Black Looks

I never heard of Henrietta Lacks until a few days ago. But I have heard of the Tuskeegee Experiment in which 399 Black men were used as clinical samples for studying the late stages of syphilis. The men who were poor sharecroppers from Alabama, where never told they had syphilis and no doubt died horrible painful deaths for an illness which was treatable but not for them.

Henrietta Lack’s stolen cells is another experiment without consent. In February 1951 Henrietta was diagnosed with cervical cancer at John Hopkins hospital. Nine months later she was dead. During her treatment – what treatment she received is not clear, tissue samples were removed without her knowledge and consent and handed over to Dr George Gey.
Read more…

KOFAVIV - The Commission of Women Victims for Victims [working with women who have been raped] has issued a report from Haiti.

Because of where the catastrophe hit in Haiti the majority of victims are woman of Kofaviv and many of them died with all of their family, the rest that are left are sleeping under the stars, their houses destroyed with everything in it in the process.  Actually many women are sleeping in Chanmas in bad conditions, in the damp night air, where the sun beats on them, rain falls on them, damp air hits them, many of them lost a lot of their family, we can say, many of them already did not have anything to their name, now hunger almost kills them.

The report is a very personal one and speaks to the particular conditions women are having to struggle for their survival.   [I am no longer naming the earthquake a “disaster”  because of the way the media is using the word which implies the massive loss of life was due solely to an uncontrollable force. ] As in other regions of extreme poverty and militarisation it is largely women  and children who are the most vulnerable due to gender disparities and sexism. They face sexual and domestic violence, assault and  they are often the last to gain access to food, water and medical care as the fight for survival reaches critical conditions.     Children more so now than ever, are  vulnerable to sexual exploitation and who is authorising the many “orphaned” children who are been fast tracked through the adoption process to Canada, France and the US within days. How are we sure they are orphaned and do not have relatives searching for them at this very moment?   I don’t believe one single child should leave the island at this moment – the cost of flying them to Canada and France can be used to provide them with the proper care they need in Haiti- it’s like kidnapping.   This is why it is so important for foreign aid agencies to work with local groups – to search them out and not assume they dont exist – just takes a little effort.

Below are some of the publications and articles which directly address the need for a gendered and child centered approach towards “relief and recovery”.

The Gender and Disaster Network point to the importance of recognising the unique needs of  women and men,  girls and boys, taking into consideration, health – pregnant and breast feeding women, people living with HIV or AIDS, the chronically ill – the elderly, youths,  and disabled people.  They provide a comprehensive list of  grassroots women’s organisations and groups in Haiti and ask that we think carefully about what ways we can provide support in addition to donating money.    I would add to the list Famm Voudou pou Ayiti (Voudou Women for Ayiti)  [See this on misrepresentations of Voudou] Madam Evonne Auguste, who I met in August 2007 and do not know yet if she made it or not.  Although I do not have a contact for her, the organisation can be reached through SOPUDEP which should also be on the list.

Incite, Women of Colour Against Violence published a document following the Katrina Hurricane on the horrendous conditions faced by the affected communities and which are now taking place in Haiti.    They have also published a list of partner organisations and are calling on everyone to educate themselves on the history of Haiti, [here's a start] the intersection of gender violence and disaster  vulnerabilities, identify patterns of disaster and conflict impact on marginalised communities/

As many of us work to figure out appropriate strategies to support the people of Haiti, it’s important to note that the people most vulnerable–namely, women, LGBT folks, people with disabilities, incarcerated people, children, and elders–can experience a slower unfolding of specific crises that are consequences of the original disaster and the social conditions that preceded the disaster.

There is also the increased militarisation with  thousands of additional UN forces and US military both of whom have a record of brutality in Haiti, and which can only intensify  the suffering already being experienced.  Again and again I spoke with women of all ages who reported acts of violence by the security forces,  against them personally or their fathers, husbands and sons which has left them in even greater poverty.  One of the most common themes I met with was the demand for the return of President Bertrand Aristide – the only Haitian leader to have to have been freely elected and who worked on behalf of the poor but was constantly undermined by the US and eventually removed with their consent.

What we are witnessing is an invasion of battalions of military personal,  journalists and mega  aid agencies which can often  bring with them additional problems due to insensitivity, preconceived ideas of the country and a lack of gender analysis. See the  Red Cross in Katrina and  Christian Aid’s previous  record in Haiti    As one twitter asked – who is feeding them and on what?  How much of the resources are they eating up?  How much of their needs are preventing urgent medical equipment and food  reaching the Haitian people?  And all this so they can report that people are “scavenging” and “looting”,  gorge on people’s misery.  Write about the need to protect food from hungry people and hospitals from the wounded.    A disgusting shameful spectacle – the real long term disaster is the one  being set in place by yet more  cultures of violence and greed.

