Kenyan man allegedly caught carrying wife’s body parts in backpack
This week, we start in Libya, where Sudanese women fleeing the war still face rape and abuse. Next, we travel to Kenya, where 29-year-old John Wambua was arrested with the mutilated body of his 19-year-old wife. Finally, some good news in Thailand as hundreds marry after same-sex marriage is legalised.
But first, in Ghana, advocacy groups are celebrating a major win as President John Mahama recently confirmed the end of the controversial anti-LGBTQ bill introduced in 2021. The bill, which aimed to further criminalise LGBTQ people and their allies, was not signed before the last parliament dissolved.
Mahama believes teaching family values through schools is better than making laws about them. “If we teach values in schools, we don’t need a bill to enforce them,” he said.
LGBT+ Rights Ghana welcomed this as a sign of hope. They said focusing on education instead of punishment could lead to more understanding and respect. However, they worry about how family values will be taught. “If it’s not done carefully, it could spread harmful stereotypes,” said Berinyuy Burinyuy from the group.
Another group, We Are All Ghana, said it’s a chance to create lessons that teach tolerance and respect for everyone.
While there’s still a long way to go, this could be the start of a more inclusive future for LGBTQ people in Ghana.
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While many countries are debating abortion rights, there is another reproductive right that is being overlooked: the right to survive childbirth. Sadly, the plight and challenges of disabled mothers are often ignored.
Four months ago, I lost my friend Diana, a woman with a disability, who died during childbirth. It’s been four months since Diana never got to experience motherhood, a role she had been yearning for since she learned she was expecting. Diana’s life was cut short in her prime for something that could have been prevented and regrettably, she is not the only woman with a disability we have lost. Are women with disabilities getting critical information that helps them with the pregnancy journey?
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One Ethiopia, One Culture, One Religion: The Isolation of Queer Tigrayans
“So did you dump the strap-on?” I asked a friend over text.
I had expressed my worries after police started searching the homes of Tigrayans in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital. As a queer woman, I had begun de-dyking my space, which included getting rid of rainbow-colored paraphernalia, letters, my journal, books and films with queer themes, and anything else that was remotely queer-related. I had shared with her how difficult it was to get my hands on a strap-on; thus, I couldn’t find the strength to part with the one I had.
It was unclear what exactly the police were looking for during these arbitrary searches, but I worried it would be difficult and dangerous if I were caught with a strap-on. Explaining its use would have proved disastrous in homophobic Ethiopia, and it would, I feared, land my Tigrayan queer self in prison—if I was lucky.
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Hundreds wed as Thailand legalizes same-sex marriage
Hundreds of LGBTQ+ couples in Thailand married on Thursday as the kingdom’s equal marriage law went into effect after decades of campaigning by activists.
The implementation of the Marriage Equality Act makes Thailand the first country in Southeast Asia, and the third place in Asia after Taiwan and Nepal, to legalize same-sex and transgender marriage.
The country now joins the more than 30 nations that have implemented equal marriage laws, with the Netherlands leading the way in 2001.