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Apply to Seta’s international affairs committee

Are you interested in lgbtiq human rights issues internationally? Would you like to work with other lgbtiq activists and experts with passion towards international lgbtiq-questions? Apply to Seta’s international affairs committee!

The international affairs committee supports Seta’s board regarding international affairs. In 2017 the main responsibilities of the committee are:
– to prepare an action plan for Seta’s international work in the coming years (as required by Seta’s new organizational strategy)
– to plan a support program for the benefit of lgbtiq human rights defenders active in the Finland’s neighboring regions (particularly Russia) (as required by Seta’s program for 2017).

Members of the committee are volunteers and do not receive a payment for their work. The committee will hold few meetings and also work via e-mails. Skype-participation at the meetings is possible.

Send a short application (max. 1 A4 paper) explaining why do you want to join the committee and what kind of relevant experience and interests you have. The applications must be send latest 28 February to Secretary General Kerttu Tarjamo at paasihteeri(at)seta.fi. Remember to include contact information and also please indicate whether your name can be published if you are selected to the committee.

More information, Kerttu Tarjamo, 050 309 8108.

Finnish LGBTIQ+ rights organisations Seta and Trasek to appear at the United Nations Committee Against Torture 59th session: the treatment of trans and intersex people in Finland is cruel, inhuman and degrading

Seta and Trasek demand that the unnecessary and harmful cosmetic surgery done to intersex children is stopped immediately and that the Finnish Trans act is readily reformed to respect the right to self-determination.

The UN Committee Against Torture will review Finland and the realization of its human rights in November. A hearing with NGOs will be held in order to get a precise picture of how Finland ensures the human rights obligations set by the UN convention, where torture and other inhuman treatment is prohibited. Seta and Trasek, who delivered a report on the treatment of trans and intersex people, sends two participants to the session in Geneva November 8th. Amnesty International Finland will also appear in the hearing, and supports the demands presented by Seta and Trasek.

The alarming state of trans youth and the harsh demands of the trans act

A full reform of the trans act, a topic that has sparked intense debate in Finland for years, is one of the central demands of the NGOs, who want a trans act that is based on autonomy and self-determination.

“The current trans act in Finland doesn’t respect the most central human rights. It is simply cruel and inhuman to submit trans people to forced sterilization and years of psychiatric monitoring. To force someone into medical monitoring and have them undergo procedures in order for them to be able to change their name and have their gender legally recognized is humiliating. The trans act needs to be renewed so that it respects the right to self-determination”, says Kasper Kivistö, one of two NGO representatives in Geneva (on the left in the photo).

According to the NGOs, Finland should focus more on the alarming state that the trans youth is in.

“According to studies every second trans youth has to face physical violence, and discrimination and non-physical violence is even more common. Discrimination leads to serious consequences. More than every other trans youth has thought of self-harm and suicide”, says Panda Eriksson, who will attend the Geneva hearing with Kivistö.

“It is regrettably common that teachers, health care staff and parents try to minimize or deny a young trans person’s gender, or feel negatively about their gender identity. This needs to end. Trans youth need psychological and social support. The right to have your name and legal gender marker changed must be secured for adults and youth alike”, says Seta´s Secretary General Kerttu Tarjamo.

The unnecessary surgical treatment of intersex children needs to end

The NGOs also demand that Finland ends the so called “normalizing” surgeries on intersex children, who might not be more than babies or toddlers when they have to undergo genital surgery. Surgery is done on the outer genitalia to have the child’s body fit the ideal that dictates what a boy or a girl body should look like – even when the genitalia are completely functional.

“Intersexualism is part of the multitude found in nature and in gender. It’s not a problem that should be solved with a knife. The unnecessary operations done on children are a grave insult to their physical immunity and often result in problems such as loss of feeling in the genital area or chronic pain. These surgeries have to end immediately. Hormonal treatment, which is used to “steer” the development of gendered characteristics, has to change so that it’s only used with the informed consent and collaboration of the individual in question. A system that operates from above, dictating what a child’s gender should be and how they should experience their own body and their condition, is a human rights problem in every way”, says Terhi Viikki from Trasek.