Yesterday I heard someone from the Red Cross blaming some of the failures on a lack of local organisaitons to work with.  Well  here are some local organisations to donate to -  ones that have been there for years – not big names but actually working with people.

Haiti Action Emergency Relief Fund,

SOPUDEP

Dwa Fanm – Womens Rights

Partners in Health

More Womens Organisations here

Finally if you havent already read it – Shailja Patel’s Ten Point Action Plan for Haiti which should also be sent to Mr Obama with the added question on whether he is in control of the US or is it his army generals and if it is him – why is he acting like a war monger?  In whos interest is Haiti going to be rebuilt by the military, aid agencies which act for their governments and the US? In the interest of Haitian business elite or the people?

‘How do you convince me to come out and say I am a homosexual yet the same government that is asking me to do this criminalizes what I am engaged in? I would rather they offered the services without going into the business of knowing who we are and trying to count us.’

Kenya’s HIV prevention programme wants to incorporate men who have sex with men (MSM). However getting MSM to identify themselves is difficult and why is this necessary? Isnt the point to offer services to whoever needs them without them having to reveal their sexual preferences. Ultimately the only way to really provide inclusive HIV prevention services is to decriminalise homosexuality

Continue reading [Via Border Thinking on Migration, Trafficking and Commercial Sex]

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• Kenya Confronts Gay Taboo in Fight Against HIV and AIDS (time.com)

The latest move to criminalise LGBTI people comes from Rwanda. Below is a call to action and background information on the Bill

Background

In November 2009, a draft revision on the Penal Code Act of Rwanda was tabled in the Parliament of Rwanda. Article 217 of the draft act would introduce new, oppressive legislation—the criminalization of consensual same-sex acts and relationships as well as criminalizing the work of LGBT human rights defenders. Homosexuality has never been a crime in Rwanda.

The lower house of the Rwandan Parliament will hold its final debate on this draft code Wednesday December 16, 2009. A vote on this draft code will occur before the end of this week.

Article 217 reads:

Any person who practices, encourages or sensitizes people of the same sex, to sexual relation or any sexual practice, shall be liable for a term of imprisonment ranging from five (5) to ten (10) years and fine ranging from Two Hundred thousand Rwanda Francs (200.000 RwF) to one million (1,000,000)Rwanda francs.

This article is a violation of basic human rights and is contradictory to the Rwandan Constitution as well as various regional and international human rights treaties and conventions. This proposed law stands in direct conflict with the rights to human dignity, personal freedom (Article 12), Equality (Article 16), Expression (Article 18), and Privacy (Article 22) ensured by the Rwandan Constitution, and in particular, Article 22(1), which states that “the private lives of individuals shall not be infringed upon in any way.” Likewise, this proposed article is counter to the guarantees of nondiscrimination and equality before the law in Articles 2, 3, and 28 of the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights. Furthermore, laws criminalizing and detentions of people because of consensual sex between persons of the same sex are arbitrary and violate Articles 2 and 26 on the rights to equality before the law, freedom from discrimination, and privacy of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Rwanda is a party (Toonen v. Australia, 1994).

If the new Penal Code includes this provision, it will also hinder the implementation of the Rwanda National Strategic Plan on HIV and AIDS by the National Commission of Fight against AIDS (CNLS), which is currently considering the inclusion of Men who have Sex with Men (MSM) in the plan. A law of this nature would be a major setback to the Rwandan Government’s commitment to national unity, tolerance, inclusiveness, dialogue, social cohesion and security among Rwandan citizens and residents.

Read more…

Yesterday was human rights day and the day chosen to hold the second protest against the Ugandan Anti-Homosexuality Bill. Unfortunately considering the implications for LGBTI people the turn out was disappointingly low. However the Bill is still being reported in the mainstream media and blogging community though not always in a positive way. This article from the Gwaker “Ask an Expert” by one Andrew Rice who lived in Uganda for a couple of years. His claims of expertise are clearly over rated, as he seems to think that the death penalty will be dropped and like most Ugandan legislation will be “rarely and haphazardly enforced “. For these he gives the examples of smoking in public places, driving recklessly, stealing public funds and prostitution. With the exception of sex workers, there is no national stigma and religious zealousness behind any of these laws. People do not commit hate crimes against smoking in public or stealing public funds. Nor when they are caught are they denigrated in the media and end up having to flea the country to save their lives.

