New book: Advancing SRH and Rights in Africa

Congratulations to Ebenezer Durojaye, Gladys Mirugi-Mukundi, and Charles Ngwena, whose co-edited book, was recently published by Routledge. Ebenezer Durojaye is Professor and Head of the Socio-Economic Rights Project at the Dullah Omar Institute, University of the Western Cape, South Africa; Gladys Mirugi-Mukundi is a researcher in the same project; and Charles Ngwena is Professor of Law, Center for Human Rights, University of Pretoria. We are pleased to circulate the abstract and Table of Contents of this open-access book, showing the wide range of authors and subjects covered.

Ebenezer Durojaye, Gladys Mirugi-Mukundi and Charles Ngwena, eds., Advancing Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in Africa: Constraints and Opportunities (Routledge, 2021), 268 pages. Entire book is online and downloadable.

This book explores recent developments, constraints and opportunities relating to the advancement of sexual and reproductive health and rights in Africa.

Despite many positive developments in relation to sexual and reproductive health in recent years, many Africans still encounter challenges, for instance in poor maternity services, living with HIV, and discrimination on the basis of age, gender, sexual orientation or identity. Covering topics such as abortion, gender identity, adolescent sexuality and homosexuality, the chapters in this book discuss the impact of culture, morality and social beliefs on the enjoyment of sexual and reproductive health and rights across the continent, particularly in relation to vulnerable and marginalized groups. The book also explores the role of litigation, national human rights institutions and regional human rights bodies in advancing the realization of sexual and reproductive health and rights in the region. Throughout, the contributions highlight the relevance of a rights-based framework in addressing topical and contentious issues on sexual and reproductive health and rights within Sub-Saharan Africa. This book will therefore be of interest to researchers of sexuality, civil rights and health in Africa.

The Open Access version of this book, available online here, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
Ebenezer Durojaye, Gladys Mirugi-Mukundi and Charles Ngwena

2. Abortion and ‘conscientious objection’ in South Africa: The need for regulation
Satang Nabaneh

3. Addressing Maternal Mortality through decriminalizing abortion in Nigeria: Asking the “Woman Question”
Ibrahim Obadina

4. Mainstreaming the ‘Abortion Question’ into the Right to Health in Uganda
Robert Nanima

5. Barriers to Access to Contraceptives for Adolescent Girls in Rural Zimbabwe as a Human Rights Challenge
Michelle Rufaro Maziwisa

6. It Takes Two to Tango! – The Relevance and Dilemma of Involving Men in the Realisation of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in Africa
Sibusiso Mkwananzi

7. Positive Approaches to Childhood Sexuality and Transforming Gender Norms in Malawi
Godfrey Dalitso Kangaude

8. Addressing Female Genital Cutting/Mutilation (FGC/M) in The Gambia: Beyond Criminalisation
Ebenezer Durojaye and Satang Nabaneh

9. In Search of a Middle Ground: Addressing Cultural and Religious Influences on the Criminalisation of Homosexuality in Nigeria
Adetoun T Adebanjo

10. A Case for Removing Barriers to Legal Recognition of Transgender Persons in Botswana
Kutlwano Pearl Magashula

11. Advancing the Rights of Sexual and Gender Minorities under the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights: The Journey to Resolution 275
Berry D. Nibogora

12. Lessons from Litigating for Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights in Southern Africa
Tambudzai Gonese-Manjonjo and Ebenezer Durojaye

13. Experiences from the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights KNCHR) on the Promotion and Protection of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights
Shatikha S. Chivusia

14. Monitoring implementation of the sexual and reproductive health and rights of adolescent children: the role of the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child
Ayalew Getachew Assefa

Open Access Book:
Read Full Book – Open Access Opens in new tab or window

________

Compiled by: the International Reproductive and Sexual Health Law Program, reprohealth*law at utoronto.ca.   See Program website for our Publications,  Research resources, and Reprohealthlaw Commentaries Series.  TO JOIN THE REPROHEALTHLAW BLOG: enter your email address in the upper right corner of our blog, then check your email to confirm the subscription.

Nigerian Court denies lesbian group registration

Many thanks to Obiagbaoso Maryanne Nkechi, an LL.M student in Sexual and Reproductive Rights in Africa, at the Center for Human Rights of the University of Pretoria’s Faculty of Law. We thank her for summarizing and commenting on this 2018 High Court decision for our online updates to the three-volume series: Legal Grounds: Reproductive and Sexual Rights in Sub-Saharan African Courts, available here.

We are pleased to circulate excerpts from her overview and some of her comments on the decision.

Pamela Adie v. Corporate Affairs Commission, Suit No. FHCI ABJICSI82712018, Decision of November 16, 2018 Federal High Court of Nigeria (Abuja Judicial Division)  Decision online.  6-page overview and comments by Obiagbaoso Maryanne Nkechi.

COURT HOLDING                          
The Court dismissed the case of the Applicant on the ground that the existing and operative Same Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Act of 2013 (SSMPA) does not support such association and for as long as the Act has not been repealed, the case of the Applicant failed.

Summary of Facts
In October 2017, the Applicant [Pamela Adie] founded an association with the name ‘Lesbian Equality and Empowerment Initiatives’ with the main objective of advocating for the rights of sexual minority women in Nigeria. She had sought to register the name of the association with the Corporate Affairs Commission, but was refused registration on the ground that the proposed name violated section 30 of the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) for being misleading, offensive and contrary to public policy. Additionally, registration was refused on the basis that the association violated the SSMPA, which prohibits same sex marriages and associations in Nigeria. The Applicant undertook her right of appeal as provided in section 36(2) of CAMA by petitioning the Registrar General of the Corporate Affairs Commission to overrule the decision. The Registrar General declined to do so, making the rejection final.

Dissatisfied with the decision of the Corporate Affairs Commission, Pamela Adie applied to the Federal High Court of Nigeria, seeking redress. She alleged that the refusal to register her association violated her fundamental rights to freedom of expression and association as contained in section 39 and section 40 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) (CFRN) and Articles 9(2) and 10(1) of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (Ratification and Enforcement) Act (ACHPRA) of 1986 respectively.

