LGBT rights in Saudi Arabia From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Gay rights are not recognized in Saudi Arabia and homosexuality is a serious crime punishable by death। However, there exists an underground gay community। The treatment of homosexuals has prompted criticism from international human rights organizations, but the government defends its actions as being mandated by Islam and not by a secular institution।Criminal codeIn 1928, the Saudi judicial board advised Muslim judges to look for guidance in two books by the Hanbalite jurist Mar'I ibn Yusuf al-Karmi al Maqdisi (d.1033/1624). Liwat (sodomy) is to be "treated like fornication, and must be punished in the same way. If muhsan (married, or within a legal concubinage) and free, one must be stoned to death, while a free bachelor must be whipped 100 lashes and banished for a year." Sodomy is thus proven either by the perpetrator confessing four times or by the testimony of four trustworthy Muslim men. If there are less than four witnesses, or one of them is not upright, they are all to be chastised with 80 lashes for slander.All sexual activity outside of a traditional heterosexual marriage (adultery) is a crime, some of these crimes carry death penalty. As none of the criminal code is written down, the precise punishment for being convicted of homosexuality or sodomy varies and can range from the somewhat benign punishnments (i.e. imprisonment, fines, whippings or, if a forigner, expulsion) or more serious punishment such as being sent to a mental institution for some form of treatment, forced amputation or public execution. Foreigners should not expect their nationality to grant them immunity from the local law. Furthermore with the exception of commercial law, most of the legal code is unwritten and left up to the discretion of the Islamic judges.It is difficult to determine how often the more harsh punishments for homosexuality are used. In the 1986, the United Nations Human Freedom Index, stated that Saudi government did not recognize the "personal right to homosexuality between consenting adults, and that the death penalty was used against thousands of "sexual deviants." Controversy within the United Nations over including homosexuality as a legal right in which to judge nations caused it to be buried under the vague category of privacy.The authoritarian legal system and conservative nature of Saudi Arabia, means that international human rights organizations must rely on translated reports from the Saudi governemnt or a handful of young wealthy Saudi citizens. International protests from human rights organizations, prompted some Saudi officials within the Saudi Arabian embassy in Washington D.C. to imply that their kingdom will only use the death penalty when some one has convicted of child molestation, murder or engaging in anything deemed to be a form of political advocacy.In 2000 the Saudi government reported that it had sentenced nine Saudi men to extensive prison terms with lashing for engaging in cross-dressing and homosexual relations. That same year the government executed three Yemeni male workers for homosexuality and child molestation.In April 2005, the government convicted over a hundred men of homosexuality, but none were sentenced to be executed. All those men were given prison sentences with flogging because they were at a private party that was either a same-sex wedding ceremony or a birthday party. Yet, not long after a gay foreign couple was sentenced to death for homosexuality and allegedly killing a man who was blackmailing them for homosexuality.In May 2005, the government arrested 92 men for homosexuality. It is unknown what happen to these men. Likewise, on November 7th, 2005 Riyadh police raided what the Saudi press called a "beauty contest for gay men" at al-Qatif. What became of the five men arrested for organizing the event, is not known.Right to privacyNo right to privacy exists. The government can, with a court order, search homes, vehicles, places of business and intercept private communications. People living in the kingdom should assume that communications can be seized by the government for evidence in a criminal trial.CensorshipThe Saudi government censors all forms of communications for themes deemed to be offensive to the royal family or Islam. This includes all newspapers, magazines, comic books, advertisements, film, television broadcasts, Internet and all video or computer software that is sold in the kingdom. Satellite television is illegal, although the ban is often ignored.Since the 1990s, Saudi newspapers have been permitted to make occasional reference to homosexuals, often in terms of criminal law or the number of people infected with AIDS in the kingdom. However, homosexuality, much like Judaism is often spoken of in negative terms as form of western decadence.A publication, television station, film, song, internet website, etc. that endorses gay rights will be banned or blocked for its "un-Islamic" themes. The Saudi government has frequently blocked Internet users in the kingdom from accessing web pages that deal with LGBT political or social issues, even if they are not pornographic. These blocks are sometimes temporarly removed due to international criticism.In 2001 a Saudi teacher and playwright named Muhammad Al-Suhaimi, was charged with promoting homosexuality and after a trial was sentenced to prison. In 2006 he was given a pardon and allowed to resume teaching.Civil Rights lawsSaudi Arabia has no laws against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. An employer is free to discriminate against a gay employee or subject them to blackmail. The exit and entry paperwork does not ask people about their sexual orientation, as it does their nationality, religion and marital status. No same-sex