The Parliament of Finland is going to vote about the Citizen’s Initiative for Equal Marriage Law on Friday November 28. Come to a public demonstration of love and show the MP’s what you want! We will gather at Kansalaistori Square (right between Musiikkitalo and Kiasma) at 12:00.
The demonstration is arranged by Seta – LGBTI Rights in Finland, Rainbow Families, HeSeta, Trasek, The Student Union of the University of Helsinki and Tahdon2013 Initiative.
On February 28, 2014, the United Nations’ Committee for Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) gave powerful recommendations to Finland related to the human rights of lgbti people in its concluding observations of Finland’s seventh periodic report on the implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.
Most notably, the Committee is “concerned about the obligation on transgender persons to prove infertility or undergo sterilisation for the legal recognition of their gender under the 2002 Law on Legal Recognition of the Gender of Transsexuals” and recommends Finland to “expeditiously amend the Law on Legal Recognition of the Gender of Transsexuals to ensure that gender recognition is carried out without requiring transgender persons to conform to stereotypical ideas of masculine or feminine appearance or behaviour and that it does not require individuals to consent to sterilization”.
The Committee also welcomes the proposed amendment to the Act on Equality between Women and Men which expands the definition of sex and gender-based discrimination to include discrimination based on gender identity and gender expression. The Committee notes with concern, however, that the Gender Equality Act and the Non-Discrimination Act do not currently provide adequate protection to women against multiple or intersecting forms of discrimination.
In addition, the Committee recommends to Finland to “open rape crisis centres, walk-in centres and 24-hour, free of charge, helplines that provide protection and assistance to all women victims of violence, including migrant women, women with disabilities and women belonging to sexual minorities”.
These and all of the rest of the recommendations given to Finland by the Committee can be found online in English via the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs webpage http://formin.finland.fi/public/default.aspx?contentid=299595&contentlan=1&culture=fi-FI (scroll down to the link “Päätelmät englanniksi”). Later on they will also be available on the webpage of the 57th session of CEDAW http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cedaw/cedaws57.htm. Finland will translate and distribute the recommendations in Finnish later in March.
Several civil society organizations such as Seta, Amnesty International, Coalition of Finnish Women’s Associations (NYTKIS) and the Human Rights Centre (the National Human Rights Institution of Finland) provided the Committee in advance with submissions raising some or all of the above mentioned issues related to the human rights of lgbti people.
The government of Finland will give its next periodic report in 2018 but regarding recommendations related to violence against women, the government will give a report already in 2016.
Jouduitko viime vuonna rikoksen kohteeksi seksuaalisen suuntautumisesi, sukupuoli-identiteettisi tai sukupuolen ilmaisusi vuoksi? Tai tiedätkö jonkun muun, joka joutui? Kerro tapauksesta Setalle 30.3.2014 mennessä, niin Seta kertoo sen edelleen ETY-järjestölle.
Were you a victim of a crime last year because of your sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression? Or do you know someone else who was? Please tell Seta about the case at latest on March 16th so we can report it to the OSCE. (in English below)
ETYj (Euroopan turvallisuus- ja yhteistyöjärjestö) julkaisee vuosittain tietoja jäsenmaissa tapahtuneista viharikoksista. Uhrin seksuaaliseen suuntautumiseen, sukupuolen ilmaisuun tai sukupuoli-identiteettiin liittyneet tapaukset ovat yksi tapausryhmä, josta ETYj raportoi. Setan kansainvälinen kattojärjestö ILGA-Eurooppa koostaa ETYjiä varten raportin seksuaali- ja sukupuolivähemmistöjen eri maissa kokemista viharikoksista. Seta toimittaa ILGA-Euroopalle tietoja Suomen osalta.
Näin voit auttaa: jos tiedossasi on Suomessa kalenterivuoden 2013 aikana tapahtunut seksuaaliseen suuntautumiseen, sukupuoli-identiteettiin tai sukupuolen ilmaisuun kohdistunut viharikos, ilmoita siitä Setan pääsihteerille sähköpostitse os. paasihteeri[at]seta.fi viimeistään perjantaina 30.3. Laita mukaan vastaukset allaoleviin kysymyksiin niiltä osin kuin pystyt. Laita mukaan myös omat yhteystietosi. Itse tapausselostukseen ei kuitenkaan tarvitse laittaa henkilöiden nimiä. Setan työtä helpottaa, jos voit lähettää viestisi englanninkielisenä (koska tekstit on joka tapauksessa käännettävä ILGA-Eurooppaa ja ETYjiä varten), mutta voit kirjoittaa myös suomeksi tai ruotsiksi.
Setalle ilmoitetut tapaukset raportoidaan Setan harkinnan mukaan edelleen ILGA-Euroopalle ja ETY-järjestölle, ja ne saattavat päätyä ETYjin viralliseen viharikosraporttiin, joka julkaistaan syksyllä.
Kun kerrot meille tapauksesta, vastaa näihin kysymyksiin:
Suuri kiitos avustasi!
IN ENGLISH:
Were you a victim of a crime last year because of your sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression? Or do you know someone else who was? Tell Seta about the case at latest on March 30th!
OSCE (Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe) publishes annually a report on hate crimes and hate-based incidents within OSCE participating states. Cases linked with the sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression of the victim are one category of incidents that OSCE reports on. Seta’s European umbrella organisation ILGA-Europe gathers a report for OSCE on hate crimes experienced by LGBT people in different countries. Seta reports information to ILGA-Europe concerning Finland.
