The Sexual Rights Initiative is a coalition of national and regional organizations based in Canada, India, Egypt, Argentina that work together to advance human rights related to sexuality at the United Nations.

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UPR 50 in review

Everything You Need to Know About UPR 50 

The 50th session of the Universal Periodic Review was held from 3 to 14 November 2025. 13 countries were reviewed during the session: Belarus, Malawi, Panama, Andorra, Honduras, Liberia, Mongolia, Maldives, Bulgaria, the Marshall Islands, Jamaica, Croatia and Libya.  

In collaboration with our partners, the SRI submitted reports for Malawi and the United States of America.

The United States of America was meant to be reviewed during this session, but opted out as an extension of its withdrawal from the Human Rights Council and its mechanisms.

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Latest News & Resources

HRC Statements
HRC 62: SRI Statement to the Interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of expression
Akahata makes this statement on behalf of SWAN and the Sexual Rights Initiative.  We welcome the Special Rapporteur’s report emphasizing the trend to weaponize freedom of expression against marginalized groups.  Across the CEECA region, governments are increasingly restricting expression through vague provisions on child protection, public morality, traditional values, and extremism, which disproportionately affects excluded and stigmatized communities, including sex workers, women, and LGBT persons. 
HRC 62: SRI Statement to the Interactive dialogue to the panel discussion on the intensification of efforts to empower women and girls in and through sport
Action Canada delivers this statement on behalf of the Sexual Rights Initiative.  Sports play an important role in the lives of women and girls in all their diversity. It can foster confidence, leadership, health, participation, and a sense of belonging. However, to truly empower women and girls through sports, we must ensure that sporting spaces are accessible, inclusive, and safe for everyone. This includes transgender and gender-diverse people. Empowerment cannot be achieved through exclusion. 
HRC 62: SRI Statement to the Interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls
Akahata makes this statement on behalf of the Sexual Rights Initiative.   We receive with deep concern this report from the Special Rapporteur.   The report establishes three criteria for recognizing women as mothers in her report. None of them acknowledges the motherhood of the lesbian and bisexual women who were not pregnant with their own children but who form co-maternal families in which their lesbian or bisexual partners were pregnant. This is different from being an adoptive mother.  
HRC 62: SRI Statement to the Interactive dialogue with the Working Group on discrimination against women and girls
Action Canada makes this statement together with SWAN on behalf of the Sexual Rights Initiative.  We welcome the report’s recognition that digital technologies and AI increasingly reinforce existing inequalities and expose women and girls to new forms of violence, surveillance, and exclusion from public life.  Across the CEECA region, women continue to face discrimination that undermines their bodily autonomy, safety, and equal participation in society, which disproportionately affects sex workers, LGBT women, and other vulnerable groups. 
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Who we are

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Sexual Rights

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UN Mechanisms

 

Training

Do you want to learn more about our work in the UN human rights system or collaborate with us? Find out about training opportunities and webinars here!

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Our Databases

The SRI has developed several databases to assist advocates, policy-makers, UN agencies, and diplomats in their sexual and reproductive health and rights advocacy at national and international levels.

Find our databases and tools