Sexuality and Human Rights - Literature review Example

Introduction Sexuality has and will continue to be an important aspect of humanity and its ideologies. As a matter of fact a person’s sexual orientation has always been considered a vital supportive document to the morals of the individual with the majority of human races and worlds inclining towards the opposite gender (i.e. male to female) sexual orientation. In some cases females feel like they should transform to the male gender while other males work their ways into realizing their ‘becoming a woman’ dream. The males adopt female names and dressing codes. They even go ahead to inject themselves with silicon so as to grow their breasts size. They even pose on the streets as prostitutes, for instance in Brazil. These is an ideology that may be common and acceptable in such parts of the world, but when one goes to another, it becomes unacceptable and a taboo. In recent years, the “monopoly” of this sexual orientation has been put to question. Governments, non-governmental organizations, human right agencies and concerned individuals have come to light with their own valid reasons and intentions with an attempt to advocate sexual freedom to everyone regardless of the race, religion, age or even gender. In a publication, Miller M. (2009). International Council for Human Rights Policy, the research endeavours to link human rights to sexuality and thus comes in advocating for individual rights even though underlining the fundamental essence to maintain boundaries. Sexuality is considered as part of human rights thus subjects are left with the power to choose their sexuality. Thus whether to become gay, a lesbian, prostitute, or maintain the opposite sex marriage, is something that should be left to individuals to make a choice. To some worlds, societies, cultures, races, religions and governments, however, this has not gone down well with them. Many have come out strongly condemning this sudden appetite of defending human rights and freedoms. Many of them point at the values, virtues and purity of the human race that were held by our predecessors in the name of forefathers. Thus the significance of global sexual politics and its contribution to the modern way of international integration derived from the exchange of views, ideas, products and aspects of culture cannot be overlooked. Global sexual politics is important because t provides an avenue to for governments, religions and individual to air and exercise their point of views. This is used as a platform to air the ideologies that a government holds towards its citizens. In this case, different governments are able to understand their citizens and thus help in the formulation of laws and act as an important guide towards policy making and implementation. It provides an avenue of governments getting in touch with the characteristics of their population as regards feedback and reception of the governments view about sexuality. This aids in budgeting as entails the health sector and education with an attempt to sensitize the population. Sexuality is major detertaminant to the health budget of a government. For instance the government is able to allocate funds to deal with health issues such as HIV/AIDS. Depending on the demographics of it6s population, the government determines what health plan and policy to employ in tackling issues related to sexuality as regards health issues e.g. protection from and control over sexually transmitted diseases, healthy living. Alexander J, Freedman L. and Miller A. (2004) Public Health Monitoring and Accountability: A map of Current initiatives and conceptual challenges. This article explores the responsibilities of governments towards public health. In the same account, the government is charged with the responsibility of conducting research in attempt to determine the health risks associated with practices such as gayism and lesbianism. Dowsett, G. (1996) Practicing desire: Homosexual sex in the era of AIDS, explores the high chances of homosexuals to contracting diseases with AIDS topping the list of possible diseases. This thus burdens the government to provide proper health care for the subjects. Governments also get an avenue to explore better laws for their citizens. There are those who change the loop holes in their law to guard against such practices such as gayism, lesbianism, and prostitution. There are those governments that also advance the laws that guard gays, lesbians, and prostitutes within their borders. This in the end comes in handy as better policing for different governments. Even though sometimes this happens in a manner that is not moderated leading to some governments over exploiting this responsibility and those end up punishing. For instance, no matter your ideologies, culture or religion, it will be meaningless as a law maker to pass a law that qualifies one to a life sentence or even a death sentence as a result of being gay or practicing lesbianism. Besides, a practice such prostitution, even though to some extend is a vice, considerations should be made for those who do it so as they can be able to put food on the table. Individuals also get an avenue to express themselves. In the past, lesbians, gays, prostitutes were confined to secret lifestyles with the majority of the human race fighting against this stereotyped ‘sinners’. This led to stigma and mistreatment and thus many believed it was a direct infringement to the rights of an individual to choose just as they choose to belong to a certain religion or even subscribe to a certain political view. Thus individuals were