marriage, domestic partnership or civil union has any legal standing in the nation and may be used as evidence to initiate criminal proceedings.Saudi citizens & AIDS/HIVBy law, every Saudi citizen that is infected with HIV or AIDS is entitled to free medical care, protection of their privacy and employment opportunities. The government has produced Arabic language educational material on how the disease is spread and since the 1980s Abdullah al-Hokail, a Saudi doctor who specializes in the pandemic, has been allowed to air Arabic language public service announcements on television about the disease and how it is spread.Yet, most hospitals will not treat patients who are infected, and many schools and hospitals are reluctant to distribute government information about the disease, because of the strong taboos and stigma that are attached to how the virus can be spread.In the late 1990s the Saudi government began to slowly step up a public education campaign about AIDS-HIV. It started to recognize World AIDS Day, and the Arabic and English daily newspapers were permitted to run articles and opinions that expressed the need for more education about the disease and more compassion for those people infected. The number of people living in the kingdom who were infected was a closely guarded secret, as the official policy was often that the disease was not a serious problem in a kingdom because Saudis followed the principles of traditional Islamic morality.In 2003 the government announced that it knew of 6,787 cases, and in 2004 the official number rose to 7,808. The government statistics claim that most of the registered cases are foreign males who contracted the disease through "forbidden" sexual relations.In June 2006, the Ministry of Health publically admitted that more than 10,000 Saudi citizens were either infected with HIV or had full blown AIDS. Yet some public health experts feel that the government is still hiding the true stastics, which may be as high as 80,000 people, witho about a fourth of them people expatriates.In December 2006 the Arab News ran an editoral that called for greated public awarness of how the virus is spread and more compassion for those people infected.It was this same year that a Saudi citizen named Rami al-Harithi revealed that he had become infected with HIV while having surgery and has become an official proponent of education and showing compassion to those people infected .Saudi Princess Alia bint Abdullah has been involved in the Saudi AIDS Society, which was permitted in December 2006 to hold a public charity art auction followed by a discussion on how the disease was impacting the kingdom that included two Saudis living with HIV. The event was organzied with the help of the Saudi National Program for Combating AIDS which is chaired by Dr. Sana Filimban.In January 2007 a Saudi economics professor at King Abdul Aziz University was permitted to conduct of survey of a handful of Saudi University students on their level of education about the pandemic .While much of the work on AIDS-HIV education has been supported by members of the Saudi royal family or medical doctors, there is an attempt to gain permission to create some independent AIDS societies, one of which is called Al-Husna Society, that would work on helping people infected with the disease find employment, education families and work to fight the prejudice that faces people infected .Foreigners living in Saudi and AIDS/HIVForeigners are required to demonstrate that they are not infected with the virus before they can enter the country, and are required to get a test to renew the residency permit. Any foreigner that is discovered to be infected will be deported to the country of origin as soon as they are deemed fit to travel.Foreigners are not given access to any AIDS medications and while awaiting deportation may be segregated (or imprisoned) from the rest of society .Saudi LGBT communityMany expatriates may initially feel that social customs and laws encourage homosexuality. Women/families are generally kept separate from single men as much as possible, and dating is generally seen as being taboo, if not immoral. An opposite sex couples may be harassed if they demonstrate affection in public and it is not uncommon to see heterosexual men expressing affection toward each other in public, i.e. kissing or holding hands.The practice of men holding hands, or kissing, in public is a social custom in parts of the Middle East and Asia and is a symbol of friendship and not homosexuality . Also given the limited access to women, and the dangers in having an unmarried woman get pregnant, there is a degree of unspoken of situational homosexuality or bisexuality that may exist among young men.Bars and nightclubs are illegal. Movie theatres are also illegal, although they may be permitted to exist on an Aramco compound. Private parties are permitted but they often unofficially segregated by national origin, sex, or language in order to reduce the risk of being raided by the police or the Committee for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice. Officially, much of the outdoors public entertainment comes from sports, shopping malls, restaurants, and cafes .The Internet makes it theoretically possible for LGBT people living in the kingdom to meet other LGBT, but the government has strict censorship polices with the Internet, aside from the normal dangers that can occur by meeting some one you met online .LGBT PoliticsOnly the underground Green Party of Saudi Arabia has endorsed the LGBT human rights movement and called for greater public openness about sexual orientation and gender identity issues. No public organization, club or society would be allowed to endorse LGBT human rights or even act as a social network for LGBT people in the kingdom.

