discrimination - The African Mirror

Apr

2024

Is Rwanda a safe place to send LGBTQ+ asylum seekers from the UK?

LGBTQ+ rights groups are concerned that gay, bisexual, and transgender refugees could face discrimination and abuse if they are sent to Rwanda under Britain's policy to deport asylum seekers to the East African nation. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak promised to start sending asylum seekers to Rwanda within 10 to 12 weeks as the upper house of parliament finally passed the required legislation, delayed for weeks by attempts to alter the contentious plan. As LGBTQ+ rights groups criticise the plan, Illegal Migration Minister Michael Tomlinson said on Tuesday that "openly gay" asylum seekers would be sent to Rwanda. "It is not unlawful to be…

Apr

2024

By CLEMENCE MANYUKWE

As Zimbabwe makes strides on HIV/AIDS, LGBTQ+ people left behind

HEALTH

AS a gay man in Zimbabwe, Admore braced himself for a hostile reception from medical staff when he went for an HIV test at a city-run clinic in Harare five years ago. His worries proved justified. "When I (said) I was gay ... they gave each other that look that made me feel they thought I was not normal," said Admore, who asked to use a pseudonym to protect his identity. Despite such uncomfortable dealings with health workers, Admore - who tested positive - has been able to access life-saving antiretroviral treatment (ART). But his experience helps explain why LGBTQ+…

Mar

2024

By KWADWO APPIAGYEI-ATUA

Ghana’s new anti-homosexuality bill violates everyone’s rights, not just LGBTIQ+ people – expert

NEWS

GHANA'S new anti-homosexuality bill infringes several rights and freedoms, not only of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ+) people but of heterosexuals too. The bill has been in the works since 2021 when it was tabled in parliament as a private member’s bill. The objective of the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill is to provide for human sexual rights and family values and for related matters. KWADWO APPIAGYEI-ATUA, Associate Professor of Law, University of Ghana At the heart of the contention about the proposed law is the question of discrimination, its purpose and its effect of…

Nov

2023

By The African Mirror

Semenya case referred to European rights court’s grand chamber

NEWS

THE European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) announced that the case involving double 800 metres Olympic champion Caster Semenya will be heard by its Grand Chamber for a final ruling following a referral request from the Swiss government. Semenya, 32, wants to hold the sport's governing World Athletics body to account for what she terms discrimination against athletes with hyperandrogenism, a condition characterised by higher than usual levels of testosterone, a hormone that increases muscle mass and strength. She is attempting to overturn requirements that female athletes with differences in sexual development (DSDs) medically reduce their testosterone levels. Following an…

Oct

2023

By FRANCOIS MURPHY

Anti-Black racism is rising in EU countries, led by Germany, study finds

WORLD

RACISM towards Black people is growing in Europe, with Germany, Austria and Finland showing the highest rates of discrimination and harassment, a survey of first- and second-generation Black immigrants in 13 EU countries published on Wednesday found. The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), which commissioned the survey and analyzed its findings in a report, said that in the space of six years since the previous study, the proportion of respondents who had felt racially discriminated against in the past 12 months had risen by 10 percentage points to 34%. In Austria and Germany, the proportion was 64% - almost twice…

Apr

2021

By The African Mirror

Survivor, son face discrimination in Nigeria

NEWS

SAM OLUKOYA SANDRA* had a baby born of rape. The young Nigeria woman had plans for a better life in Europe, but when her ‘recruiters’ abandoned her in Libya she was sexually assaulted and abused. But after being deported back to Nigeria Sandra and her young son face daily discrimination and abuse about the boy’s parentage, even from her own mother and friends. She shares with IPS the effect this verbal abuse has had on her little boy and the impact on her mental health. “I feel bad, I feel bad a lot. I feel very terrible for what my…

Jan

2021

By The African Mirror

Denied a chair, Dalit women confront discrimination on Indian village councils

WORLD

WHEN Priya Periyasamy was elected to lead her village council in southern India a year ago, her parents warned that she would face hostility as a low-caste Dalit woman, but nothing prepared her for the constant abuse she receives. Periyasamy is among at least 16 women village council leaders in Tamil Nadu state who have filed complaints in the last six months over discrimination for being Dalits - considered India's lowest caste in an ancient social hierarchy. "Since I was elected, other members of the council wouldn't even greet me," Periyasamy, 24, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation by phone from…