Last month, news broke that relief workers for international charitable consortium Oxfam hired young women in Haiti and Chad to serve as sex workers and demanded sex in exchange for aid.
Human Rights in the Fourth Decade of the HIV/AIDS Response
Haiti: Haiti Senate passes bill that would ban ‘public demonstration of support for homosexuality’
Haiti: Haitian Activists Protest Anti-LGBTI Bill Passed by Senate
At Least 594 LGBT People Were Murdered In The Americas In A 15-Month Period
A report just released identified 594 people believed to be LGBT were murdered between the beginning of 2013 and the end of March, 2014. The victims include four who were decapitated.
The count was compiled by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), which is an arm of the Organization of American States. In addition to the 594 killed, an additional 176 people survived “serious attacks.” The IACHR said the real count of LGBT people killed or assaulted during this period is likely higher than these figures suggest, because the majority of countries in the Americas do not track hate crimes targeting LGBTI people. As governments do little documentation of such crimes, this count was largely compiled from media accounts and reports by activist organizations, and many crimes may have gone unreported. Read More
Haiti's fight: As LGBT community becomes visible, anti-gay violence rises
The courtyard, tucked off a quiet road here and ringed by mango trees heavy with immature green fruit, was bedecked with a rainbow of balloons. One proclaimed “Happy Valentines Day!” though it was May. Another advertised specials at the fast-food chain Red Robin, while a third was imprinted with the Whole Foods logo. There is no Red Robin or Whole Foods in Haiti, but the energy in the courtyard of SEROvie, Haiti’s best-known LGBT health organization, had the flavor of an American gay-pride parade. Read More
“AIDS: Living in the Shadows.”
The program examines the impact of stigma in several communities around the world. It’s hosted by Elton John, whose AIDS foundation supports programs on four continents. Elton John: The AIDS epidemic can be beaten,“but only by eradicating its most deadly symptom: stigma.” The documentary premiered at the international AIDS 2014 conference in Melbourne, Australia. Watch the short film now.