“The case of the Applicant failed because Section 45(1)(a) [of the Nigerian Constitution] provides for the limitation of a right where the right is in conflict with public safety, public order and public morality . . . [and] the exercise of fundamental rights is not absolute — these rights can be curtailed by relevant laws. The Court . . . [noted] section 4 of the SSMPA is an example of the laws that prohibit the registration of same-sex associations in Nigeria. . . . “

Significance (excerpts):
The Court chose to remain within the confines of its own Constitutional jurisprudence . . . that allows for the overriding of rights in certain circumstances as an acceptable limit on the human rights of Nigerians. . . . It missed an opportunity to look more broadly into the realm of international law . . . [and] also did take cognizance of the ACHPRA that was brought to its attention by the Applicant’s counsel. . . .

The Court did not align with international human rights standards that protect the rights of all persons, irrespective of gender identity or sexual orientation [although] Nigeria had ratified African Charter of Human and Peoples’ Rights in 1986 and its Maputo Protocol in 2004, as well as the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) in 1993. Nigeria is therefore bound by CESCR’s General Comment 20 and ICCPR Article 17, which, according to the Human Rights Committee’s decision in Toonen v. Australia (1994), is violated by laws criminalizing homosexual activity between consenting adults, and more recently, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights Resolution 275, which notes that acts of violence against an individual as a result of gender identity or sexual orientation violates a person’s right to dignity and right to be free from discrimination.

The full text of this commentary is online here: Case comment by Obiagbaoso Maryanne Nkechi.
———————
RELATED RESOURCES:
“Nigeria avoided constitutional scrutiny of anti-gay laws,” Teriah Joseph Ebah v. Federal Government of Nigeria, Suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/197/2014.  Decision of October 22, 2014 (Federal High Court of Nigeria at Abuja) Overview on Reprohealthlaw Blog.   Case comment by Ovye Affi.

Successful LGBT registration cases from other African courts:

• Eric Gitari v Non-Governmental Organizations Co-Ordination Board & 4 Others [2015] eKLR, Petition No. 440 of 2013 (High Court of Kenya at Nairobi)  [LGBT organizations can be registered.]  Decision online.
• Thuto Rammoge & 19 Others v The Attorney General of Botswana [2014] MAHGB-000175-13 (High Court of Botswana). [Homosexual rights advocacy society received official recognition.]  Decision online.
• Attorney General of Botswana v. Thuto Rammoge & 19 Others [2016]  CACGB-128-14 (Botswana Court of Appeal at Gaborone)  [Appeal dismissed]  Decision online
• Republic v Non-Governmental Organizations  Co-ordination Board & another ex-parte Transgender Education and Advocacy & 3 Others [2014] eKLR, JR Miscellaneous Application No. 308a of 2013 (High Court of Kenya at Nairobi (Milimani Law Courts) [Ordered transgender organization to be registered]. Decision online.

For overviews of African jurisprudence. see Legal Grounds: Reproductive and Sexual Rights in Sub-Saharan African Courts, freely available and updated here.
______________
Compiled by: the International Reproductive and Sexual Health Law Program, reprohealth*law at utoronto.ca.   See Program website for our Publications,  Information resources, and Reprohealthlaw Commentaries Series.  TO JOIN THE REPROHEALTHLAW BLOG: enter your email address in the upper right corner of our blog, then check your email to confirm the subscription.

REPROHEALTHLAW Updates – Nov/Dec. 2019

SUBSCRIBE TO REPROHEALTHLAW: To receive these updates monthly by email, enter your address in upper right corner of this webpage, then check your email to confirm the subscription.

DEVELOPMENTS:
Canada (Ontario): Christian Medical and Dental Society of Canada v. College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, 2019 ONCA 393, Doc. no. C65397, Decision of May 15, 2019. (Canada: Ontario Court of Appeal)  Decision online.  Case summary by Bernard M. Dickens.

Ecuador:  National Assembly fails to decriminalize abortion for rape victims. Guardian newspaper report.

[U.S. – conscience]  Federal Judge holds Trump-Backed ‘Conscience Rule’ for Health Workers unconstitutional. Nov. 6, 2019  Washington Post Report.

SCHOLARSHIP:

[abortion and miscarriage] “The Law and Ethics of Fetal Burial Requirements for Reproductive Health Care,” by Dov Fox, I. Glenn Cohen and Eli Y. Adashi, JAMA 322. 14(Oct 8, 2019): 1347-8. Abstract and institutional access.

[abortion law, Ireland] “Intersectionality, Repeal, and Reproductive Rights in Ireland,” by Fiona de Londras, forthcoming in: Shreya Atrey and Peter Dunne (eds), Intersectionality and Human Rights, Abstract and chapter.

[conscience] Abortion Care in Ireland: Developing Legal and Ethical Frameworks for Conscientious Provision, by Mary Donnelly and Claire Murray, International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics 148 (Jan. 2020): 127–132. PDF at Wiley Online for 12 months.  Abstract and article on SSRN.

European Abortion Laws: A Comparative Overview, Center for Reproductive Rights, Nov. 2019. 9-page Fact Sheet,

Feminist Judgments in International Law, ed. Loveday Hodson and Troy Lavers (Oxford: Hart, 2019), 279-302 (511 pages). Publisher’s abstract. About feminist rewrite of ECtHR’s A, B. & C v. Ireland.

[homosexuality] “Nigerian High Court avoided constitutional scrutiny of anti-gay laws : Mr. Teriah Joseph Ebah v. Federal Republic of Nigeria (2014),” Legal Grounds III: Reproductive and Sexual Rights in Sub-Saharan African Courts, Reprohealthlaw Blog, Dec. 10, 2019 Decision online.    6-page Case Comment by Ovye Affi.

US-focused news, resources, and legal developments are available  on Repro Rights Prof Blog. View or subscribe.

JOBS

Links to employers in the field of Reproductive and Sexual Health Law are online here.
______________
Compiled by: the International Reproductive and Sexual Health Law Program, reprohealth*law at utoronto.ca.   See Program website for our Publications,  Information resources, and Reprohealthlaw Commentaries Series.  TO JOIN THE REPROHEALTHLAW BLOG: enter your email address in the upper right corner of our blog, then check your email to confirm the subscription.

Nigerian High Court avoided constitutional scrutiny of anti-gay laws

Many thanks to Ovye Affi, an LL.M student of Sexual and Reproductive Rights in Africa, in the Centre for Human Rights, Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria, South Africa. He kindly contributed a 6-page case summary to the updated edition of Legal Grounds III: Reproductive and Sexual Rights in Sub-Saharan African Courts., online here. We are pleased to circulate a few excerpts about this “first suit in a Nigerian court which specifically sought the protection of the rights of homosexuals.”

