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“The Law Undermines Dignity”

Summary [The gender recognition law] is definitely a system that is wrecking [transgender] people’s dignity as a human being. —Saburo N., a transgender man, Kanagawa Prefecture, September 2018 Despite increasingly vocal domestic and…
News

Japan: New Momentum to Reform Transgender Law

End Compulsory Sterilizations, ‘Mental Illness’ Diagnosis

(Tokyo) – Transgender people in Japan face continuing barriers to changing their legally recognized gender, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. The Japanese government should heed increasing calls from activists and experts to revise…
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A Gold Medal for Homophobia in Japan

Japan’s Ruling Party Members Slur LGBT Community

Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights activists in Japan and their allies have for years been pressing the Diet, the national parliament, to introduce legislation that protects sexual orientation and gender identity as grounds for…
LGBT activists outside ruling LDP protesting
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Spain: Missed Opportunity on Gender Recognition

Proposal Would Have Upheld Trans, Non-Binary People’s Rights

(Berlin) – Spain’s Congress of Deputies on May 18, 2021, rejected a landmark legislative proposal that would have allowed legal gender recognition based on self-determination, Human Rights Watch said today. The existing process for modifying…
The president of the Trans Platform Federation, Mar Cambrollé seen during a rally to pass the so-called 'Trans Law' in the Congress of Deputies in Madrid.
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Time to Reform Gender Laws

(Tokyo, May 25, 2021) – Transgender people in [hrw.org/asia/japan]Japan face continuing barriers to changing their legally recognized gender, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. The Japanese government should heed increasing calls…
News

In Cameroon Transgender Women Given Five-Years in Prison

Release Trans Women, End Anti-LGBT Persecution

On May 11, a Cameroonian court sentenced two transgender women to five years in prison and fines of 200,000 CFA (USD $370) under a law that forbids same-sex relations. The women, Njeuken Loic (known as “Shakiro”) and Mouthe Roland (known as “Patricia…
Njeuken Loic (known as “Shakiro”) and Mouthe Roland (known as “Patricia”), two transgender women, in a Douala prison.
News

Japan’s Ruling Party LGBT Bill Falls Short

Reform Legislation Should Explicitly Include Nondiscrimination Protections

Over the past six years, activists in Japan have pressed the Diet, the national parliament, to introduce a nondiscrimination law that protects the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people. Japan currently does not have any…
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga speaks at a news conference in Tokyo, Japan, May 7, 2021.
News

US State of Alabama Removes Anti-LGBT Language from Sex Ed Law

Children and Youth Have a Right to Comprehensive Information

Alabama’s Governor Kay Ivey has signed a bill that will update the US state’s sexuality education law, removing inaccurate and stigmatizing language about lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people. Previously, Alabama state law required…
Pride Flag
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Uganda: Reject Sexual Offenses Bill

Draft Law Criminalizes Consensual Sex, Lets Down Assault Survivors

Update: On August 3, 2021, President Museveni rejected the Sexual Offenses Bill and returned it to Parliament, stating that it covered offenses already provided for in the Penal Code. (Kampala) – Uganda’s Sexual Offenses Bill, 2019 both…
Brenda, a Ugandan transgender woman, was arrested and assaulted by police in the wake of the passage of Uganda’s 2014 Anti-Homosexuality Bill. Activists fear that the passage of the Sexual Offences Bill will similarly lead to anti-LGBT violence.
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New York City Government Votes to Promote Intersex Rights

First in the US Legislation Aims to Educate Public

Last week, the New York City Council passed a bill mandating the city’s health department to develop educational materials about how so-called “normalizing” surgeries on children born with variations in their sex characteristics are medically unnecessary…
People hold a yellow banner reading "End Intersex Surgeries" in purple writing
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Cameroon: Wave of Arrests, Abuse Against LGBT People

Repeal Law, Protect LGBT Rights

(Nairobi) – Cameroonian security forces have arbitrarily arrested, beaten, or threatened at least 24 people, including a 17-year-old boy, for alleged consensual same-sex conduct or gender nonconformity, since February 2021,…
Njeuken Loic (known as “Shakiro”) and Mouthe Roland (known as “Patricia”), two transgender women, in a Douala prison.
News

Biden Needs a Middle East-Wide Human Rights Policy

On the campaign trail and during his first three months in office, President Biden promised a US return to a multilateral foreign policy that supports human rights. That is an important vision for the Middle East, a region often destabilized…
President Joe Biden speaks about foreign policy, at the State Department in Washington, February 4, 2021. 
News

Germany: New Policy to Champion LGBTI Rights Abroad

Expands Commitments in Foreign Policy, Aid

(Berlin) – The German government has pledged to do more to uphold the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) people abroad, Human Rights Watch said today. The commitment is included in its multifaceted strategy for…
A participant at a feminist protest on international women’s day in Munich, Germany on 8 March 2020.
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Uzbekistan: Independent Blogger Attacked

Ensure Effective Investigation; Condemn Flagrant Homophobia

Update (May 4, 2021): Police detained the blogger, Miraziz Bazarov, on April 29, immediately after he was discharged from the hospital where he had been recovering from a violent attack by unidentified assailants on March 28. A court placed Bazarov…
Amir Timur statue, in Amir Timur square, Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
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Poland: Escalating Threats to Women Activists

Investigate, Protect Rights Defenders, End Hateful Rhetoric

Update: Poland’s Ministry of the Interior responded to Human Rights Watch’s request for information and comment on our findings in a four-page letter dated April 8, 2021. The letter states that the government adheres to international law guaranteeing…
Protesters hold a banner of Strajk Kobiet (Women's Strike) during a protest in Warsaw on March 8,  International Women's Day, organized by the Women's Strike (Strajk Kobiet) against the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party and the decision of the Constitutional Court.
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Japan: Pass Equality Act Before Olympics

More Than 100,000 Signatures Support National LGBT Law

(Tokyo) – Japanese political parties should work together to submit and pass a bill at the national Diet to protect against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, J-ALL, Athlete Ally, All Out, and Human Rights Watch…
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Turkey: Erdoğan’s Onslaught on Rights and Democracy

Targets Women, Kurds, LGBT People, Democratic Safeguards

(Istanbul) – The government of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is dismantling human rights protections and democratic norms  in Turkey on a scale unprecedented in the 18 years he has been in office, said Human Rights Watch today. The government…
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan speaks during a news conference in Ankara, Turkey, March 18, 2020
News

Uzbekistan: Gay Men Face Abuse, Prison

Ensure Rights to Personal Security, Privacy, Nondiscrimination

(Berlin) – Men in Uzbekistan who engage in consensual same-sex sexual conduct face arbitrary detention, prosecution, and imprisonment as well as homophobia, threats, and extortion, Human Rights Watch said today. Uzbekistan should guarantee rights to…
The Senate of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Independence Square, Mustakillik Maydoni, Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
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Gay and Bisexual Men Face Abuse, Prison in Uzbekistan

(Berlin) – Men in Uzbekistan who engage in consensual same-sex sexual conduct face arbitrary detention, prosecution, and imprisonment as well as homophobia, threats, and extortion, Human Rights Watch said today. Uzbekistan should guarantee…