Dr. River Hustad, who is an advisor at the NCHR International Department, lectured about sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) and Human Rights at the workshop, which took place last week.
Raising awareness about SOGI and human rights
The two-day workshop was organised by China University of Political Science and Law (CUPL) and the Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law (RWI) and took place via Zoom. The workshop drew participants from all across China.
With references to international human rights legal sources, Dr. Hustad considered the nature of state obligations to protect against discrimination, and changing local social norms to enable persons who are LGBT to equally enjoy rights.
"SOGI rights" are not more rights for one group, but simply equality and non-discrimination in all the rights that everyone enjoys.
Additional topics Hustad explored during her lectures at the workshop included the obligation of states to respect and protect LGBT people from state and community violence, the rights to non-discrimination and privacy, whether SOGI rights affect the rights of others, and the rights and limitations of children to information and health care.
Long term commitment to gender and human rights at Chinese universities
This workshop is part of a larger cooperation project between CUPL, RWI and NCHR regarding education of Chinese university teachers on gender and human rights issues.
When the cooperation programme started in 2017, only three universities in China offered separate courses on women’s rights and gender equality. Following their participation in the programme teachers have opened new courses at 14 Chinese universities.
The first Chinese textbook on gender and human rights was recently published in China with the support of the NCHR and RWI. NCHR and its partners hope to continue to contribute to increased knowledge about gender and human rights issues among Chinese teachers so that more universities will be interested in opening courses in the future.
More information about the NCHRs work on equality and non-discrimination