You can help us like this: if you know a hate crime that took place in 2013 (the calendar year) and was related to sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression, please email the secretary general of Seta about it to paasihteeri[at]seta.fi at latest by March 30th by answering the questions below. Please include your contact information. The incident report does not need to include names of persons, though. It makes our work easier if you can write in English (as the texts will have to be translated for ILGA-Europe and OSCE in any case), but you can write also in Finnish or in Swedish.
Cases reported to Seta will be reported to ILGA-Europe and OSCE based on Seta’s evaluation of the information, and they may end up to OSCE’s official report on hate crimes which will be published in the Autumn. Send your message to paasihteeri[at]seta.fi.
When reporting a case to us, please answer the following questions:
Big thanks for your help!
I Wish I Could Tell tells the story of nine Finnish LGBTI seniors who ponder upon their childhood, youth and aging. Bengt, Sinikka, Umma, Jaana and Leena, Eveliina, Risto, Thea and Gitta share also their thoughts and expectations about elderly care.
The video was produced by the Equal aging project of the Finnish LGBTI NGO Seta. The video is meant for use as educational material especially for social and health care professionals and service providers within elderly care.
Dvd inquiries can be addressed to project coordinator Salla-Maija Hakola, salla.maija-hakola[at]seta.fi.
I Wish I Could Tell, LGBT people’s views on aging and elderly care
Format: dvd and Youtube
Copyright: Seta. Non-commercial use only.
Publication date: January 24th, 2014
Duration: 20 minutes
Subtitles: English, Swedish, Finnish
Producer: Martu Väisänen
Camera work and editing: Ville Pohjonen
Shorter clips of individual stories:
Bengt
Sinikka
Umma
Leena ja Jaana
Eveliina
Risto
Thea ja Gitta
Equal Aging is a three-year project, coordinated by Seta – LGBTI Rights in Finland in co-operation with two of its member organisations, Fin-Bears and Mummolaakso. The project is funded by Finland´s Slot Machine Association (RAY).
If so, we are welcoming your application via email: Sundell.sara@gmail.com. There will be a series of questions on the web page of Seta, and we would like the applicants to answer these questions when applying via email.
The vice chairman and four board members (3 members and 1 vice member) will be elected for the next two years in the Representatives’ Assembly on 30/11-1/12/2013. Members will be selected by the Representatives from the nominees proposed on the spot. However, pre-entrance is recommended – that way you will get your application among the official Representatives’ Assembly documents sent to the member organisations prior to the Assembly.
In order to enable the democratic decision-making and transparency, it is very important that there will be more nominees than available positions. It is also crucial to have board members who represent a variety of genders and have diverse backgrounds and regional points of view. The working language of the board is Finnish.
A good board member is committed and has an interest and urge to promote the welfare of sexual and gender minorities. Ideally, the member would be experienced in any area associated with Seta.
Questions to the applicants:
EHDOLLA SETAN VARAPUHEENJOHTAJAKSI TAI HALLITUKSEN JÄSENEKSI 2013
Nimi:
Puhelin:
Sähköposti:
Asuinpaikka:
Ikä:
Yhteystiedot annetaan jäsenjärjestöille sitä varten, että ne voivat halutessaan ottaa yhteyttä ehdokkaisiin ja kysyä näiden kannoista ennen edustajakokousta. Jos haluat, ettei jotain yhteystietoasi anneta lainkaan eteenpäin, merkitse sen kohdalle “salainen”. Anna kuitenkin yhteystietosi Setaa varten.
Sukupuoli (nainen/mies/muu):
1. Oletko jonkin Setan jäsenjärjestön jäsen? Minkä? Mistä vuodesta alkaen?
1.2 Miksi liityit jäseneksi tai miksi et ole jäsen?
2. Oletko toiminut jonkin Setan jäsenjärjestön aktiivina, hallituksen jäsenenä tms.?
3. Mikä on mielestäsi Setan hallituksen jäsenen tehtävä?
4. Miksi juuri sinä olisit hyvä varapuheenjohtaja tai jäsen Setan hallitukseen?
5. Mitkä ovat mielestäsi Setan tärkeimmät tehtävät nyky-yhteiskunnassa sekä tulevaisuudessa? (mainitse kummastakin korkeintaan viisi asiaa)
6. Mihin järjestöllisiin asioihin haluaisit eniten vaikuttaa Setassa?
7. Miten aiot vaikuttaa näihin asioihin, jos sinut valitaan Setan hallitukseen?
8. Jos pyrit varapuheenjohtajaksi: mikä on mielestäsi varapuheenjohtajan tehtävä ja rooli Setassa?
9. Kerro vapaamuotoisesti toiminnastasi hlbti-asioiden parissa ja/tai muussa ihmisoikeustyössä.
10. Setan hallituksessa on hyötyä monenlaisesta osaamisesta. Vaikuttamistyön taitajia tarvitaan eri aloilta. Onko sinulla jotain ominaisuuksia/taitoja/taustaa/kiinnostuksen kohteita tms., joista ajattelisit olevan hyötyä hallituksen jäsenen/varapuheenjohtajan tehtävän hoitamisessa ja joista haluaisit mainita?