If a bill does get passed, the judiciary is pretty independent and has shown itself willing to buck public opinion in the past. Finally, and most importantly, President Museveni is not a fire-breather on “moral” issues (he leaves that to his wife) and is well aware of the shitstorm of criticism that is likely to descend on the country if the law is passed. He’s got bigger issues to worry about, like winning the next election over increasingly vocal opposition, and he’s not going to want to endanger the country’s life support system of foreign aid by mounting a pogrom against a highly visible minority that draws lots of sympathy in Western countries. The most likely scenario, I’d predict, is that the bill gets watered down to remove the death penalty stuff, is passed, and then, like all Ugandan laws, goes on to be rarely and haphazardly enforced. Among the things that are against the law in Uganda are: smoking in public places, prostitution, driving recklessly, and stealing public funds. These things all still happen, openly and blatantly, so I imagine that the comparatively underground gay community should be OK in the end.

What I object to here is the flippant trivializing tone of Rice’s article which ends up undermining the very real dangers of this Bill not just for Ugandan LGBTI people but for LGBTI people throughout the continent and for human rights in general as other leaders and Christian fundamentals join the homophobic feeding frenzy. Take these two reports from the Gambia and Zambia until now we have heard very little of in terms of homophobia

Gambia’s President Yahya Jammeh says he will sack gay and lesbian army officers serving the country’s military. The President who was addressing the newly promoted army chiefs, said lesbianism is a “ taboo” in the army, and therefore warned soldiers to desist from such practices, which he describes as “evil” and ungodly. “We will not encourage lesbianism and homosexuality in the military. It is a taboo in our armed forces. I will sack any soldier suspected of being a gay, or lesbian in The Gambia. We need no gays in our armed forces,”

Its not clear why Jammeh is specifically targeting the army or even mentioning it since there has been no evidence of lesbians in the army. Nonetheless if you are gay or lesbian in the Gambia statements like these will leave you fearful for your livelihood and life. The second report is from Zambia. The Planned Parenthood Association has asked the government for guidelines on how to address HIV/AIDS amongst same sex relationships in order for everyone to have equal access to medical care and treatment. By far the majority of reader responses to this short article are extremely homophobic. One gets the feeling that it is only a matter of time before Christian fundamentalists in Zambia start their own local anti-LGBTI campaign baying for blood.

My point here is we cannot afford to be flippant and complacent about the implementation of state and religious sanctioned homophobia. More Ugandan religious leaders are backing the Bill and have suggested the Government cut diplomatic ties with those countries calling for the Bill to be shelved. The language used is of course different – those countries “forcing homosexuality” on us. They are also now linking abortion with homosexuality as the two “western evils”.

HIV positive women in Namibia are being coercively sterilized at public hospitals. In 2008 the International Community of Women Living with HIV/AIDS [ICW] held a series of workshops with HIV positive women in Namibia in which the women spoke of the practice of coercing women into being sterilised. The practice has been traced back as far as 2001 and following the workshops the ICW began to document the practice.

So far some 15 women have sued the Government of Namibia for

“violation of their constitutional rights to dignity, to free from cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, found a family and be free from discrimination”.

The scenario is as follows:

A young pregnant woman goes to the local public hospital to give birth. At the hospital, she is told by the medical personnel that she has to have a caesarean delivery to ensure her and the baby’s health. She is also informed that the hospital will not perform this necessary caesarean section unless she also agrees to be sterilized. She conveys to the medical personnel that she does not want to be sterilized as she would like to have the option of having additional children in the future. The doctor refuses to perform the caesarean unless she agrees. She feels she has no option and in order to maintain her and the baby’s health she agrees to be sterilized.

The sterilization of women without informed consent is an act of violence against women – a violation of women’s sexual and reproductive rights. The right to make decisions about our bodies, the right to satisfying and safe sex and the right to safe and accessible health care. Women are being literally tricked into signing sterilization consent forms by handing them a pack of forms one of which is for steriziation, without any explanation. Only after the operation would she then realise that she had been sterizled. These forced sterilizations are taking place mostly against poor women and within the public health system which is supposed to be there to provide care for women who are most vulnerable due to their HIV status.

Non-negotiable Body and Womb Rights is leading a campaign to end the practice of forced sterilization. You can sign their petition here and for more information visit their website here.

I dislike this photo intensely. It looks like something from a jam jar, a hideous caricature of Black women – an act of violence. It comes with this article on gender politics and AIDS.

It talks about “cultural taboos” and rape driving AIDS. But it makes no mention of the rape of lesbians leaving many living with HIV and dying of AIDS.

