Anatomy of a backlash : sexuality and the cultural war on human rights

This paper highlights how the denial and violation of sexual rights and sexual freedom impacts on public health (particularly with regards to HIV/AIDS). The paper describes the nature of these attacks, stemming from a wide range of countries and existing under a number of banners (in defence of « culture », « values », or « religion ») and describes the efforts of groups to erase sexual rights from the international rights agenda. The author warns that an attack on sexual rights creeps into the field of undermining human rights principles in themselves and asserts that the defence of these rights is bound in the defence of the principles of human rights more generally.

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