empowered to subscribe to their preferred orientations and those public expressions are advocated since the notion of freedom is engraved in the quest for rights for all human beings. Through these debates, individuals are able to get to know what the law holds for them and the provisions of the law, for or against their preferred orientation. Therefore are able to act within the brackets of the provisions of the constitution. Under the same allowance, they are able to identify the over boards of the constitution and come up with proposals for amendments to better it for advancement of human rights advocation. Religion also enjoys the airtime to either conform to or help transform the ethical issues allied to sexuality. Different religions hold different views towards this topic: some are for while others are much against it. For instance, even among the Christians, those in the United States and those in the African continent hold different views, with those in the United States coming out liberal on the issue while their African counterparts maintain that chastity is an integral part of any child of God. The African clergy believe that god created man and since he realized that he was lonely, he created a woman who would be his companion and soul mate. This was evident in the work of Kapya J. (2012). Colonizing African Values. Political Research Associates. The publication explores possibilities of their fellow carriers of the gospel in the United States of America of trying to bulldoze the acceptance of gay marriages and lesbianism. The African clergy, especially in Uganda provided the main resistance claiming that besides going against God, it will trotting the cultural beliefs and practices of Africans. As this debates goes on, the believers who subscribe to different faiths are educated and advance confidence in their faith. As these debates engulf the world from end to end, people are also presented with an opportunity to think clearly about their sexuality. This comes in with an information bank that serves the purpose of educating, correcting and guiding. The advantages and disadvantages of, gayism, lesbianism, prostitution, and different sex marriages are put to light through forums, life experiences shared and ideological differences. This helps individuals make informed decisions on sexuality and could also help in changing a pre-formed decision about which road to follow when it comes to sexuality. Some people wait for role models or even government policies while others wait for the compact majority so as to make decisions, thus the politicking comes in handy. These debates contribute to the contemporary perspective on globalization positively and again negatively: The way people interact across borders, religions is highly dependent on how they perceive issues and what point of views they hold. It also depends on whether they hold the same ideologies and beliefs as you do, whether they are in agreement with you decision or what you are advocating for. No matter the aspect of life one is aiming to sell across, be it; an invention, ideology, advancement in medicine, transport sector among other sectors, cultural change, religious belief among other aspects, the target converts have to either share the same sentiments or better still agree with you. Thus global sexual politicking has provided such an interesting avenue of globalization with different governments and states either lock horns as regards this issue or basically become allies if and when the involved states have the same views as regards to lesbians, gays, prostitutes and other emerging trends about the sexuality of humans. This has been used as an avenue making friends and creating political allies with different parts of the world. Many governments have used this to their advantage in strengthening their political influence across nations and even continents. For instance the United States that is at the forefront of the advocation of freewill towards sexuality is out to convince as much support for the same. Many government officials are vocal about the issue with an attempt to clearly state its good intention and sole purpose of upholding human dignity by putting the rights of its citizens first and consequently assure those who may subscribe to this that it would be in the good faith of human rights and freedom protection. In equal measure of retaliation, governments such as Uganda have come publicly to preach against this have eloquently expressed their detest for this. In fact, through its legislature and of state President Yoweri Museveni, it has drafted a law that makes same sex marriages illegal and tough punishments have been put into law. Various worlds have come have come to loggerheads with different parts of the world actually taking sides This has kind of given birth to the modern day ‘cold war.’ It is very evident with the world super powers trying to flex the muscle in regard to the same subject matter. It has given birth to the question of who to fund who. This has therefore impacted directly on most African countries that are mostly funded by these economic giants. For instance, the United States of America through white house press secretary, Jay Carney, recently declared that it would review its financial aid to Uganda. The root course of this of course is crystal clear; the decision of its leader to come out in disregard to marry the idea of freewill approach towards sexuality. This from a development point of view will impact negatively on the economy of Uganda. In the long run, the two worlds may grow distant apart with each of them trying to follow their conscience. This is just one out of many countries and governments that may have to suffer as result of conforming to their own ideologies. Sanctions have also become a major part of the consequences. Zimbabwe, a third world state in Africa has suffered in the modern day as a result of solidly saying no to the emerging trend. Trading privileges and interactions of a country are cut off from the rest of the bigger block. This is done so as to provide an opportunity to the affected to reconsider their stand. Thus this denies the world from benefiting from services that come from such a country for instance, labour, raw materials among other commodities of trade. This on the bigger picture inhibits shared technology, advances and cultural changes. Countries and economies choose where their commodities and factors of production will be channeled. They end up denying the sanctioned country important commodities and also indirectly deny themselves as they themselves will be require to source for alternatives. These debates have also denied states, governments, societies and religions to make decisions in the name of what to follow and subscribe to when it comes to sexuality. This could be attributed to confusion caused by the heated debates as well as the fear of the consequences that will result from the decision. Thus some governments have been left to remain ‘undecided’ when 8it comes to the matter. They feel that their rights to decide independently have been strangled between the ropes of those who have the bigger say. This paves way to neocolonialism an aspect that is slowly penetrating the contemporary society. Hence one has to forcefully marry the ideologies of their masters. This in essence kills the spirit of interaction which is an important aspect of humans as mutuality which is one of the supporting pillars is broken. ‘Change is a gradual process.’ That is at least what the cliché dictates. These debates seem to want to impose these changes to societies, religions, countries and cultures that are not ready. If change does not under a life cycle then it is bound to collapse eventually. These are probably among the fears that those who hold different views have. In their own cocoons, they are being patient for that ideal maturity of time to change. In that case they feel that their time to change is not yet and what they fail to do is publicly declare that, probably due to the heat of the moment that overwhelms their intention to proclaim why they are not ready for the change. The result of this is two parties that are interacting on different time frames. One is ready for change, while the other feels immature for the so called change. This paints a picture of two bulls trying to interact. Even though they interaction might exist, it is negative interaction. The debates have also impacted governments, religions, and societies with the provision of betterment of laws that guard human rights. Some lawmakers have borrowed positively from these debates and have retreated back to revisit their take about the topic. It has given them an avenue to for example merge human rights to sexuality. Through the debates, human right groups and activists have found solace in the concerted efforts from other quarters and thus consider this as back up. Those who have followed the proceedings keenly have had an opportunity to be enlightened and thus their thoughts recrafted. With this kind of transformation, some have taken a step to interact with for example, lesbians, gays, prostitutes and other individuals with sexuality perspectives that do not conform to the compact majority. This provides a better understanding and better reasoning in regards to these groups and the end product is the spirit of accepting them to society and this helps eliminanate the stigma associated with such. There is an immediate extension of love from the rest of the pack. In this regard, people strive to help each other in problem solution and provision of ideas that will ensure a better tomorrow. Sometimes globalization comes in as an identity killer. This is according to Tomlinson J. (2003) Globalization and Culture. Thus as there is a deliberate attempt to buy from those who conform to the idea of freedom of sexuality or from those who uphold the conventional way of opposite sex marriages and relationships, there is the possibility of us losing our identity as individuals, as a culture, as a society or even as a religion. This poses the challenge of us being able to carefully balance out our options and consider the adoption of facts relating sexuality. This should be done in measured quantities so as to be sure that the end product is an interaction at equilibrium. This will ensure that we come up with a consideration that describes the old us and the new us. This ensures that identity is not lost not compromising the fantastic platform that globalization offers for us to impact our sexuality beliefs. NOTES 1. Sexuality and human rights are inseparable and thus sexuality should be treated as a human right if it is to provide meaning and the same importance that people accord it 2. Globalization started decades back and continues to happen in different capacities; be transfer of human labour, sharing of technological advancements, sharing of cultural views, among others. Even though it should be done with considerations so as not to undermine ones true identity or belonging. 3. Change is inevitable. Even though it is a necessary evil, it has to happen within time frames with the agents of change being monitored closely and those advocating for change should do that with a lot of patience 4. Laws are made to guard individuals within a political jurisdiction. Let them not condemn the very individuals that they are to protect. 