Gender and Sexuality related Research Projects by ALF

This has been an area of interest in ALF since the very inception. While gender analysis forms a  strong part of  our practise, we have not done much research in the area. The one research project with a focus on gender which we have completed is one titled ‘Alternative dispute resolution in the context of gender’

We have been a part of both documenting the human rights violations against sexuality minorities as well as trying to conceptualize the  nature of  the struggles around sexuality  and well as understanding  the modes of social regulation of sexuality through discourses such as  law and medicine.

We started our work in this area by being a part of a PUCL  Fact Finding Team looking at the ‘Human rights violations against sexuality minorities in Bangalore.’ This Report was one of the first in the Indian context to place the violence suffered by sexuality minorities within a human rights framework.

We have followed up this Report by being a part of another PUCL Team which looked at ‘Human rights violations against the transgender community in Bangalore’ This Report has also been published. Learning from the first Report we  consciously attempted in this Report to complement the factual narratives of violence with a conceptual inquiry into the causes of violence. We also have put in bail applications, draft complaint letters etc so that the Report serves an immediate purpose in the hijra community. The Report is now in the process of being translated into Kannada.

Since the emergence of queer rights struggles in the Indian context  there has not been much in the nature of writing particularly looking at the role that law plays. In this context we have  finished a legal monograph on “Queer rights in the Indian Context’ Which has been submitted to Books For Change and is now awaiting publication.

We have also finished a short research with Vinay Chandran from Swabhava which looks at the medicalization of homosexuality in the Indian context. The paper is titled ‘ Its not my business to tell you its okay to be gay; A queer critique’ This is presently on file with the ALF.

We are presently engaged in trying to put together a series of writings on sexuality as politics particularly from the queer perspective.