Cite as: Ovye Affi, “Nigerian High Court avoided constitutional scrutiny of anti-gay laws : Mr. Teriah Joseph Ebah v. Federal Republic of Nigeria (2014),” Legal Grounds III: Reproductive and Sexual Rights in Sub-Saharan African Courts, Reprohealthlaw Blog, Dec. 10, 2019 Decision online.  6-page Case Comment by Ovye Affi.

“Court Holding: The Court held that the Applicant in this case has no legal standing to bring an action against the Nigerian Government on the constitutionality of the prohibition of same-sex conduct, marriages and associations, because the Applicant did not claim to be a homosexual. Furthermore, the Court held that the Applicant, who claims to have instituted the suit on behalf of the ‘Gay Community in Nigeria’, had no legal standing to so institute the action because there is no such body or organization in Nigeria.

“Summary of Facts: Statutes in Nigeria have long criminalised ‘offences against the order of nature,’ which were interpreted to include same-sex conduct. In 2013, the Federal Republic of Nigeria, in an attempt to further clamp down on actual or perceived homosexuals, enacted the Same Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Act (SSMPA), which confirms the criminalization of homosexual activities by expressly criminalizing marriages between homosexuals, as well as support for homosexuals or homosexual associations. The Applicant instituted this suit at the Federal High Court, Abuja Division, seeking answers as to whether the provisions of the SSMPA infringe the constitutionally guaranteed rights of members of the LGBT+ community to [1] freedom from discrimination on grounds of sex; [2] liberty; [3] freedom of association; [4] dignity; and [5] privacy and whether the provisions of the SSMPA are null and void to the extent of their inconsistency with the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) (The Constitution).”

“Court’s Analysis: In determining the preliminary objection, the Court observed that, according to Section 46(1) of the Constitution, an applicant in a fundamental rights action must establish that his rights had been contravened or threatened. The Court conceded that it is aware of the fact that the Preamble to the Fundamental Rights Enforcement (Procedure) Rules, 2009 (FREP Rules) provide that ‘no human rights case may be dismissed or struck out for want of locus standi [legal standing]’. However, the Court concluded that this Preamble to the FREP Rules, which was written by the Chief Justice of Nigeria pursuant to Section 46(3) of the Constitution, is contrary to Section 46(1) of the Constitution and consequently void.

“The Court upheld the preliminary objection of the Respondent and held that since the Applicant failed to show that he is a homosexual, the Applicant lacks legal standing under Section 46(1) of the Constitution. The Court also held that the Applicant cannot be heard to claim that he represents the LGBT+ community because there is no person or association known to law in Nigeria as the LGBT+ community. Consequently, the Court made an order striking out the Applicant’s suit, without considering the merits of the suit.

Significance: As Ovye Affi explains, flaws in the Court’s ruling on legal standing suggest that the Court “was influenced by the moral and cultural sentiments against homosexuals in Nigeria. . . . Since 1987, the Supreme Court of Nigeria had noted that courts need to allow a broader interpretation of the legal standing provisions of the Constitution in order to allow for public interest litigation. In a 2018 decision, the Court of Appeal of Nigeria upheld the Preamble to the FREP Rules and held that courts should allow individuals or organizations to institute fundamental rights enforcement actions on behalf of others.”

The entire case-comment, including endnotes and cited cases, is online here. As Ovye Affi demonstrates, future challenges to Nigeria’s anti-gay laws could ensure legal standing, and invoke not only the Constitution, but international human rights treaties. These include the African Charter of Human and Peoples’ Rights, and, more recently, the African Commission’s Resolution 275* of 2014, which he considers”a good starting point for the recognition and protection of the rights of LGBT+ persons by the apex human rights body in Africa. It could help ensure a progressive recognition and protection of the rights of homosexuals in Africa.”

RELATED RESOURCES
Legal Grounds: Reproductive and Sexual Rights in Sub-Saharan African Courts (Pretoria: PULP, 2017) Printed edition PDF. Updated edition online.

African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, Resolution 275 on protection against violence and other human rights violations against persons on the basis of their real or imputed sexual orientation or gender identity adopted at the 55^th Ordinary Session held in Luanda, Angola, from 28^th April to 12^th May 2014. 12-page resolution.

See also: “RESOLUTION 275 – What it means for state and non-state actors in Africa,” (Pretoria: Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria and AmSHER, [2018]) 12-page interpretation.
______________
Compiled by: the International Reproductive and Sexual Health Law Program, reprohealth*law at utoronto.ca.   See Program website for our Publications,  Information resources, and Reprohealthlaw Commentaries Series.
TO JOIN THE REPROHEALTHLAW BLOG: enter your email address in the upper right corner of our blog, then check your email to confirm the subscription.

REPROHEALTHLAW Updates – Oct 2019

SUBSCRIBE TO REPROHEALTHLAW: To receive these updates monthly by email, enter your address in upper right corner of this webpage, then check your email to confirm the subscription.

DEVELOPMENTS:

Australia – Abortion decriminalized September 26, 2019. New South Wales (NSW), the last remaining state where it was illegal, legalized abortion up to 22 weeks for any reason, and up to birth with medical committee review. BBC Report.

[homosexuality] “Botswana High Court decriminalizes homosexuality. Letsweletse Motshidiemang v Attorney General,” [2019] MAHGB-000591-16, Decision of June 11, 2019. (High Court of Botswana). Decision online.   Case comment by Kutlwano Pearl Magashula, Other African court cases from our “Legal Grounds” series.

Mexico: Supreme Court abortion ruling upholds human right to health in the case of “Marisa”/”Jane Doe”:  Suprema Corte de Justicia de la Nación, Primera Sala, Amparo en Revisión 1388/2015  May 15, 2019. Decision in Spanish.   English translation. Videos from Harvard conference with 2 Mexican SC judges. Expert blogposts by Court clerks: Adriana Ortega on “risk to health” in the decision; David García Sarubbi: on Fundamental right to health and judicial review; Patricia del Arenal Urueta, on “Rights” discourse in Mexico. Estefanía Vela Barba, LL.M., comments on gender perspective, international law, and a path to decriminalization. Overview of these resources.

