Saudi Arabia’s King Salman has issued an order to all government agencies that women should not be denied access to government services on the ground of lack of a male guardian’s consent. While this order provides some respite from the restrictive guardianship system for women in Saudi Arabia, it appears to keep in place regulations […]

Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) has published guidelines on screening asylum seekers who have fled their countries for reasons involving sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression. The guidelines also emphasise the need to respect the specific cultural variability among sexual and gender minorities seeking asylum, that may make furnishing proof of sexual orientation […]

The Bermuda Supreme Court has ruled that same-sex couples are entitled to be married under the Marriage Act of the territory. The notice of intended marriage of the petitioner and his fiance had been rejected by the Registrar. The court held that such rejection amounted to unlawful discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. Terming […]

Texas has enacted a law that enables child welfare agencies that discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, or religion of prospective parents, on the grounds of ‘sincerely held religious beliefs’, to continue to receive state financial support. The law additionally shields service providers that refuse to help youth find contraception […]

The Supreme Court of the United States revived parts of a travel ban imposed by the President Trump on people from six Muslim-majority countries. Although patently discriminatory, Trump defended the travel ban on grounds of national security. The travel ban had been completely stayed by a lower court earlier. The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals […]

In the case of Ashton Whitaker v. Kenosha Unified School District, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously ruled that a school district violated the rights of a trans student, when it refused to let him use the restroom comporting with his gender identity. The school staff and security had been instructed to prevent him […]

In a landmark judgment of Bayev and Others v. Russia, the European Court of Human Rights has ruled that a Russian law banning the “propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations aimed at minors” breached European treaty rules. This law was often invoked to refuse permission for LGBTI parades, and harass LGBTI rights activists. Noting that the […]

The Hungarian parliament has approved a law that imposes strict regulations on foreign funded NGOs in the country. Ostensibly passed to curb money laundering and terrorism funding, it is believed that the law will be used to stifle dissent, discriminate, and delegitimize NGOs. The new law requires that organisations that receive more than €24,000 a […]

In the case of Leventoğlu Abdulkadiroğlu v. Turkey, the European Court of Human Rights has unanimously held that disallowing married women from using their maiden name alone amounts to a violation of the right to respect for private and family life, and the right against discrimination enshrined in the European Convention on Human Rights. Turkish […]

Canada has released a new International Assistance Policy, which aims to direct 15 percent of all Canadian aid to gender equality programs, compared to 2 percent in 2015-2016.The new policy focuses ongender equality, human dignity, inclusive growth, environment and climate action, inclusive governance, and peace and security. Significantly, all projects, regardless of sectors, will have […]