Ramona Vijeyarasa's blog | RH Reality Check

Hate Crimes Rise as Homophobia Spreads Across Africa

by Ramona Vijeyarasa, RH Reality Check, Southeast Asia

February 22, 2010 - 7:00am (Print)

Hate crimes against homosexuals are connected to the political, social and legal environment in which they live. And in Africa religious groups are talking about morals but simultaneously stirring hatred directly leading to violence against homosexuals.

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Pushing for “Zero Tolerance” on Sexual Violence in DRC

by Ramona Vijeyarasa, RH Reality Check, Southeast Asia

February 9, 2010 - 7:00am (Print)

There is no shortage of reports or data documenting the abhorrent extent of sexual violence in the DRC. Women are targets working in the fields. Women are targets walking home. Women are targets virtually everywhere.

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There is No Choice Without Knowledge

by Ramona Vijeyarasa, RH Reality Check, Southeast Asia

January 22, 2010 - 7:00am (Print)

There are some decisions which can be only me made by us as individuals. These are inviolable personal choices. These are the decisions about our sexuality and how we will express it, about our bodies and what we will and will not do with them. But to make these personal choices, we need knowledge.

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Malawi Arrests Two Men on "Suspicion of Being Gay"

by Ramona Vijeyarasa, RH Reality Check, Southeast Asia

January 14, 2010 - 7:00am (Print)

Malawi appears to be following Uganda’s and Rwanda’s lead on virulent homophobia with the arrest of two men charged with “carnal knowledge of a person against the order of nature.”

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HIV-infected Children in Africa Face Stigma, Discrimination

by Ramona Vijeyarasa, RH Reality Check, Southeast Asia

January 8, 2010 - 7:00am (Print)

Little attention is paid to the stigma, discrimination and heightened risks faced by children orphaned by AIDS.

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Zimbabwe's Growing Crisis of Maternal Deaths

by Ramona Vijeyarasa, RH Reality Check, Southeast Asia

December 7, 2009 - 7:00am (Print)

Despite international attention to the issue of maternal mortality worldwide, little progress has been made in reducing maternal deaths. In some countries, such as Zimbabwe, the situation is getting worse rather than better.

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Fear and Loathing in Uganda: Proposed Law Abrogates Basic Human Rights

by Ramona Vijeyarasa, RH Reality Check, Southeast Asia

November 30, 2009 - 8:00am (Print)

A proposed "anti-homosexuality" law blatantly disregards both international law and Uganda's Constitution, threatening freedom of speech and freedom from violence and discrimination.

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Namibian Government Implicated in Involuntary Sterilizations of HIV-Positive Women

by Ramona Vijeyarasa, RH Reality Check, Southeast Asia

November 17, 2009 - 10:15am (Print)

As far back as 2001, women living with HIV/AIDS were being sterilized in Namibian hospitals, without their autonomous consent. Shockingly, these women, whose cases the International Community of Women Living with HIV/AIDS began documenting in 2008, continue to wait for redress.

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Unsafe Abortion: Why Money Might Matter

by Ramona Vijeyarasa, RH Reality Check, Southeast Asia

October 21, 2009 - 6:00am (Print)

If aid is meant to create cost-effective, efficient and sustainable health care systems, African nations and the global community must address the high number of unsafe abortions and the needless waste of money spent addressing complications.

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Religion and Stigma Fan HIV Epidemic in Malawi

by Ramona Vijeyarasa, RH Reality Check, Southeast Asia

October 14, 2009 - 6:00am (Print)

Malawi has some of the harshest laws in all of Africa criminalizing homosexuality. Many religious groups actively support discrimination against gay, lesbian, and transgender persons and in turn are fanning the spread of HIV.

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