[Northern Ireland] Sarah Ewart v  NI Departments of Justice and Health, October 3, 2019. (High Court of Belfast)  Court followed the ruling of the UK Supreme Court  that  Northern Ireland  abortion law is incompatible with ECHR Article 8 in relation to fatal foetal abnormality (“FFA”).  Court also ruled that applicant Ms Ewart has standing to bring a challenge to the current legislation.  Official summary. 

[Northern Ireland] Abortion decriminalized by the United Kingdom, October 22, 2019, in absence of devolved Northern Irish government. Regulations for abortion provision must be in place by March 2020. Same sex weddings also legalized. First weddings in February 2020. BBC report.

[Tanzania, child marriage] Attorney General vs Rebeca Z. Gyumi (Civil Appeal No.204 of 2017) [2019] TZCA 348; (23 October 2019) High Court of Appeals upheld 2016 decision that Third party consent to marriage of girls under 18 is unconstitutional.] 52-page Decision online.  Blog about 2016 decision. Article about 2016 decision.

SCHOLARSHIP

[abortion and human rights] “Extending the Right to Life Under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights: General Comment 36,” by Sarah Joseph, Human Rights Law Review 19.2 (June 2019): 347–368. Institutional access.

[abortion law, Ireland] “The Last Holdout: Ireland, the Right to Abortion and the European Federal Human Rights System” by Federico Fabbrini. iCourts Working Paper Series, No. 142, 2018. Abstract and article.

[abortion law, Ireland] “‘The Only Lawyer on the Panel’: Anti-Choice Lawfare in the Battle for Abortion Law Reform,” by Fiona de Londras and Máiréad Enright. Forthcoming in Kath Browne & Sydney Calkin, “After Repeal: The Future of Women’s Reproductive Rights” (Zed Books, 2019) Submitted text.

[abortion law, Mexico] “The Mexican Supreme Court’s latest abortion ruling:  In between formalities, a path to decriminalization.” by Estefanía Vela Barba, Reprohealthlaw Commentaries Series, October 31, 2019.  Full comment

[abortion law, Mexico and Latin America] “Abortion Battles in Mexico and Beyond: The Role of Law and the Courts,” proceedings of conference by the Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics at Harvard Law School, held October 4, 2019, Videos of all presentations

[African sexual, racial and cultural diversity] Charles Ngwena interviewed on Africa Rights Talk: Aug. 19, 2019: (26-min. podcast) about his book, What is Africanness? : Contesting nativism in culture, race and sexualities (Pretoria University Law Press (PULP), 2018) 306 pages. Download Free PDF or order paperback.

[child marriage, Tanzania] “The analysis of child marriage and third party consent in the case of Rebeca Z. Gyumi v Attorney General Miscellaneous Civil Case no 5 of 2016 Tanzania High Court at Dar es Salaam,” by Norah Hashim Msuya, Ph.D, [2019] De Jure Law Journal 52 (2019): 295-315 Article online.

[conscience] “Selective Conscientious Objection in Healthcare, by Christopher Cowley in The New Bioethics 25.3 (2019): 236-247 ( Part of a special issue on Conscience in Healthcare) Abstract and Article.

“Post-abortion care:  Ethical and Legal Duties,” by Bernard M. Dickens, International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics 2019; 147: 273–278.   PDF at Wiley Online.    Submitted text at SSRN. FIGO guidelines and other resources.

US-focused news, resources, and legal developments are available  on Repro Rights Prof Blog. View or subscribe.

JOBS

Links to employers in the field of Reproductive and Sexual Health Law are online here.
______________
Compiled by: the International Reproductive and Sexual Health Law Program, reprohealth*law at utoronto.ca.   See Program website for our Publications,  Information resources, and Reprohealthlaw Commentaries Series.  TO JOIN THE REPROHEALTHLAW BLOG: enter your email address in the upper right corner of our blog, then check your email to confirm the subscription.

Botswana High Court decriminalizes homosexuality

Many thanks to Kutlwano Pearl Magashula, an LL.M. student in the Sexual and Reproductive Rights in Africa program at the University of Pretoria’s Centre of Human Rights, for her summary and analysis of the recent judgment in Letsweletse Motshidiemang v Attorney General [2019] MAHGB-000591-16 (High Court of Botswana)   Decision of June 11, 2019, in which the Court struck down sections of the Penal Code that criminalized same-sex sexual intercourse.

(Cite as:) Kutlwano Pearl Magashula, “Botswana High Court decriminalizes homosexuality: Letsweletse Motshidiemang v Attorney General, 2019” online at: “Legal Grounds: Reproductive and Sexual Rights in Sub-Saharan African Courts” 5-page case summary and comment

We are pleased to excerpt her comments about the significance of this ruling:

The case made a watershed finding that recognized the rights of LGBT persons in Botswana. The Court found that sodomy laws do not serve any useful public purpose and in fact ‘deserve archival mummification, or better still, a museum peg, shelf or cabinet for archival display.’ The Court found that the question of private morality and decency between consenting adults should not be the concern of the law. This was an important consideration that essentially challenged the harmful precedent made in the earlier Kanane decision which allowed public morality to limit the exercise of rights of LGBT persons. This [new] decision reaffirms the argument by Cook and Ngwena that issues of sexual and reproductive health and rights should not be determined based on religion, morality or sentiment, but rather on the basis of evidence and fact.[1]

Further, the Court determined that “sex” as used in section 3 of the Botswana Constitution includes “sexual orientation.” This interpretation is in line with the findings of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR), which has noted that the phrase ‘other status’ in human rights instruments must be interpreted broadly to cover sexual minorities, including LGBT persons.[2] Moreover, the decision is consistent with Botswana’s obligations as a state party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) the Human Rights Committee of which has also stated that laws criminalizing consenting sexual conduct between adults, amount to violations of the rights to privacy and equality. [3] This generous and wide interpretation was critical for ensuring the continued protection of sexual minorities in Botswana beyond this individual case. Given that section 15 of the Constitution of Botswana does not prohibit discrimination on grounds of ‘other status,’ this constitutes a milestone in the recognition of the rights of LGBT persons in the country.

Finally, faced with arguments that it should exercise restraint and defer to Parliament to make necessary changes in the law, the Court stayed faithful to its role in the protection of human rights and stated that it had the jurisdictional authority to intervene as the ultimate defender of the Constitution.

