe, I shall debates of culture and tradition and and moulded by the socio-cultural and endeavour to critically look at this even religion. These debates happen economic environments. paradigm of evaluating the right to everywhere, from the intimate space of sexuality. I argue that while speaking the family to the modern international This discourse around sexuality, which of access to sexuality is important, platforms like the United Nations that goes beyond an individual’s felt bodily the critique needs to go beyond this. attempt to create a global discourse on desire, began in the mid-20th century Inclusions of different realities ought to human rights of individuals and groups primarily through the feminist movements change and modify existing frameworks of people. When it is the international and LGBTQIA+ struggles in different parts and meanings of gender and sexuality. fora, the cultures and religions of nations of the world and their new articulations I argue that true inclusion and access are invoked, and if the debate is at the around the social construction of demand that systems change from within national level, local communities and their gender and sexuality. In more recent to help realise a broader vision of the practices are mentioned. In homes and years, experiences of trans persons right to sexuality. familial contexts while the debate is about and of people with disabilities have tradition and culture, it is couched in the opened a more complex and nuanced Sexuality Rights and language of familial honour and dignity. understanding of both social construction Homonationalism. As the human rights and bodily experience. discourse developed across the globe, Globally, this discussion has moved in the violation of choices was seen as a ways that condone the hegemony of the Sexuality is about individual choices as basic violation of human dignity and market and global capital. Societies that well as about the social milieu in which the existence of the person. The initial apparently seem to abide by a certain this individual right can be imagined, understanding of denial of the right to discourse of freedom for individual realised, and lived. Since the imagination sexuality came more from the context of personal choices are seen as “liberal” of the normative of sexuality is varied the violation of rights of those that seem and hence liberating, while others that across the world, one way to discuss it to find no space in the normative seemingly subsume the individual within would be to map the trends of how rights discourse, usually women, younger the narrative of the collective are seen as for all people are being achieved and people, and the LGBTQIA+ people. controlling and assumed to be non-liberal 3 editorial arrow for change | vol. 25 no. 1 2019 and regressive. The reality of the right come under attack. Long struggles for It is ironic that when all democratic rights to sexuality is, however, more complex access to safe abortions, for recognition of freedom of expression have seen a than these simplified binaries. This easy of marital rape, against early and child regression, judicial pronouncements on generalisation does not do justice to marriages, for the right to choose one’s trans persons rights and against anti- the complexity of societies and their partner – are not moving forward. sodomy legislation seem to be the only practices. Yet this has today become the These basic demands around the right positive achievements around gender and way in which sexuality and the right to it to sexuality of women and girls are not sexuality.5 These pronouncements, at a or around it is understood. being addressed. In fact through the time when the country has moved many diktats of informal law making bodies steps backward in many other freedoms, This is what Jasbir Puar calls like the caste panchayat and the jamaat, make one wonder how these laws will homonationalism, “an analytic category the communities are introducing more ever get implemented. deployed to understand and historicise mechanisms to control women’s sexuality how and why a nation’s status as “gay- by going against the laws of democracies. In this scenario can countries like India friendly” has become desirable in the first and USA be considered progressive place.”2 She goes on to say that we may At the same time, international politics in terms of the right to sexuality? The resist and resignify homonationalism as are being played on the right to sexuality. problem is that the discourse is shifting. A we did modernity, but it is an analytic Countries like the USA try to establish liberal assimilative inclusion of LGBTIQ+ which operates in today’s time. In Puar’s their understanding of liberal politics people is seen as the most progressive words, “(Homonationalism is) a facet of of the right to sexual choice for women step towards realising the right to modernity and a historical shift marked by in other countries, while continuously sexuality. However, that is hardly a ‘real’ the entrance of (some) homosexual bodies denying women’s right to abortion, which access to rights around sexuality. as worthy of protection by nation-states, a is but a first step towards making any constitutive and fundamental reorientation real choice without the fear of unwanted Assimilative Inclusion is not of the relationship between the state, pregnancies within their own. It is also enough. The right to sexuality is also capitalism, and sexuality.” ironic that while the USA labels itself as about creating an environment in which liberal because of assimilation of some various other rights are protected Within this dominant framework the gay people by granting them a few rights so that this right is guaranteed. The right to sexuality gets consigned to the through marriage, there is a simultaneous understanding of the right itself has to domain of the personal, allowing the increase in violence against Black and be more expansive. Without questioning public to remain as normative as they Latin trans citizens and actual rollback of the social structure which maintains could possibly be, not only in matters of rights for transgender people under the the myth of the normative, all that can gender and sexuality, but in matters of present regime.3 happen is an inclusion of the margins into other social dominances like caste, race, the mainstream structure.