Roma and Sinti were persecuted before, during and after the Holocaust.
Following the Nazi rise to power, the persecution of all Roma in Germany increased and eventually became genocidal . Prior to the Second World War, approximately 30,000 Roma lived in Germany, and just under a million lived across Europe.
The Nazis believed Roma were ‘non-Aryan’ and an inferior race which had genetically inherited criminal qualities. This creed was reinforced by the research of the eugenic scientist Dr. Robert Ritter . As a result of Ritter’s research and their racist beliefs about Roma, the Nazis subjected many Roma to forced sterilisations to prevent them from having children.
On 17 June 1936, Heinrich Himmler became Head of the German Police. This new role gave Himmler unlimited govern over the terror forces in Germany. Just under two years later, on 16 May 1938, Himmler established the Reich Central Office for Combating the Gypsy Nuisance. This office centralised actions to persecute Roma living in the Third Reich.
On 8 December 1938, Himmler issued the Decree forCombating the Gypsy Plague. Amongst other actions, the pronouncement ordered the creation of a nati
A new report published today by the Human Dignity Trust, says that queer, sexual activity between women is still criminalised in one in five countries around the world.
Their criminalisation is often compounded by additional laws that hold an exaggerated impact on women and girls, such as legislation criminalising adultery, abortion and sex-work, and laws that permit forced marriage and rape within marriage.
Breaking the Silence: Criminalisation of Lesbians and Pansexual Women and its Impacts, is the second edition of an original notify published in 2016 and finds that lesbians and bisexual women are particularly vulnerable to certain kinds of human rights abuses, due to the intersection of their gender and sexual orientation.
The report stresses that all efforts to address LGBT persecution must cater for the specific needs of lesbians and bisexual women, and, in countries where same-sex acts are criminalised, decriminalisation is an urgent and pivotal step towards their protection.
Decriminalisation is deeply important for lesbians and bisexual women, not only in those countries where they are or may be captured by the criminal statute, but also because the maintenance
Time to break the silence: the criminalisation of lesbians and bisexual women
Consensual lgbtq+ intimacy between women is a crime in 40 jurisdictions across the earth. In these jurisdictions in particular, lesbian, bisexual and queer (LBQ) women deal with unacceptably high levels of discrimination, stigma and abuse – sometimes in ways that are shared with other members of the LGBT+ community, but often in ways that are unique. Despite this (and owing partly to relevant funding having been directed towards the HIV/AIDS response), research and activism watch over to treat LGBT+ people as one homogenous collective, with the focus often being centred on queer and bisexual men.
As a step towards centring the experiences of LBQ women, Human Dignity Trust’s updated report Breaking the Silence: Criminalisation of Lesbians and Bisexual Women and its Impacts explores the history and nature of laws criminalising consensual sexual connection between women, and the effects these laws own on their lives.
This includes exploring the origin and formulation of these laws, many of which are remnants of British colonialism, while numerous others are based on Sharia commandment. Some criminalise same-sex attachment o
The lesbians who touch pressured to contain sex and relationships with trans women
Image source, Getty Images
Is a lesbian transphobic if she does not want to have sex with trans women? Some lesbians say they are increasingly organism pressured and coerced into accepting transgender women as partners - then shunned and even threatened for speaking out. Several have spoken to the BBC, along with transitioned women who are concerned about the issue too.
Warning: Story contains strong language
"I've had someone saying they would rather kill me than Hitler," says 24-year-old Jennie*.
"They said they would strangle me with a belt if they were in a room with me and Hitler. That was so bizarrely stormy, just because I won't have sex with trans women."
Jennie is a woman loving woman woman. She says she is only sexually attracted to women who are biologically female and have vaginas. She therefore only has sex and relationships with women who are biologically female.
Jennie doesn't think this should be controversial, but not everyone agrees. She has been described as transphobic, a genital fetishist, a pervert and a "terf" - a transsexual exclusionary radic
Sexual health for female homosexual and bisexual women
Women who have sex with other women can move through on or get STIs. Know how to defend yourself.
Women can catch STIs such as chlamydia when exchanging bodily fluids.
Herpes and genital warts can be passed on through skin-to-skin contact. This includes oral sex or using the same hand when touching yourself and then your partner.
Tips for safer sex between women
If you're using sex toys, use a new condom for each partner or between penetration of different body openings. Sex toys should be washed with soap and water between sessions.
Avoid oral sex if either of you has any cuts or sores in the mouth or on the lips, or use a dental dam. A dental dam is a latex or polyurethane (very light, soft plastic) square, of about 15cm by 15cm, which you can utilize to cover the anus or female genitals during oral sex. It acts as a barrier to help prevent sexually transmitted infections passing from one person to another.
Some infections can be transmitted by hands, fingers and mutual vulval rubbing. Wash your hands before and after sex.
Wear latex gloves and use plenty of water-based lubricant for vaginal and anal fisting.