This case is very significant for the [African] region, where issues relating to same sex relationships are treated cautiously and in a frugal manner. Indeed, in many African countries, there have been renewed attempts at criminalizing same-sex sexual conduct particularly in the wake of the HIV epidemic in the region.[5] Rather than address LGBT health needs, these criminalization attempts have fueled violence and violations of human rights of LGBT people. In response to this challenge, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights in Resolution 275 condemns all forms of violence and human rights abuses against an individual based on their real or imputed sexual orientation or gender identity.[6] This resolution has been hailed as a significant development in protecting and promoting the rights of LGBT persons in the African region. The findings of this case not only affirmed Resolution 275 but showcased a domestic response to regional efforts in combatting discrimination and violence against sexual minorities. [Read entire case comment].

---

[1] R Cook and C Ngwena ‘Women’s access to health care: The legal framework” (2006) 94 International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics 216-225. Article online.

[2] See UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR), General comment No. 20: Non-discrimination in economic, social and cultural rights (art. 2, para. 2, of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights), 2 July 2009, E/C.12/GC/2. General Comment 20.

[3] Toonen v Australia, Communication No. 488/1992. Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. 31 March 1994
Human Rights Committee decision.

[4] The Court in this case found that gay men and women did not represent a group or class which was shown to require protection under the Constitution.

[5] See PM Eba, ‘HIV-specific legislation in sub-Saharan Africa: A comprehensive human rights analysis’ (2015) 15 African Human Rights Law Journal 224-262.

[6] ACHPR/Res.275 (LV) 2014: Resolution on Protection against Violence and other Human Rights Violations against Persons on the basis of their real or imputed Sexual Orientation or Gender Identity adopted during the 55th Ordinary Session held in Luanda, Angola, from 28 April to 12 May 2014. Resolution 275 online.

SEE ALSO:
“Botswana court ruling is a ray of hope for LGBT people across Africa,” by Frans Viljoen, The Conversation, June 12,2019. Article online.

___________
Legal Grounds: Reproductive and Sexual Rights in Sub-Saharan African Courts (2017), volume III, updated online edition, now includes 5 court rulings about “Sexual Orientation” and another 6 about “Recognition of LGBTIQ Advocacy and Groups.” Online edition with updates.

Botswana High Court decriminalizes homosexuality: Entire case comment (5 pages)

(Cite as:)  Kutlwano Pearl Magashula, “Botswana High Court decriminalizes homosexuality: Letsweletse Motshidiemang v Attorney General, 2019, online at: Legal Grounds: Reproductive and Sexual Rights in Sub-Saharan African Courts. Online here.
______________
Compiled by: the International Reproductive and Sexual Health Law Program, reprohealth*law at utoronto.ca.   See Program website for our Publications,  Information resources, and Reprohealthlaw Commentaries Series.  TO JOIN THE REPROHEALTHLAW BLOG: enter your email address in the upper right corner of our blog, then check your email to confirm the subscription.

Rethinking human rights and criminal law on sexuality, gender & reproduction

Congratulations to the editors and authors of this new book, which examines the ways in which recourse to the criminal law is featured in work by human rights advocates regarding sexuality, gender, and reproduction. It also presents a framework for considering if, when, and under what conditions, recourse to criminal law is compatible with human rights. We are pleased to circulate links and the full Table of Contents:

Beyond Virtue and Vice:  Rethinking Human Rights and Criminal Law
ed.  Alice M. Miller and Mindy Jane Roseman,  Pennsylvania Studies in Human Rights (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2019)  360 pages.
Book abstract and information.    Intro and excerpts from pp. 3-55 online.

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Introduction, by Alice M. Miller and Mindy Jane Roseman with Zain Rizvi, pp. 1-16. mostly online.

PART I: TRANSNATIONAL THEORY AND PRACTICE
1.  Janet Halley in conversation with Aziza Ahmed: Interview,. 17-38.  mostly online.
2.  Seismic Shifts: How prosecution became the go-to tool to vindicate rights, by Alice M. Miller with Tara Zivkovic, 39-53. 2 random pages online.
3.  The Harm principle meets morality offences: Human rights, Criminal Law, and the regulation of sex and gender, by Alli Jernow, 54-74  2 initial pages online.
4.  Reflections of a human rights activist, by Widney Brown,  75-90

PART II. NATIONAL HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES
5.   Virtuous Rights: On prostitution exceptionalism in South Korea, by Sealing Chen, and Ae-Ryung Kim, 93-113
6.   Brazilian Sex Laws: Continuities, ruptures and paradoxes, by Sonia Correa and Maria Lucia Karam, 114-133
7.   The Reach of a skirt in Southern Africa: Claims to law and custom in protecting and patrolling relations of gender and sexuality, by Oliver Phillips, 134-157.
8.   Abortion as treason: Sexuality and Nationalism in France, by Mindy Jane Roseman,  158-170

PART III: CONTEMPORARY NATIONAL CONCERNS
9.  Wanja Muguongo in Conversation with Alice M. Miller: Interview, pp. 173-184
10.  Criminal law, activism, and sexual and reproductive justice: What we can learn from the sex selection campaign in India, by Geetanjali Misra and Vrinda Marwah, 185-198
11.  Poisoned Gifts: Old moralities under new clothes? by Esteban Restrepo Saldarriaga. 199-219
12.  The Filth they bring: Sex panics and racial others in Lebanon, by Rasha Moumneh, 220-232.
13.   Objects in political mirrors may not be what they appear, by Scott Long,  233-247
14.   Harm Production: An Argument for Decriminalization, by Joanna N. Erdman, 248-268.
Notes, List of Contributors, Index, and Acknowledgments.

Beyond Virtue and Vice:  Rethinking Human Rights and Criminal Law
ed.  Alice M. Miller and Mindy Jane Roseman,  Pennsylvania Studies in Human Rights (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2019)  360 pages.
Book abstract.    Intro and excerpts from pp. 3-55 online.

Related resources:

‘Stigmatized Meanings of Criminal Abortion Law’ by Rebecca J. Cook, in: RJ Cook, JN Erdman and BM Dickens (eds), Abortion Law in Transnational Perspective: Cases and Controversies (University of Pennsylvania Press 2014).  Article abstract.  Table of Contents.

[U.K.]”The Decriminalisation of Abortion: An Argument for Modernisation,” by Sally Sheldon.  Oxford Journal of Legal Studies, Vol. 36, No. 2 (2016), pp. 334–365   Institutional Access
__________________
Compiled by: the International Reproductive and Sexual Health Law Program, reprohealth*law at utoronto.ca.   See Program website for our Publications,  Information resources, and Reprohealthlaw Commentaries Series.
TO JOIN THE REPROHEALTHLAW BLOG: enter your email address in the upper right corner of our blog, then check your email to confirm the subscription.