文章來源：http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_rights_in_Saudi_Arabia

把愛滋趕出校園 日本分享經驗_記者胡慕情專題報導

2007台日公民社會論壇昨日在台北進行第2天的議程，由日本非營利組織「PLACE東京」副代表生島嗣、台灣紅絲帶基金會董事長涂醒哲等人，就全球愛滋病防治的課題與契機進行會談。NGO、NPO是成熟社會的重要指標，它們監督、矯正政府，促使政府機構透明化。上週末，台日公民社會論壇邀請日本與台灣的NGO、NPO進行經驗分享討論，希望打造台灣公共空間、推動社會民主化。青年少愛滋感染遽增HIVAIDS已成為21世紀新黑死病，青少年已是各年齡層中罹病率最高一群。台灣紅絲帶基金會專員金家玉表示，台灣愛滋感染激增，前年以100％的速度激增、男女比例變成7比1，毒癮感染者也增多，值得注意的是，目前超過半數感染者是15至24歲的青少年。金家玉指出，15至24歲的青少年是經濟、社會、文化傳承的基礎，若因愛滋病戕害健康，對社會經濟影響相當大。「PLACE東京」代表生島嗣說，目前日本最難掌握的罹病患者多以高二、約17歲的學生為主，「她們對自己是否感染、認識疾病的概念也很欠缺」。如何為年輕人和銀髮族建立知識橋樑，是刻不容緩的任務。改變，從學校教育著手為了解愛滋，大阪茨木市立北陵中學校特別針對愛滋進行教育，學生在中學3年全面學習愛滋議題，成為解說員。「日本神戶基地」代表繁內幸治說，透過這種方式，不但老師比較容易切入，也對受保護者較好。有些老師會製作海報與募款箱，或是撰寫詩歌、帶領孩子閱讀、欣賞感染者寫的詩歌，配合各種教學時段學習與教育接受感染者。有的學校不僅老師，就連校長都會參與，老師換校時，也會有後任教師繼續接手。目前這項計畫已進行6年，頗受好評。由於日本許多愛滋感染者都是同性戀者，因此日本神戶基地另在教育委員開設人權課。這項課程內，會針對受感染者及小學老師進行同性愛的教育，好讓老師知道如何向學生告知社會中確有同性愛的情況。此外，針對家長發現學生有同性愛的情況，教育委員會也會協助進行溝通，希望盡量讓孩子的教育權不致受到歧視對待；另外，日本神戶基地也會與姊妹市及同性戀俱樂部共同舉辦一些社會性活動，希望能夠降低社會歧視。　不過，繁內幸治坦承消除歧視很困難，目前日本中小學課程也不能教授保險套使用方式。因此日本神戶基地便利用大阪茨木市立北陵中學校培育出的「愛滋教育員」上至大學、下至小學當宣傳。繁內幸治笑著說，大學生看到中學生對愛滋議題能侃侃而談都相當訝異，因此激發了解的心；透過與市民的自發運動結合，則可擴大成人教育。許多小學生也很佩服這些中學生，畢業後也會選擇到北陵中學校就讀，成為宣傳員，達到教育不中斷的目的。生島嗣說，有些老師會請孩子邀請家中的老奶奶一起到學校縫製愛滋被單，一方面讓孩子體會長輩做針線活的辛苦，一方面讓孩子傳達愛滋被單的意義，讓長輩理解，與他人談話時有正確概念分享。

未婚女子墮胎七次，子宮都刮爛了 聯合報20070602記者施靜茹台北報導

一個是墮胎七次，再懷孕時子宮外孕；另一人是墮胎六次後，子宮潰爛，兩人都陰道出血緊急送醫。台北醫學大學附設醫院婦產部主任劉偉民說，墮胎七次的女病人，因陰道大出血，由某醫院轉來北醫，診查後發現她子宮外孕，已七、八周大的胚胎，還少見地著床在子宮頸，已有七、八周大，由於子宮頸撐不住而破裂出血。
劉偉民指出，一般子宮外孕，胚胎多著床在輸卵管，問了這廿七歲的女病人，她說曾墮胎七次，「子宮腔可能都被刮傷了，難怪胚胎著不了床」，對年輕女性不愛惜身體，他也只能搖搖頭。
另一位廿三歲未婚女子，則是血滴滴答答流了一個月，檢查發現子宮內膜肥厚，於是為她做子宮腔鏡術，刮除子宮內膜。
劉偉民說，沒想到在替女子刮子宮內膜時，「血用噴的，接了滿滿的一盆，塞紗布進去都止不住」，女子血色素急降，趕快用子宮動脈阻斷術才止血。
醫院將女子刮出來的組織送病理切片檢查，化驗出是壞死胚胎組織，研判可能是細菌從女子陰道進入子宮，讓壞死胚胎組織發炎，不但子宮潰爛，甚至一路使輸卵管發膿，造成骨盆腔發炎，還好及時就醫，否則可能引發腹膜炎。這位女子跟醫師說，曾墮胎六次，每次都找婦產科刮子宮。
劉偉民說，這兩位病人都還未婚，所以他沒有拿掉她們的子宮，但她們日後能不能再懷孕，也不敢保證。他提醒病人，從事性行為時應避孕，不要不避孕一直墮胎，甚至差一點把命也賠出去。
台安醫院預防醫學部主任兼婦產部主治醫師周輝政說，子宮擴刮術和服用ＲＵ486的流產成功率，都達九成五，但子宮擴刮術有時會因角度或子宮肌瘤的關係，沒有刮乾淨；而自行服用ＲＵ486，也會有流產不完全的風險。
周輝政提醒，做完人工流產，三到七天內陰道輕微出血算正常，但如出血量像月經來潮，最好回診做陰道超音波查明原因。
人工流產注意事項 ．法令規定懷孕廿四周以內才能人工流產 ．懷孕十二周以內可做子宮擴刮術，十二周以上建議引產 ．刮除的組織最好做病理化驗 ．一周內需回診 ．一周後若出血，需做超音波檢查，確定是否不完全流產 ．不可自行吃RU486，需由醫師指示 ．避免常人工流產。
資料來源／劉偉民醫師製表／施靜茹