erotics

The Asia Pacific Internet Governance Forum just completed in July 2019 and it took place in Russia. There were very few sessions that dealt with either gender or human rights and none that addressed sexuality. At one session there were discussions on the ICT related-laws and particularly on the broad and unclear provisions that deal with online censorship.

What is the extraordinary power of storytelling and art when it comes to the liberation of personhood and sexuality. Here we explore the domino effect of telling our stories and hearing others.

In Eastern Europe there is a spread of anti-gender discourse and in this context the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex (LGBTI) people is precarious. This article explores the protection for free speech, religion and for LGBTI rights in Poland. 

Between right-wing governments and corporate capture of online spaces, there are interesting shifts in how sexuality is censored and governed online and offline. This article looks at the reach and over-reach of laws related to obscenity and censorship in South Asia and the impact that has had on free speech around sex, sex work and sexuality.

What does it mean to rise to the surface of people's attention briefly because of violence done to your body, harassment, dispossession and precarity, only to be replaced the next day by the next trending hashtag? This article explores the limits of straight discourse online and the convenient elision of queer accounts and issues.

The Tumblr porn ban reveals how laws in one country against sex trafficking can be used to police content online, and especially has an impact on queer, trans and other sexuality related content. Here Tiffany Mugo talks about what that does to the discourse around sex positivity online.

The second in a series on queerness and privacy, this article explores the relevance of what is legally understood as privacy in the lives of queer people and communities living in the "global South". In this article, the contradictions between online dating for queer and gay people and the precarity of their daily lives is explored.

The clampdown on gays and non-heteronormative people in Tanzania has been in the news and while it seems like it is the agenda of certain groups and people in the government, it is essential to examine what are the privacy, data and censorship implications of targeting LGBTQIA+ people online.

How to start a sex-positive conversation around queerness, sensuality and sexuality, gender expression, and even violence? HOLAAfrica is one platform that shows us how to do it. From pleasure manuals to podcasts to articles, the platform raises and discusses several sensitive issues and concerns relevant to African women, gender non-conforming persons and sexual minorities.

Srinidhi Raghavan, coordinator of the EROTICS Regional Survey 2020, shares her learnings from cross-country feminist research on internet and sexuality in South Asia. In this first part, the researcher reflects around identity, community agency and language.