“What is Africanness?” Contesting nativism in race, culture and sexualities, new book by Prof. Charles Ngwena

Congratulations to Professor Charles G. Ngwena from the Centre for Human Rights, Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria, whose peer-reviewed monograph is now freely available for download through the open-access Pretoria University Law Press.

Charles Ngwena,  What is Africanness?  : Contesting nativism in culture, race and sexualities,  (Pretoria University Law Press (PULP), 2018) 306 pages.     Download free PDF or order paperback.

This important book contributes to the ongoing scholarly conversation about who is African and what is African.  It aims to implicate a reductive sameness in the naming of Africans (‘nativism’) by showing its teleology and effects, then offers an alternative liberating and decentred understanding of Africa as the land of diverse identifications.   As the author states in the opening chapter: “The intention of this book . . . is to offer a discourse on how Africans can name themselves in the present and in the future without succumbing to nativist impulses requiring a homogeneous past and establishing a transcendental ontology as essential elements of Africanness.  The book seeks to develop a plausible account of African identifications, but ultimately leaves the question Who/what is African? open to debate.”  (p.17)  Accordingly, the book ends with an epilogue, rather than a conclusion.

The book has three major parts:

1: BACKGROUND TO THE HERMENEUTICS OF HETEROGENOUS AFRICANNESS

2: AFRICANNESS, RACE AND CULTURE

3: HETEROGENEOUS SEXUALITIES
The third part of the book “comprises three chapters organised around interrogating representations of African sexualities and ultimately suggesting a philosophical way forward in the manner sexual citizenship is contested.” (p. 14)  The REPROHEALTHLAW Blog is pleased to circulate brief overviews of these chapters, as excerpted from the author’s introduction to the book:

Chapter 6.   Representing African Sexualities: Contesting Nativism from Without     PDF online 
This chapter “speaks to nativism from without. It highlights that narratives which represent African sexualities should always be understood as being culturally and historically situated. They are representations constructed within the knowledge and power system(s) of a given polity at a particular historical time and location, together with a social and political dynamics for social stratification, domination and status subordination. The chapter uses the representation of African sexualities in colonial discourses to make this point. I do not argue that colonial discourses tell us everything we need to know about African sexualities or that, historically, they are the single most important archive on the representation of African sexualities.
“Rather, the value of colonial discourses lies in their stubbornly persistent power, which continues to summon ‘Africans’ into place. In many ways, the construction of stereotypical representations of African sexualities is anchored in the nativisation of African cultures by colonial discourses. The argument in this chapter draws in part on Edward Said’s ‘orientalism’ and Mahmood Mamdani’s ‘nativism’. The works of Said and Mamdani serve as important resources in implicating ‘surface regularities’ in colonial discourses and their effects in typologising Africans as ‘natives’.
“I argue in this chapter for the importance of understanding the representation of Africanness in colonial discourses as an effect of the construction of colonial whiteness.”  (pp. 14-15)

Chapter 7.  ‘Transgressive’ Sexualities:  Contesting Nativism from within and Overcoming Status Subordination.      PDF online
“[F]rom time to time, ‘African values’ are invoked by political and cultural authorities to continentalise sexuality and to prescribe a regimented and homogenised African sexuality that specifically excludes sexualities outside heterosexuality and, more specifically, delegitimises non-heteronormative and same-sex sexualities. I advance counter-arguments to the legitimacy of claims that heterosexuality is the only culturally acceptable sexuality for Africans. The chapter develops a framework for recognising diversities of sexuality in ways that are informed by a transformative understanding of sexuality and, ultimately, of an inclusive equality. The framework seeks to deconstruct scripted knowledge about sexuality in order to build an understanding that reveals the complexity, diversity and ultimately political nature of sexuality. I argue that recognising difference in the realm of sexuality requires a radical epistemology that is capable of moving beyond the raw physicality of the body, the genitalia, biological impulse and a capacity for language in order to take cognisance of how sexuality is socially constructed in historical time and place. Necessarily, representations of African sexualities ought to acknowledge that norms and frameworks which give coherence to heterosexuality and its congruent gender binaries are but one cultural variant that exists in juxtaposition with pluralistic articulations of sexualities.” (pp. 15-16)

Chapter 8. Mediating Conflicting Sexuality Identifications through Politics and an Ethics of Pluralism.   PDF online.
This chapter “concludes Part 3 with a discussion of how we might mediate conflicting sexuality identifications through first promoting an understanding of the politics and ethics of pluralism. The discussion is predicated on an assumption, regardless of contradictory praxis, that African states in their independence as well as post-independence constitutions formally commit themselves to political pluralism. Against this backdrop the overarching premise is that in political communities committed to liberal democracy, differences are an ordinary part of our political lives.  Even if we agree as to how we should be governed and share political space, it is not necessary or warranted that we should also reach agreement on all moral issues, including conceptions of our sexual and reproductive selves.
“Chapter 8 builds its arguments partly by appropriating to the concept of ‘equality’ two political notions: the notion of an ‘overlapping consensus’ as advocated by John Rawls, and the notion of ‘dissensus’ as advocated by Nicholas Rescher.  In part the chapter builds its arguments by linking equality with participatory democracy using mainly Iris Young’s argument for recognising difference in a heterogeneous public in which there is mutual recognition between different sexuality identifications, and Hannah Arendt’s concept of citizenship in a plural political community.
“The main thesis in Chapter 8 is that overcoming an impasse which arises where there is strong communitarian opposition to a given sexuality does not lie in dismissing such opposition as without a rational political foundation. Rather, it lies in accepting the legitimacy of the opposition through a democratic polity that  is committed to non-hierarchical inclusiveness and relations of cooperation in matters of moral and religious controversy.”   (pp. 16-17)

Download free PDF book or order paperback from the Pretoria University Law Press.

“African Rights Talk”: 2019 Interview with Prof. Charles Ngwena about this book:  26-minute podcast

Recent publications by Prof. Charles Ngwena:
“Reproductive Autonomy of Women and Girls under the Disabilities Convention.”  International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics. 140.1 (Jan. 2018): 128-133.  Article abstract.