5. Governments also have rights as individuals. Besides, governments exist on the fact that they are answerable to their electorate. Thus they should not be muscled to make decision even if it means crushing the desires and interests of those who elected them. CONCLUSSION Sexuality is an important aspect of each and every individual. It crafts a person’s preferences in regard to marriage and to some regard how and when a person engages in sexual activities. Sexuality revolves around a person’s taste, and defines the characteristics that one was born with, even though environment sometimes plays a major role in shaping up someone’s sexuality. Sometimes, we as human beings may not enjoy the luxury of dictating our own sexuality, since from the going, it is majorly shaped by external factors; the environment, our culture, religious beliefs among others. According to Byne W (1997), in his work; why we cannot conclude that sexual orientation is primarily a biological phenomenon. Journal for homosexuality, we can conclude that several factors interact in aligning an individual to a particular sexual orientation. Sometimes, being a society of laws, constitutions, and of course leaders (political and religious), we charge these higher bodies with providing us with directions and line if action. Most of our decisions are majorly if not entirely guided by these forces, unless we want to labeled criminals. In this regard, it is prudent to allow governments to draft laws. This of course is drafted in the best of the interest of the citizens. These laws protect and defend us entities , be it human rights, right to access basic needs. Even though we should contribute directly and influence the formulation of these laws that will in the end govern us. In the same spirit, government’s shou8ld strive to come up with laws that depict consideration and those that define the constitutional responsibility that they have towards their citizens. In this light, they should strive to come up with modest laws whose intentions are not to fight back their political enemies. Laws should not be made to victimize groups because of their beliefs or orientations just because the majority holds different opinions or believe or even practice otherwise. On the contrary, governments should realize that these minorities exist and need to be protected from a society so cruel not to mind their needs and rights. In this regard, it will be dehumanizing for the same institution of government charged with that responsibility not to adhere to their basic responsibility. Change should be gradual. It is a long process that should be accelerated to an immediate velocity. on the contrary, if a person thinks or perceive his or her sexuality to be more superior, be it gay advocates, lesbian advocates, opposite sex marriage advocates or even those who are for or against prostitution, they should give ample time to those in different camps so as to adjust to their point of views. Besides that, reason and supportive arguments should be tabled so as to convince, not force or victimize one so as to subscribe to these beliefs. Harsh punishments such as donor fund revocation, sanctions among other consequences should not define how we deal with those who do not adhere to our own side of thinking as regards sexual orientation. Each human being, government, religion among other groups have their own responsibility to protect their own interests and beliefs. Besides that in the attempt to safeguard the rights of others, let’s not comprise the overall harmony as the wheels of globalization started rolling decades ago and thus let’s not jeorpadize4 this progress by selfish intentions. Be it political, religious or personal goals. Remember, we have differences, but let not the differences do us apart as a human race. Bibliography Byne W. 1997. Why we cannot conclude that sexual orientation is primarily a biological phenomenon. Journal of Homosexuality, 34. California: Cengage learning. Byne w. & Parsons .B. 1993. Human sexual orientation: the biologic theories reappraised of General Psychiatry. California: Cengage learning. Cass V. 1979. Homosexual identity formation: a theoretical model. Journal of Homosexuality,4, California: Cengage learning. 219-225. Chauncey G. 1994. Gay New York: gender urban culture, and the making of the gay male world. New York: Basic books Dowsett, G. 1996 Practicing desire: Homosexual sex in the era of AIDS, Stanford: Stanford University press. Fisher J. 2006. Transforming the table- global advocacy on sexual orientation and gender identity- and the international response. Paper was presented at the international commission of jurists and international services on Human rights Expert meeting, Yogyakarta, Indonesia, November. Alexander J, Freedman L. and Miller A. public health Monitoring and Accountability: A map of Current initiatives and conceptual challenges, 2004. Tomlinson J. 2003, globalization and Cultural Identity Giddens A. 1990. The consequences of modernity. Cambridge: Polity Press Lull J. 2009. Media, Communication, and Culture: a Global Approach. Cambridge: Polity Press Hammack L. 2005. The life course development Of Human Sexual orientation: an integrative Paradigm. University of Chicago, Chicago, USA Miller M. 2009. Sexuality and Human rights: discussion Paper. International Council for Human Rights Policy Kapya J. 2012. Colonizing African Values. New York: Political Research Associates. Read More