Human rights can, as a minimum, provide some protection from violent attacks on our physical and mental well-being by governments and other social actors. However, human rights also reflect the historical and cultural contexts in which they were created, which is very much the world of struggle and competing interests.
As some countries, as well as the United Nations top hierarchy, now call to end discrimination on grounds of of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity and Expression (SOGIE), other actors have stepped up their opposition. At this point, “homosexuality” debates among governments and within many countries tend to be symbolically hyper-charged. The language used against sexual and gender minorities is often shockingly hostile and violent, and so is the mood in many societies.
This study contains local, lived, practical SOGIE expertise. It updates us on the legal tools of SOGIE human rights that are binding in development cooperation, and discusses the specific challenges when recipient governments and societies negate SOGIE human rights, in principle and in particular.