“Taking Women’s Rights Seriously: Using Human Rights to Require State Implementation of Domestic Abortion Laws in African Countries with Reference to Uganda,” Journal of African Law 60.1 (Feb 2016): 110-140.   Article abstract

“Human Rights Advances in Women’s Reproductive Health in Africa” by Charles G. Ngwena, Eunice Brookman-Amissah,  and Patty Skuster,  International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics 129.2 (May 2015): 184-187.    Article download from SSRN.  Article online.

“Reforming African Abortion Laws and Practice: The Place of Transparency,” (in Abortion Law in Transnational Perspective: Cases and Controversies, ed. Rebecca J. Cook, Joanna N. Erdman and Bernard M. Dickens (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2014) Article abstract.

“Conscientious Objection to Abortion and Accommodating Women’s Reproductive Health Rights: Reflections on a Decision of the Constitutional Court of Colombia from an African Regional Human Rights Perspective.” Journal of African Law, 58 (2014): 183-209. Article abstract.

“A Commentary on LC v Peru: The CEDAW Committee’s First Decision on Abortion.” Journal of African Law, 57.2 (Oct 2013): 310-324;   available online here.”  Abstract online.

______________
Compiled by the Coordinator of the International Reproductive and Sexual Health Law Program, reprohealth*law at utoronto.ca For Program publications and resources, see our website, online here. TO JOIN THIS BLOG: enter your email address in upper right corner of this webpage, then check your email to confirm the subscription.

REPROHEALTHLAW Updates – December 2016

SUBSCRIBE TO REPROHEALTHLAW: To receive these updates monthly by email, enter your address in upper right corner of this webpage, then check your email to confirm the subscription.

DEVELOPMENTS

African LGBT advocacy rulings, 2014-2016   Overview by Godfrey Kangaude
—-[Botswana] Attorney General of Botswana v. Thuto Rammoge & 19 Others  [2016] CACGB-128-14 (Botswana, Court of Appeal at Gaborone).  [Appeal against LGBT organization registration dismissed]   Decision online.  Case summary for Legal Grounds III.
—-[Kenya] Eric Gitari v. Non-Governmental Organizations Co-Ordination Board & 4 Others, [2015] eKLR, Petition No. 440 of 2013  (Kenya, High Court at Nairobi).  [LGBT organizations can be registered.]  Decision online.   Case summary and analysis for Legal Grounds III.
—-[Kenya] Republic v. Non-Governmental Organizations Co-ordination Board & another ex-parte Transgender Education and Advocacy & 3 Others [2014] eKLR, JR Miscellaneous Application No. 308a of 2013 (Kenya, High Court). [Transgender organization can be registered].   Decision online.  Case summary and analysis for Legal Grounds III.
—-[Zambia] People v. Paul Kasonkomona [2015] HPA/53/2014  (Zambia, High Court).[Freedom of expression: HIV/LGBT activist acquitted for remarks made on television.]   Decisions and documents online.  Case summary and analysis for Legal Grounds III.

[Belize – homosexuality]:  Caleb Orozco v Attorney General of Belize et al., Claim No. 668 of 2010 (Supreme Court of Belize)  August 10, 2016. [First-ever successful court challenge to a Caribbean anti-sodomy law.]   38-page Judgment online.   News report.  Government won’t appeal ruling.   Press release by Caleb Orozco of UNIBAM.

[Brazil – abortion]  Habeas Corpus n. 124.306 – judged by 1^st Panel of the Brazilian Supreme Federal Court on November 29, 2016.  Summary in English by Marta Machado.   Sexuality Policy Watch comment.  English news report.  Summary in Portuguese.     Leading vote by Judge Luis Roberto Barroso in Portuguese.  Comment in Portuguese by Debora Diniz

[Brazil – zika]  Direct Action of Unconstitutionality  n. 5581 (Supreme Court of Brazil).  Zika abortion decision  delayed until early 2017.  Summary of the claim in Portuguese.

[Chile – obstetric violence against prisoner]  Lorenza Cayuhán Llebul s/amparo, Rol 92.795-2010 (Supreme Court of Chile). December 1, 2016.    Decision online in Spanish.     English summary by Carlos Herrera.

[Kenya – homosexuality] C.O.L. & G.M.N. v. Resident Magistrate Kwale Court & Others, Petition No. 51 of 2015 (Kenya, High Court –Constitutional and Judicial Review Division).  [Court allowed medical examinations including anal examinations to prove crime of homosexuality].  Decision online.     Case summary and analysis for Legal Grounds III.

[South Africa: surrogacy]  AB and Another v Minister of Social Development (CCT155/15) [2016] ZACC 43 (29 November 2016)  Constitutional Court of South Africa.  [At least one parent must donate sperm or eggs for a surrogacy agreement to be legal in South Africa]  Decision online.    News Report

SCHOLARSHIP

[abortion, health rights] “Adjudicating Health-Related Rights: Proposed Considerations for the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and Other Supra-National Tribunals,” by Alicia Ely Yamin and Angela Duger, Chicago Journal of International Law 17.1 (Summer 2016): 80-120.  Abstract and Article.

[Brazil] – [Zika: from Brazilian backlands to global threat] Zika: Do Sertão nordestino à ameaça global  by  Debora Diniz  (Rio de Janeiro:  Civilização Brasileira, 2016).  Forthcoming in English from Zed Books in September 2017, this book analyses scientific discoveries regarding Zika in Brazil as well as the impact of the epidemic on poor black and brown women’s lives.  Portuguese: Book or e-book.  Sinopse.  A história contada.
—Related resources in English:”The Zika Virus and Brazilian Women’s Right to Choose,” op/ed by Debora Diniz, February 8, 2016.  New York Times editorial.  “Zika”  30 minute April 2016 documentary with English subtitles;  “Zika: More than a health issue“ (Dec 1, 2016)   53-minute  TV interview with English subtitles.  “Zika emergency pushes women to challenge Brazilian abortion law”  Guardian news report.

[Brazil – abortion law] “Social Movements and Constitutional Politics in Latin America: Reconfiguring Alliances, Framings and Legal Opportunities in the Judicialization of Abortion Rights in Brazil” by Alba Ruibal. Contemporary Social Science 10:4 (October 18, 2016): 375-385. Abstract and article.   Other articles on strategic litigation in Latin America.

[Canada – mifepristone]  “Requiring physicians to dispense mifepristone:  an unnecessary limit on safety and access to medical abortion,” by Wendy V. Norman and Judith A. Soon, forthcoming in Canadian Medical Association Journal, Early release October 18, 2016 to institutional subscribers.   Summarized in “Abortion pill dispensing by doctors and not pharmacists could hinder access … [and] entrench inequity” CBC News report.

