July 31, 2020
A new report from Human Rights Watch (HRW) details sexual violence against gay and bisexual men, transgender women, and non-binary people in Syria (HRW). The Syrian state and non-state actors have targeted people based on their perceived or known sexual orientation or gender identity, people they saw as “soft” (HRW). HRW conducted 40 interviews in […]
July 27, 2020
On July 1st, the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced a new rule allowing homeless shelters to ignore the gender identity of transgender individuals (Vox). The new rule does not allow homeless shelters to exclude transgender people, but it lets homeless shelters determine housing based on gender assigned at birth (Vox). […]
July 17, 2020
On Tuesday, July 14th, hundreds took to the streets of Belarus to protest the Central Electoral Commission’s decision to exclude two presidential candidates from the ballot, Viktor Babariko and Valery Tsepkalo (Reuters). The two candidates were hoping to challenge President Alexander Lukashenko, who has been in power for 26 years (Reuters). Babariko was rejected from […]
July 13, 2020
On Friday, July 3rd, a Turkish court convicted four human rights activists on terrorism-related charges (NYT). Taner Kilic, former chairman of Amnesty International Turkey, was sentenced to over six years in prison for charges of being a member of a terrorist organization (NYT). Three other human rights activists were convicted of assisting a terrorist organization, […]
July 1, 2020
Human rights groups are growing increasingly concerned over Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s “Commission on Unalienable Rights” (Al Jazeera). Pompeo is reexamining human rights in U.S. foreign policy, determining what human rights the U.S. will recognize and protect abroad (HRW). Over 160 human rights groups and advocates have publicly voiced fear over the commission’s work […]
June 29, 2020
On Wednesday, June 24th, the University of Central Florida’s Puerto Rico Research Hub hosted a virtual conference, “In Times of Crisis: Puerto Rican Activism in Orlando.” The event featured Julie Torres, Ph.D., a Scholar-in-Residence for the Hub. Crisis, Torres argued, is a phrase that can overshadow the people most badly affected because others suffer, too. […]
June 22, 2020
Rohingya refugees, a Muslim minority group fleeing persecution in Myanmar, attempting to reach the shores of Malaysia are being held hostage by human traffickers (Reuters 1). Family members of these refugees living in Bangladesh say they have received calls from traffickers demanding money for the safe arrival of their loved ones (Reuters 1). Victims have […]
