'We used to talk about development with a human face. We should be talking about development with a body'
Arit Oku-Egbas, African Regional Sexuality Resource Centre, Nigeria
Sex and sexuality have always had a place at the heart of the development agenda - from concerns regarding population and environment, to practices in education and efforts for protecting reproductive health and rights. Yet this agenda has largely focused on negative dimensions of sexuality - disease, risk, violation - rather than positive aspects, including rights to sexual fulfillment, wellbeing and pleasure. The shift towards a rights-based approach to development has brought the human rights dimensions of sexuality into clearer view, and consequently the need to address discriminatory laws and violations of the human rights of those whose sexual identity and practices diverge from dominant sexual orders/norms.
This book offers compelling insights into contemporary challenges and transformative possibilities of the struggle for sexual rights. It combines the conceptual with the political, and offering inspiring examples of practical interventions and campaigns that emphasize the positive dimensions of sexuality. It brings together reflections and experiences of researchers, activists and practitioners from Brazil, India, Nigeria, Peru, Serbia, South Africa, Turkey, the UK and Zambia. From political discourse on sex and masculinity to sex work and trafficking, from HIV and sexuality to struggles for legal reform and citizenship, the authors explore the gains of creating stronger linkages between sexuality, human rights and development.
Table of Contents:
Foreword - Paul Hunt
1. Development with a Body - Andrea Cornwall, Sonia Corrêa and Susie Jolly
2. Development's Encounter With Sexuality: Essentialism and Beyond - Sonia Corrêa and Susie Jolly
Part I: Sexual Rights/Human Rights
3. Sexual Rights are Human Right - Kate Sheill
4. Sex Work, Trafficking, and HIV: How Development Is Compromising Sex Workers' Human Rights - Melissa Ditmore
5. The Language of Rights - Jaya Sharma
6. Children's Sexual Rights in an Era of HIV/AIDS - Deevia Bhana
7. The Rights of Man - Alan Greig
8. Human Rights Interrupted: an illustration from India - Sumit Baudh
Part II: Gender and Sex Orders
9. Discrimination against Lesbians in the Workplac - Alejandra Sarda
10. Ruling Masculinities in Post-Apartheid South Africa - Kopano Ratele
11. Gender, Identity and Travesti Rights in Peru - Giuseppe Campuzano
12. Small Powers, Little Choice: Reproductive and Sexual Rights in Slums in Bangladesh - Sabina Faiz Rashid
13. Social and Political Inclusion of Sex Workers as a Preventive Measure against Trafficking: Serbian Experiences - Jelena Djordjevic
Part III: Changing Mindsets
14. Confronting Our Prejudices: Women's Movement Experiences in Bangladesh Shireen Huq
15. Sexuality Education as a Human Right: Lessons from Nigeri - Adenike O. Esiet
16. Terms of Contact and Touching Change: Investigating Pleasure in an HIV Epidemic - Jill Lewis and Gill Gordon
17. A Democracy of Sexuality: Linkages and Strategies for Sexual Rights, Participation and Development - Henry Armas
18. Integrating Sexuality into Gender and Human Rights Frameworks: A Case Study from Turkey - Pinar Ilkkaracan and Karin Ronge
About the Author :
Andrea Cornwall is a Fellow at the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex.
Sonia Corrêa is Research associate at ABIA - Brazilian Interdisciplinary Association for AIDS, DAWN Coordinator for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights research and analysis and Co-chair of Sexuality Policy Watch.
Susie Jolly is Gender Communications Officer at BRIDGE, at the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex.
Andrea Cornwall is a Fellow at the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex.
Sonia Corrêa is Research associate at ABIA - Brazilian Interdisciplinary Association for AIDS, DAWN Coordinator for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights research and analysis and Co-chair of Sexuality Policy Watch.
Susie Jolly is Gender Communications Officer at BRIDGE, at the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex.
Review :
This anthology is a must read for all development practitioners frustrated by strategies that are grossly out of touch with the realities of the masses; it is for those that wish to "be real" and relevant to those they are supposed to work for. Its wide range and depth of analysis is guaranteed to jumpstart a stimulating debate even among the most conservative development thinkers.