[obstetric violence] International Human Rights and the Mistreatment of Women during Childbirth, by Rajat Khosla, Christina Zampas, Joshua P. Vogel, Meghan A. Bohren, Mindy Roseman, and Joanna N. Erdman.  Health and Human Rights Journal (in press)  Abstract and Full Text.

[reproductive rights] ” ‘Woman’ in the European Human Rights System:  How is the reproductive rights jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights constructing narratives of women’s citizenship?” by  Liiri Oja and Alicia Ely Yamin in Columbia Journal of Gender and Law 32.1 (2016): 62-95.   Abstract and Article.

[Uruguay] “Reform of abortion law in Uruguay: context, process and lessons learned,” by Susan Wood, Lilián Abracinskas, Sonia Corrêa, and Mario Pecheny, Reproductive Health Matters, online since December 8, 2016. Abstract and Article.

US-focused news, resources, and legal developments are available on Repro Rights Prof Blog.  View or subscribe.

NEWS

[Mexico] Excerpts from the Symbolic Tribunal on Maternal Mortality and Obstetric Violence, (published by GIRE, Oct 28, 2016).   5-minute film.

[Spain – conscientious objection]  Galician health system ordered to compensate woman – Forced travel to Madrid for late-term abortion of doomed fetus cost woman her uterus, nearly her life.  News report in English.  Noticias en español.

[Uruguay Model] “From Uruguay, a model for making abortion safer” [misoprostol – harm reduction instruction method spreading to restrictive jurisdictions, e.g. Uganda and Tanzania.   New York Times editorial.   Relevant 2011 article: Access to Information on Safe abortion, by Joanna Erdman.

JOBS

Links to other employers in the field of Reproductive and Sexual Health Law are online here

______________
Compiled by the Coordinator of the International Reproductive and Sexual Health Law Program, reprohealth*law at utoronto.ca For Program publications and resources, see our website, online here. TO JOIN THIS BLOG: enter your email address in upper right corner of this webpage, then check your email to confirm the subscription.

African Courts recognize sexually diverse persons and LGBTI advocates

Many thanks to Godfrey Kangaude, author of a highlight commentary “Towards Respect for Human Diversity,” in  Legal Grounds III: Reproductive and Sexual Rights in Sub-Saharan African Courts.  We are pleased to provide the following excerpt for REPROHEALTHLAW subscribers:

. . . Many governments have adopted constitutions that recognise human dignity and equality. Yet in The Attorney General of Botswana v. Thuto Rammoge and 19 Others, the Attorney General of Botswana tried to argue that the Constitution of Botswana did not apply to persons of non-heterosexual orientation. This reflects a pervasive attitude in governments driven by politicians who do not believe in the human dignity and equality stipulated by their own constitutions.

Persons of non-heterosexual orientation, or whose gender identity and expression does not conform to some traditional gender notions, continue to face government-sponsored hate and victimization.  Sometimes this has been indirect, for instance through a refusal to recognise the rights to association and expression such as in the Thuto Rammoge cases in Botswana [1, 2], the Gitari case [3] and Ex-parte Transgender Education and Advocacy case [4] in Kenya, and the Kasonkomona case [5] in Zambia. Apart from criminalizing sexual conduct, governments deploy other laws to prevent LGBTI persons from enjoying their right to association and expression. In the Kasonkomona case, the government used vagrancylaws to try and deny persons the right to talk freely about LGBTI rights.

In all the above mentioned cases, however, the courts applied human rights norms to the issues raised before them and vindicated the claims that LGBTI persons are deserving of human rights because they are in the first place, human beings. However, the case of C.O.L. & G.M.N.,[6] where the Kenyan Court upheld the constitutionality of the law compelling anal examinations in order to prove homosexual behaviour, indicates that there is a great deal that has to be done to secure enjoyment of rights of all persons including decriminalization of sexual conduct involving non-heterosexual intimacy, and also recognition of gender diversity.  The victories in these cases are significant as they are beacons of light in the midst of pervasive discrimination against LGBTI persons. The positive judgments refresh the obligations of governments to be faithful to their own constitutions to respect the fundamental values of human dignity and equality of all persons, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity and expression. This negative judgement, though, calls for vigilance to realise human rights for everyone.

[1]  Thuto Rammoge & 19 Others v. The Attorney General of Botswana  [2014] MAHGB-000175-13  (Botswana, High Court). [Homosexual rights advocacy society received official recognition.]   Decision online.   Short abstract by Michelle Hayman;  Case summary for Legal Grounds III.

[2] Attorney General of Botswana v. Thuto Rammoge & 19 Others  [2016] CACGB-128-14 (Botswana, Court of Appeal at Gaborone).  [Appeal dismissed]   Decision online.  Case summary for Legal Grounds III.

[3] Eric Gitari v. Non-Governmental Organizations Co-Ordination Board & 4 Others, [2015] eKLR, Petition No. 440 of 2013  (Kenya, High Court at Nairobi).  [LGBT organizations can be registered.]  Decision online.   Case summary and analysis for Legal Grounds III.

[4] Republic v. Non-Governmental Organizations Co-ordination Board & another ex-parte Transgender Education and Advocacy & 3 Others [2014] eKLR, JR Miscellaneous Application No. 308a of 2013 (Kenya, High Court). [Transgender organization can be registered].   Decision online.  Case summary and analysis for Legal Grounds III.

[5] People v. Paul Kasonkomona [2015] HPA/53/2014  (Zambia, High Court).[Freedom of expression: HIV/LGBT activist acquitted for remarks made on television.]   Decisions and documents online.  Case summary and analysis for Legal Grounds III.

[6]  C.O.L. & G.M.N. v. Resident Magistrate Kwale Court & Others, Petition No. 51 of 2015 (Kenya, High Court –Constitutional and Judicial Review Division).  [Court allowed medical examinations including anal exams to prove crime of homosexuality].  Decision online.   Case summary and analysis for Legal Grounds III.

__________________________
Compiled by the Coordinator of the International Reproductive and Sexual Health Law Program, reprohealth*law at utoronto.ca.   For Program publications and resources, see our website, online here.     TO JOIN THIS BLOG: enter your email address in upper right corner of this webpage, then check your email to confirm the subscription.