Nothing new under the sun: LGBTQI+ rights as human rights

OPINION Rosa Ojwang 29 July 2022 I advocate for LGBTQI+ rights because I am a black, African woman, who has benefitted from the historical social justice movements, particularly, the Civil Rights and Feminist struggles for equality. I understand my history, and I choose not to merely benefit from the sweat, tears, and sacrifice of prior…

Child Trafficking in West Africa and the Question of Justice: How life under unjust structures weakens efforts to end human-trafficking

ANALYSIS Mitterand M. Okorie, PhD 22 July 2022 A recent report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) paints a disturbing picture of human trafficking in West Africa. Released in 2021, the report shows that 75 per cent of trafficking victims detected in West Africa are children, the majority of whom are…

Free and Equal: Towards a Fearless Future for the LGBTQI+ Community in Kenya

ANALYSIS Kilili Nthiw’a 15 July 2022 “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.”[1] Article 1, UN Declaration of Human Rights Slightly over two months ago in April of 2022, the life-less body…

Taking Pride in Nature and the Environment from a Queer Perspective: The Protection Nexus

OPINION Jan Maina 8 July 2022 The month of June, where two journeys of a planetary crisis and human liberation take place. One is the Pride and the other one is Stockholm 50+ to celebrate the World Environment Day which committed to the journey towards environmental liberation and sustainability over 50 years ago. From these…

Resolution 275 and the realisation of LGBTIQ+ rights in Africa

ANALYSIS Dr Ayodele Sogunro & Sohela Surajpal 24 June 2022 In 2014, the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights adopted Resolution 275, the ‘Resolution on Protection against Violence and other Human Rights Violations against Persons on the basis of their real or imputed Sexual Orientation or Gender Identity’.[1] This move, undertaken within a political…

Covid-19 and the expanded criminalisation of same-sex relations in Uganda

ANALYSIS Adrian Jjuuko (LLD) 17 June 2022 As Pride Month 2022 continues, the Ministry of Health in Uganda has raised alarm on the rising number of new COVID-19 infections.[1] Although the Ministry has not mentioned considering lockdowns at the moment, there is cause for worry for LGBT persons and organisations working on LGBT issues. The…

‘LGBTIQ+ children’ and the rights of the African child

COMMENT Godfrey Dalitso Kangaude LLD 10 June 2022 The January 2022 demonstrations in Kenya [1] sparked by discriminatory statements a government official made about LGBTIQ+ students contributed to the visibility of children as subjects of sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression (SOGIE) rights. In most African communities, sexuality is taboo; LGBTIQ+ is branded ‘un-African’.…

Anti-racism in international human rights law – What is radical enough?

ANALYSIS Thoko Kaime and Isabelle Zundel 06 May 2022 The africanlegalstudies.blog has sent the focus month “Longing for an Anti-Racist World” into a second round. Rightly so, since (un)surprisingly racism is still “one of the globe’s most severe catastrophes”[1] to cite Prof. Arndt in her contribution on this forum last year. The cruel manifestations of…

Human Rights are Inherent to Every Human, or are They?

ANALYSIS Gift Mauluka 28 January 2022 Climate change has many impacts on children’s rights. In many cases of extreme vulnerability, such as situations of child labour, those impacts are even more profound. This blog piece attempts to unpack the connections between child labour and climate change. Having established these connections, I then look at the…

Access to Mining Rights in South Africa: Laying the Foundation of the Principle of Informed Consent

ANALYSIS Ange-Dorine Irakoze The regime of mining ownership in the South African Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act 2002 (MPRDA)[1] is founded on State’s custodianship rights. Under this custodianship, the State regulates mineral resources as common property for all South Africans. The Minister for Mineral Resources and Energy has the power to grant mineral licenses…