Publication Type
Journal Article
Version
acceptedVersion
Publication Date
7-2016
Abstract
Since the mid-1990s, UN special procedures reports have increasingly addressed human rights violations related to sexual orientation. However, it was not until 2011 that the first UN resolution on human rights and sexual orientation was adopted. After considerable difficulty, a follow-up resolution was adopted in late 2014. This policy and practice note examines the challenges of adopting sexual orientation resolutions at the UN Human Rights Council. The discussion is organized around six challenges: the need for Southern leadership, the strong counter-reaction that sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) issues generate at the UN, finding a strong leader, divisions within civil society, securing the necessary votes, and the contents of the resolution. The paper concludes with a reflection on the practical and strategic implications of these challenges.
Keywords
human rights, human rights defenders, sexual orientation, United Nations, UN Human Rights Council
Discipline
International Relations | Political Science | Public Affairs
Research Areas
Political Science
Publication
Journal of Human Rights Practice
Volume
8
Issue
2
First Page
298
Last Page
310
ISSN
1757-9619
Identifier
10.1093/jhuman/huw009
Publisher
Oxford University Press (OUP): Policy E - Oxford Open Option D
Citation
JORDAAN, Eduard.(2016). The challenge of adopting sexual orientation resolutions at the UN Human Rights Council. Journal of Human Rights Practice, 8(2), 298-310.
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/2463
Copyright Owner and License
Author
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Additional URL
https://doi.org/10.1093/jhuman/huw009