In “Uganda is… Who is in our hearts of hearts” Dan Mosenberg tells us about the ANERELA movement in Uganda begun by Rev. Gideon B. Byamagusha to provide support to religious leaders living with HIV/AIDS . Rev Byamagusha was the first Anglican Bishop to declare his HIV status. There are now some 2,000 religious leaders who have taken the courageous step in coming out with HIV. Today writing in the Ugandan monitor, the Rev takes another courageous step in declaring his position on the governments proposed homophobic law which seeks the death penalty for homosexual acts.

In the present circumstances, young people and adults of Uganda need to be taught to love, treat and pray for homosexuals, hetero-sexuals, bi-sexuals, tri-sexuals and non-sexuals as they would do for any other person.

We need not be afraid of each other because our sexuality is not contagious! We don’t need to treat each other as freaks because of not understanding each other. We need not even to discuss someone’s sexuality except where the sexuality is a threat to their own and other people’s peace, health, wellbeing and prosperity.

Of course we will (rightly or wrongly) continue to argue that we cannot afford to be very permissive to lifestyles that are “unnatural” and “unscriptural”. We have the right to argue like that and be listened to! But we cannot continue to argue that we are a deeply God-fearing nation when in the same breath we continue to commit state-inspired, state-protected and state-legislated suicide, genocide and murder.

Dan also reminds us – and we do need reminding – that there are no geographical borders to attacks and murders of LGBT people. Rather than “throw stones” at Uganda it is necessary and more appropriate to look at homophobia and transphobia in a global context. The number of homophobic attacks in London are on the increase and in September a gay man, Ian Baynham, 62 was murdered in the center of London, Trafalgar Square. In Liverpool, trainee police officer, James Parkes, had his skull beaten in after being attacked by 20 people. Writing on Transgender day of Remembrance, Tara Sawyer comments that apart from being classified as a mental disorder – an act of violence in itself, it is estimated that some 19 trans people are murdered each month.

Various reports have been circulating the internet over the past week on the export of homophobia by the US religious right to Asia and Africa and anywhere they can find an entry with their doctrine of hate justified by fallacious readings of religious texts. The comments are based on the report by Kapya Kaoma “Globalizing the Culture Wars: U.S. Conservatives, African Churches, and Homophobia“] The report is important for a number of reasons. Because it places the homophobic project of the religious right in a global context; because Kaoma makes the additional connection between the export of culture and hatred with the dumping of toxic and electronic waste etc on continental Africa; because of “Gay Imperalism” the critique of which is presently under attack by Peter Tatchell and Outrage.

Just as the United States and other northern societies routinely dump our outlawed or expired chemicals, pharmaceuticals, machinery, and cultural detritus on African and other Third World countries, we now export a political discourse and public policies our own society has discarded as outdated and dangerous,” writes PRA executive director Tarso Luís Ramos in the report’s foreword. “Africa’s antigay campaigns are to a substantial degree made in the U.S.A.

I would go much further to add that the “dumping” of Eurocentricism has been a continuous project since the first landing of Europeans on African soil and spreading Christianity has always been central to this project. It is also worth noting that the mainstream Anglican church led by Archbishop Rowan Williams and the Archbishop of York, John Sentamuhas have both been silent on the proposed Ugandan Bill. Sentamuhas is particularly disappointing as he has been extremely vocal about Mugabe and Zimbabwe – such inconsistency is hypocritical.

To return to Uganda and Dan’s post, the University of Makerere, organised a discussion around the anti-homosexuality bill and the impact it will have on human rights. Human right activists, lawyer and feminist, Sylvia Tamale closed the discussion with the following remarks and call to action

She concluded her remarks with an oblique return to the theme of dialogue: “Do we really in our hearts of hearts want our country to be the first on the continent to demand that mothers spy on their children, that teachers refuse to talk about what is, after all, “out there” and that our gay and lesbian citizens are systematically and legally terrorized into suicide? Ladies and gentlemen, you may strongly disagree with the phenomenon of same-sex erotics; you may be repulsed by what you imagine homosexuals do behind their bedroom doors; you may think that all homosexuals deserve to burn in hell. However, it is quite clear that this Bill will cause more problems around the issue of homosexuality than it will solve. I suggest that Hon. Bahati’s bill be quietly forgotten. It is no more or less than an embarrassment to our intelligence, our sense of justice and our hearts.”

Homophobia is a global issue and impacts on on everyone irrespective of their sexuality, gender identities / expressions and sexual preference. The doctrine which fuels homophobia is the same one which fuels all kinds of intolerance and invasions into personal spaces. It is fueled by the same intolerance around the racist campaign being conducted by the right against President Obama. It is the same one which denies Climate Change. It is both “the stepping stone and stones of violence.”

