Human Rights and Sexual Citizenship

A special issue of Societies (ISSN 2075-4698).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (1 February 2020) | Viewed by 13365

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
School of Sociology and Social Policy, University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT, UK
Interests: disability; sexuality; sexual health; sexual rights; sexual citizenship; disability policy; disability movement; sex education; disabled people

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Sexual citizenship concerns people’s sexual lives and the ways that culture, politics and institutional systems influence them. The concept developed as a framework to understand the LGBT movement’s fight for recognition of and equal opportunities to sexual rights and expression. Their pursuits included ‘claims for inclusion, … acceptance of diversity, and a recognition of and respect for alternative ways of being’ (Weeks 1998, p. 37). This emergence of ‘the sexual citizen’ can be understood in the context of contemporary society where sexual subjectivity became of increased importance (see also Giddens 1992). In other words, sexual identity became the basis for rights claims as well as for theorisation of sexual and intimate citizenship (Plummer 2003; Richardson 2000). The research field developed in a symbiotic relationship with LGBT activism (Weeks 2010).

Sexual citizenship status has traditionally been dependent on a person’s (hetero)sexuality, and relatedly been tied to varying degrees of access to certain sexual rights: to sexual identity, sexual practice and validation through institutional systems (Richardson 2000; 1998). However, as intersectionality theorisation has evolved and more groups have claimed rights specific to their conditions and needs, the concept of sexual citizenship has expanded (Richardson 2018). People in homelessness, migrant positions, sex workers, disabled people and many more have claimed their human right to sexual expression and agency, and their right to equal access to institutional provisions. The traditional fights for marriage equality and sexual freedom for gay and lesbians have extended to a much wider understanding of what sexual citizenship means – and can mean.

We invite papers that discuss empirical, theoretical, policy- or practice-related dimensions of human rights and sexual citizenship, as well as arts-based contributions, that aim to forge new understandings and illuminate experiences of being, or being denied, sexual citizenship in different societies.

Dr. Julia Bahner
Guest Editor

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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17 pages, 547 KiB  
Article
Sexual Citizenship Theory and Employment Discrimination among Transgender-Identified People
by Gina R. Rosich
Societies 2020, 10(1), 17; https://doi.org/10.3390/soc10010017 - 7 Feb 2020
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 6801
Abstract
Employment discrimination remains a consistent and widespread concern among transgender and gender non-conforming (GNC) people. A secondary data analysis was conducted using the Transgender Law Center California Economic Health Survey (n = 646). The aim of this study was to examine workplace discrimination [...] Read more.
Employment discrimination remains a consistent and widespread concern among transgender and gender non-conforming (GNC) people. A secondary data analysis was conducted using the Transgender Law Center California Economic Health Survey (n = 646). The aim of this study was to examine workplace discrimination among transgender and gender non-conforming adults. Sexual citizenship theory informed both the grouping of variables and analysis of findings. Bivariate, multivariate, and multivariable statistical tests were conducted to examine problems related to hiring and to various forms of workplace harassment. Analyses revealed that about 67% of respondents reported some kind of workplace mistreatment. Trans men (FtM) were 132.6% more likely to report discrimination in the workplace (chiefly misgendering and privacy breach), while trans women (MtF) were more likely to experience a wider variety of types of discrimination. Respondents out to their co-workers were 292.4% more likely to experiences discrimination. Those with higher income were less likely to need assistance with changing IDs and more likely to pass/blend. Those who were less likely to pass/blend faced higher unemployment. These findings underscore the many ways in which transphobia, cis gender entitlement and transmisogyny shape the lives of trans people and prohibit full citizenship participation in society vis-à-vis the workforce. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Human Rights and Sexual Citizenship)
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17 pages, 310 KiB  
Concept Paper
Challenges to a Rights-Based Approach in Sexual Health Policy: A Comparative Study of Turkey and England
by Volkan Yilmaz and Paul Willis
Societies 2020, 10(2), 33; https://doi.org/10.3390/soc10020033 - 1 Apr 2020
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 5603
Abstract
Politics around sexual health have been polarised in recent years, but the policy implications of this polarisation have not yet been examined in depth. Therefore, this article explores political challenges to a rights-based approach in sexual health policies in Turkey and England. Its [...] Read more.
Politics around sexual health have been polarised in recent years, but the policy implications of this polarisation have not yet been examined in depth. Therefore, this article explores political challenges to a rights-based approach in sexual health policies in Turkey and England. Its focus is on two domains: The prevention and treatment of sexually transmitted infections (STI), and sexual health education. Drawing on an interpretive documentary analysis, this article reveals that although social attitudes to sexuality and the levels of overall alignment with a rights-based framework within the selected countries do differ, both face significant political challenges in putting a rights-based approach to sexual health into practice. While common political challenges include heightened domestic controversy regarding sexual health, the specific challenges take the forms of a broader conservative turn that undermines the autonomy of sexual health policy in Turkey (similar to the cases of Hungary and Poland), and neoliberal policy preferences coupled with local discretion and service fragmentation that create access inequities in England (similar to the case of Germany). This study concludes that implementing a rights-based approach is a complex political task requiring a nuanced approach that incorporates the political dimension. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Human Rights and Sexual Citizenship)
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