Human Rights Watch are one of the world’s leading independent organizations dedicated to defending and protecting human rights. By focusing international attention where human rights are violated, they give voice to the oppressed and hold oppressors accountable for their crimes. One of the organisation's biggest strengths is its rigourous use of evidence based research making it an authority on what is really happening abroad.
The organization is expanding its work around LGBT rights and LGBTory was invited to a briefing, along with LGBTory Patron Nick Herbert MP to learn more.
Graeme Reid, Director of HRW's LGBT Rights Programme, outlined the work the organization was currently carrying out globally. Among the examples he gave was the appalling treatment of LGBT people in Cameron including an incident where two young transgender people in Yaoundé were arrested,and a judge said their choice of alcoholic beverage – Bailey’s liqueur, which the judge regarded as a “woman’s drink” – constituted proof of their homosexuality. They were convicted and sentenced to five years in prison.
This was followed by a roundtable discussion that explored the subjects of colonial law and its impact on LGBT rights; whether conditional aid is a good idea, and; how LGBT activists in the USA can be encouraged to think outside its own borders.
You can find out more about Human Rights Watch's LGBT work at http://www.hrw.org/topic/lgbt-rights