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Christine Kahura - 13th June 2019
The narrow basis for the procurement of abortions in Kenya discriminates against women and girls based on their sex and gender. The most adversely affected are poor women and girls living in rural and informal settlements. These women must rely on unsafe back street abortions that pose a risk to their lives. One such woman […]
Rishika Sahgal and Andrew Byrnes - 3rd June 2019
This year sees the centenary of the abolition of the legal barriers to women’s entry into the legal profession in the United Kingdom. The Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act 1919 (UK), which commenced operation on 23 December 1919, provided that a person should not be disqualified ‘by sex or marriage from entering or assuming or carrying […]
Raghav Mendiratta - 19th May 2019
On April 22, 2019, in a significant decision for India’s transgender community, the Madras High Court in Tamil Nadu upheld the right of a trans-woman and a man to register their marriage under the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955. What was so far only etched as an abstract right of gender self-determination through the NALSA judgment, […]
Adilya Zhilgildina - 5th April 2019
Teenage pregnancy rates in Kazakhstan are high, with 3443 births in 2017, much higher than during the Soviet period. As a means to decrease the prevalence of teenage pregnancy, the Vice Minister of Healthcare has proposed a more liberal abortion regime by making abortions more accessible to teenagers, providing access to birth control and introducing […]
Prankul Boobana - 12th March 2019
A two-judge bench of the Supreme Court of India (‘SC’) recently relaxed the stringent conditions imposed by the Maharashtra government for obtaining licenses and running dance bars, public establishments which are an important source of livelihood for female dancers. These dancers generally belong to the traditional dancing communities and are following their hereditary occupation. It […]
Gauri Pillai - 22nd February 2019
Oxytocin is a WHO-recommended drug for the inducement of labour during childbirth, and in the prevention and treatment of post-partum haemorrhage. Recently, a two-judge bench of the Delhi High Court set aside a notification issued by the Central Government which prohibited the manufacture and distribution of Oxytocin for domestic use by licensed private sector companies. […]
Akanshha Agrawal - 27th January 2019
The government of India attempted to take a progressive step to protect the rights and dignity of transgender persons by introducing the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill 2016. This was passed by the Lower House of Indian Parliament and is set be introduced in the Upper House. The groundwork for this bill was laid […]
Julius Komorowski - 20th November 2018
The UK Government’s consultation on reforming the Gender Recognition Act 2004 proposes making it easier for trans people to change legal sex or gender. Commentary supporting reform has relied upon the Commission for Equality and Human Rights’ longstanding guidance on the Equality Act 2010. But the Commission’s consultation response is inconsistent with that advice. Their […]
Satang Nabaneh Marion Stevens and Lucia Berro Pizzarossa - 24th October 2018
South Africa has one of the most liberal laws on abortion and constitutionally recognizes reproductive rights as human rights. However, data shows important difficulties translating the legal norms into effective access to services. One of the key challenges is physicians’ refusal to perform abortions invoking an “ad hoc, unregulated and at times incorrect” conscientious objection. […]
Raja Dandamudi - 11th October 2018
Recently, a (4:1) majority of a five-judge bench of the Indian Supreme Court in Indian Lawyers Association v. State of Kerala upheld the right of women to worship in the famous Sabarimala temple, irrespective of their age. This judgement struck down a rule which banned the entry of women between the ages 10 to 50 years into the temple. The judgment has thereby sounded the death […]
Srujana Bej - 5th October 2018
In September 2017, India’s National Human Rights Commission issued notices to the states of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu about the dedication of young girls to the Devadasi system. However, this practice has continued. Most recently, in August 2018, a woman in Karnataka alleged initiation into the Devadasi system. Despite being outlawed for over 30 […]
Ruzha Smilova - 22nd August 2018
On July 27 Bulgaria’s Constitutional Court ruled that the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (often called the “Istanbul Convention”) contravenes the Bulgarian Constitution. In early 2018, the Convention ratification bill met strong opposition from nationalist parties in government, major opposition from the Socialist party, the President of the […]