The following Statement from the Civil Society Coalition on Human Rights and Constitutional Law, The Coalition’s first press release entitled ‘Anti-Homosexuality or Anti-Human Rights Bill?’, will be published in today’s (24 October 2009) editions of Uganda Dailies The New Vision; The Independent , The Monitor – and a local vernacular daily Bukedde Newspaper. It will also appear in the Regional Daily The East African on Monday. More will follow later.

I have so far been unable to find the Coalition’s Statement on any of these websites so if you know the exact link please leave it in a comment.

If you are in Uganda, please buy a copy and out of Uganda hit the websites to read these and distribute far and wide! And above all, we need all your energies for this campaign…. It’s our Struggle Collectively!

The Statement

Hon. Bahati’s Anti-Homosexuality Bill which was tabled in Parliament on October 14, 2009, and is currently before the Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee of Parliament covers much more than the title alone proclaims. A much better title for this bill would have been the ‘Anti Civil Society Bill, the ‘Anti Public Health Bill,’ or the ‘Anti-Constitution Bill.’ Perhaps more simply it should be called the Anti Human Rights Bill. As a matter of fact, this bill represents one of the most serious attacks to date on the 1995 Constitution and on the key human rights protections enshrined in the Constitution including:

• Article 20: Fundamental rights and freedoms are inherent and not granted by the State
• Article 21: Right to Equality and Freedom from discrimination
• Article 22: The Right to Life (the death penalty provisions)
• Article 27: The Right to Privacy
• Article 29: Right to freedom of conscience, expression, movement, religion, assembly and association (this includes freedom of speech, Academic freedom and media freedom)
• Article 30: Right to Education
• Article 32: Affirmative Action in favour of marginalised groups and
• Article 36 on the Rights of Minorities

Let us think for a moment of who—quite apart from the homosexuals it claims as its target—this bill puts at risk:

- any parent who does not denounce their lesbian daughter or gay son to the authorities: Failure to do so s/he will be fined Ush 5,000,000/= or put away for three years;
- any teacher who does not report a lesbian or gay pupil to the authorities within 24 hours: Failure to do so s/he will be fined Ush 5,000,000/= or put away for three years in prison;
- any landlord or landlady who happens to give housing to a suspected homosexual risks seven years of imprisonment;
Read more…

A new Private Members Bill – Anti-Homosexuality Bill 2009 – has been tabled in the Uganda Parliament which would allow for the death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality”. The Bill also carries a sentence of life imprisonment for being or committing the offense of homosexuality, 7 years for attempted homosexuality and anyone who “aids, abets, counsels or procures another to engage in acts of homosexuality or anybody who keeps a house or room for the purpose of homosexuality.”

A person commits aggravated homosexuality when the victim is a person with disability or below the age of 18, or when the offender is HIV-positive. The bill thus equates aggravated homosexuality to aggravated defilement among people of different sexes, which also carries the death sentence.

Any NGO or organisation which supports LGBTI people will have it’s license revoked and the director would be liable to 7 years in prison. In short the Bill not only criminalizes same sex relations but also advocacy and public discussion in any arena whether the media, public institutions and even in the private sphere of one’s own home. There is no protection for any LGBTI person against any member of the public physically attacking them, evicting them from their home or firing them from their work. Activists with SMUG – Sexual Minorities Uganda report that already there has been increases in violence against LGBTI.

Over the recent months increased campaigns of violence have gone uncontrolled. The violence directed at Homosexual Ugandans has resulted in the unwarranted arrests of many people; there are eight ongoing cases in various courts all over Uganda of which four accused persons are unable to meet the harsh bail conditions set against them. These acts of violence have now resulted in the deaths of several homosexual people, such as
Brian Pande at Mbale Hospital as he awaited trial. This bill aggravates stigma and hatred; and renders all promised protections enshrined in the constitution for all Ugandan citizens void.

Backed by religious leaders countries like Uganda and Nigeria are increasingly dictating on morality and invading the personal lives of people whether women as in the case with the indecent dress code Bill or same sex relationships as with proposed Homophobia Bills [Same Sex Marriage Bill in Nigeria]. For the past 5 years human rights defenders in Uganda and Nigeria have been struggling against homophobic legislation, public outings by the media, harassment and arrests for being gay and lesbian. Now it is time for an human rights defenders from across the continent to work together with SMUG in Uganda to prevent this Bill from being passed. Frank Mugisha of SMUG explains in detail the implications of the Bill for all Ugandans.