The European Court of Human Rights has held that differential treatment of male and female convicts in the stay of execution of their prison sentences on the grounds of parenthood is not discriminatory. In this case, the application for a stay of execution of prison sentence of the applicant, the father of a child under […]

EU’s Steering Committee for Human Rights has released a declaration on the need for intensification of efforts to prevent and combat female genital mutilation and forced marriage. The declaration calls upon member states to criminalise female genital mutilation and forced marriage irrespective of religious beliefs, formulate legislation and programmes which enable reporting of cases and […]

In a landmark judgment, the Court of Appeals, UK has held that sex-segregation of school children is violative of the Equality Act, and therefore unlawful. The Equality Act 2010 (“EA 2010”) prohibits discrimination, including on the basis of sex, by a school against a pupil in the way it provides education for the pupil and […]

The UK Government recently rejected six separate proposals by the Commons’ Women and Equalities Committee, including a legislation mandating a minimum female parliamentary participation rate of 45% in general elections, 45% female representation in parliament and local government by 2030, and the requirement of parties to make public their parliamentary candidate diversity data. Men currently […]

The Supreme Court of United Kingdom has, by a 3:2 majority, held that the Secretary of State for Health’s failure to provide access to Northern Irish to free abortion services under the English National Health Service (NHS) was not unlawful, as the Secretary was entitled to take into account Northern Ireland’s democratic decision to not […]

The Australian government proposed emergency laws which ban discrimination, vilification, or intimidation of any person during and in respect to the same-sex marriage campaign. The special provisions come in the wake of social disturbances based on the marriage-equality plebiscite and seek to protect against harm based on sexuality, gender identity, intersex status, religious conviction, or […]

The Upper House of Tasmanian Parliament unanimously passed legislation to expunge the record of those convicted of same-sex activity and ‘cross-dressing’ under historical laws. Many in the chamber offered apologies to the individuals and families impacted by the previous laws criminalizing LGBT activities. Under the new legislation, individuals may apply to the Justice Department for […]

Mexico’s Ministry of Health recently established specific guidelines for all health care providers across the country to ensure respectable and equitable treatment of the LGBTI community. The code of conduct is the product of a broad participatory process that incorporated government health structures as well as representatives of civil society and the LGBTI community. The […]

In a case of a 17 year old trans male, the Constitutional Court of Columbia ruled that a minor may update their gender identification on official documents, under certain circumstances. The individual in focus resides in the United States with his family and sought to change his gender marker to correspond with his gender identity […]

A Brazilian court has overturned the 1999 decision by the Federal Council of Psychology to prohibit “conversion” therapies intended to ‘cure’ LGBT individuals. The court ruled in the favour of an action brought by a psychologist who was stripped of her license in 2016 for describing homosexuality as a “disease” and for offering discredited and […]