The UN Committee Against Torture will review the Finnish situation based on reports delivered by the government and by NGOs, as well as by the hearings organized in Geneva. The committee will present the Finnish government with recommendations on the development of human rights within 1-2 months after the hearing.

For further information or interview requests:

Seta’s and Trasek’s report can be found and read: http://seta.fi/cat-2016/

The UN page that features all the documents related to the reviewing of Finland:
http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/TreatyBodyExternal/Countries.aspx?CountryCode=FIN&Lang=EN

 

Kerttu Tarjamo
p. +358 50 309 8108
paasihteeri@seta.fi

Panda Eriksson
panda@trasek.fi

Kasper Kivistö
kasper@trasek.fi

Foto: Panda Eriksson (left side) and Kasper Kivistö. Foto Sonja Siikanen.

Trans people are transgender people and non-binary people, among others. Being trans means your gender doesn’t correlate with the gender you were assigned at birth.

Intersexualism refers to a congenital condition where the anatomical or physical features of the body that are usually gendered aren’t unambiguously typically male or typically female.

Vigil and expression of solidarity with the Orlando LGBTQ community on Friday

On Sunday we were shocked and deeply sorrowed to learn about the horrific hate crime which took place at the LGBTQ  night club Pulse in Orlando, USA. This act of hate cost the lives of and injured so many members of our community. On Friday 17 June at 17:00 we will come together in memory of the victims of the attack and in solidarity with the Orlando LGBTQ community at the Karhupuisto park in Kallio, Helsinki.

A moment of silence, words of remembrance and music. Participation of Seta – LGBTI rights in Finland, HeSeta, US Embassy and Kaupungin naiset and Out ‘n Loud choirs.

The event is politically and religiously independent and open to everyone.

Organised by Seta – LGBTI Rights in Finland.

More information:

Kerttu Tarjamo
Secretary General
+358 50 309 8108
paasihteeri@seta.fi

Were you a victim of a hate crime? Tell us by April 27th!

We collect data of hate crimes for our advocacy work. Please tell us about a hate crime you, or someone you know have encountered in the year 2015. You will help improve the safety and rights of LGBTI people.

OSCE, the Organization of Security and Co-operation in Europe, has asked NGOs to report hate crime incidents. Seta is also going to use anonymous information of the incidents in its advocacy work. Please send your information by April 27th to toimisto[at]seta.fi.

Enclose the following information:

  • What happened?
  • Date, time and location of the incident
  • Source of information (you, your friend, read from a newspaper…)
  • Victim(s) involved (no names, only gender, age and other relevant information: if the incident is homophobic or transphobic, the victims sexual orientation or gender identity might be relevant)
  • Type of the crime (e.g. assault, abuse, vandalism, incitement to racial or ethnic hatred)
  • Perpetrator(s) (no name, only gender, age and other relevant information)
  • Brief description of incident with bias indicators, i.e. why the incident is a hate crime (e.g. the perpetrator yelled homophopic or racist insults, the crime was against a LGBTI organization…)
  • Status of the case, i.e. has the incident been reported to the police and what has happened since (has preliminary investigation been carried out, have charges been filed, is there a court rule)
  • Response of the local authorities
  • Impact on the victim(s) and the community (e.g. LGBTI community or peer group)

> Read more about OSCE hate crime reporting http://hatecrime.osce.org/

EuroGames 2016 brings international LGBT-athletes to Helsinki

The EuroGames 2016 event in Helsinki and it’s neighbouring cities of Vantaa and Espoo will be held from 29th of June to 2nd of July 2016. The organizing sport club is HOT Helsinki.

HOT Helsinki welcomes all European sport clubs and individual sportsmen and women to participate in the northern most EuroGames so far. We offer you the most professional sport events as well as interesting and memorable cultural and human rights events during the games.

There will be at least 14 different sports in Helsinki EuroGames 2016: badminton, basketball, bowling, bridge, dancing, floorball, football, golf, squash, swimming, tennis, track and field & cross-country running and volleyball. Non-competitive sporting events are as well offered, for example yoga. We are expecting all together 3 000 participants and 2 000 other visitors from all over the world to arrive in Helsinki. Being the neighbouring country and having good transport connections to Russia and the Baltic countries we expect many participants from there.

More information  eurogameshelsinki.org

Also EuroGamesHelsinki is in  Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Youtube