scholarly journals Why Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Asylum?

2021 ◽  
pp. 3-21
Author(s):  
Carmelo Danisi ◽  
Moira Dustin ◽  
Nuno Ferreira ◽  
Nina Held
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Orientation ◽  
Gender Identity ◽  
Forced Migration ◽  
Economic Benefits ◽  
General Assembly ◽  
International Protection ◽  
Un General Assembly ◽  
Forced Migrants ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Binding Agreement

AbstractForced migration – no matter how we wish to define it – has been high in the political agendas and debates across the world for several decades. Forced migrants become claimants of international protection, or ‘asylum claimants’, and then find themselves trapped in convoluted, constraining and highly politicised systems. Often accused of being ‘bogus’ asylum claimants, they are also regularly accused of abusing the hospitality of the host country, violating countries’ borders and territorial sovereignty, and simply seeking economic benefits (Ford 2009; UNHCR 2007). Conversely, asylum legal instruments have been repeatedly criticised for inadequately addressing the rights and needs of asylum claimants, therefore preventing those with legitimate claims from being granted protection. These debates have more recently been rehashed in the context of the negotiations behind the Global Compact for Safe Orderly and Regular Migration, a non-legally binding agreement negotiated under the aegis of the United Nations (UN) and endorsed by the UN General Assembly. In this atmosphere of permanent politicised and humanitarian ‘crisis’ (McAdam 2014), a group warranting specific attention is constituted by those asylum claimants presenting a claim based on their sexual orientation or gender identity (SOGI).

Theorizing the Politics of (Homo)Sexualities across Cultures

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Blasius
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Sexual Orientation ◽  
Gender Identity ◽  
Historical Event ◽  
History Of Sexuality ◽  
Political Issue ◽  
Aids Pandemic ◽  
History Of ◽  
Un General Assembly ◽  
And Gender

This chapter focuses on an event in the history of sexuality, more specifically in the history of sexuality as a political issue. In recent years, vastly diverse movements around the politics of sexuality have embraced the notion of “sexual rights.” This concept developed rapidly especially since the UN Conference on Women in Beijing (1995) and in the wake of the global AIDS pandemic. More recently, rights specific to sexual orientation and gender identity have gained prominence, for instance with a 2011 Human Rights Council resolution on sexual orientation and gender identity, and a report to the UN General Assembly that analyzed in a preliminary way the universal human rights of LGBT persons. Issuance of this report and the resolution that commissioned it together signify a historical event in the politics of sexuality.

scholarly journals Queering Asylum in Europe: A Survey Report

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vítor Lopes Andrade ◽  
Carmelo Danisi ◽  
Moira Dustin ◽  
Nuno Ferreira ◽  
Nina Held
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Sexual Orientation ◽  
Gender Identity ◽  
Research Council ◽  
European Research ◽  
International Protection ◽  
European Research Council ◽  
Survey Report ◽  
The Social ◽  
And Gender

This report discusses the data gathered through two surveys carried out in the context of the SOGICA project. SOGICA – Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Claims of Asylum: A European human rights challenge – is a four-year (2016-2020) research project funded by the European Research Council (ERC) that explores the social and legal experiences of people across Europe claiming international protection on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity (SOGI).

Analysing Norm-Based Advocacy Strategies to Address Asylum on the Basis of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in Europe

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melissa Schnyder
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Orientation ◽  
Gender Identity ◽  
Individual Member ◽  
The European Union ◽  
International Protection ◽  
Political Issues ◽  
Formal And Informal Institutions ◽  
Formal Basis ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Strategies For Change

Abstract Whether and under what circumstances forced migrants can claim asylum on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity (SOGI) are questions that have received much attention in recent years as issues of human security are increasingly considered by scholars, civil society organization (CSO) practitioners, and the international community. Although there is an international institutional framework in place that establishes the bases for claiming asylum, SOGI is not explicitly mentioned, resulting in institutional gaps that potentially expose survivors of SOGI-related human rights violations to the risk of being denied international protection. At the regional level, individual member states within the European Union (EU) can interpret international legislation differently, resulting in inconsistencies in terms of who is granted protection. This situation has mobilized many CSOs to take action and work to create normative change. This article analyses how specific norm-based strategies for change that have been identified in advocacy work addressing other social and political issues are currently being applied to advocate for SOGI as a formal basis for claiming international protection in Europe. The analysis draws upon CSO documents, writings, and discourse in order to identify the norms they criticize and attempt to weaken, and to uncover the alternative norms they promote. Because norms are a key component of both formal and informal institutions, the article sheds light on how CSOs can use norm-based strategies as powerful mechanisms for advancing political and social change.

scholarly journals Queer Settlers: Questioning Settler Colonialism in LGBT Asylum Processes in Canada

Refuge ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine Fobear
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Orientation ◽  
Gender Identity ◽  
First Nations ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Settler Colonialism ◽  
Forced Migration ◽  
History Of ◽  
Sexual And Gender Minority ◽  
Refugee Claim ◽  
And Gender

Refugee and forced migration studies have focused primarily on the refugees’ countries of origin and the causes for migration. Yet it is also important to also critically investi- gate the processes, discourses, and structures of settlement in the places they migrate to. This has particular signifi- cance in settler states like Canada in which research on refugee and forced migration largely ignores the presence of Indigenous peoples, the history of colonization that has made settlement possible, and ways the nation has shaped its borders through inflicting control and violence on Indigenous persons. What does it mean, then, to file a refugee claim in a state like Canada in which there is ongoing colonial violence against First Nations communities? In this article, we will explore what it means to make a refugee claim based on sexual orientation and gender identity in a settler-state like Canada. For sexual and gender minority refugees in Canada, interconnected structures of col- onial discourse and regulation come into force through the Canadian asylum and resettlement process. It is through this exploration that ideas surrounding migration, asylum, and settlement become unsettled.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document