Translated by Angela Tagliafierro
2023 has been, with no doubts, a year characterized by humanitarian crisis and situation of difficulties in many contexts and globally. However, through this article, I will try to list some victories gained in the field of human rights in the years just ended.
Spain: a new law protects LGBTQI people
On February 16th, 2023, the Spanish Parliament approved a complete law which expands the protections and strengthens the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersexual people. The law is known as “Trans law” since its instructions accept the gender identity based on the only self-identification. Before this, the process for trans people to change their sex registered in their ID asked for a medical examination certifying the gender dysphoria and two years of medical therapy. On the contrary, the new law cancels these steps, giving much more importance to the self-identification of a person. This law aims to fight discriminations towards LGBTQI people in fields like the health and the job place, other than moving the first steps to a wider access to the technical of assisted reproduction and a larger sexual education.
Ghana: the Parliament voted for removing the death penalty
On July 25th, 2023, the Ghana Parliament reached a historical decision, voting to legally abolish the death penalty. At the moment of the choice, 176 prisoners were in the death row. According to the Death Penalty Project, Ghana is the 29th country in Africa and the 124th all over the world to abandon this procedure. The last execution registered in the country dates to 1993 and, for this reason, it was being considered for a long time as an abolitionist country, despite verdicts implying this execution were still being promulgated. The death penalty, as a weapon of colonial repression, found free rein in Africa when it started being abolished in Europe. For many years several African countries, like Zambia, Equatorial Guinea and Centro-African Republic, started to get far from this procedure.
Mexico: the Supreme Court ordered the decriminalisation of abortion at a federal level
On September 06th, 2023, the Supreme Court defined 5 articles of the Federal Penal Law which criminalized abortion at all. This way, it declared the federal laws which banned the abortion unconstitutional and violating human rights. However, abortion is still illegal in 20 Mexican states out of 32. In these states, the verdict has no direct effect: for this reason, the public federal Health System will be charged for guaranteeing the access to a safe abortion procedure. Mexican has been the last case of legalization of abortion in Latin America. As a matter of fact, since 2020 Argentina, Colombia, Uruguay, and Guyana have mobilised to make abortion legal.
USA: Biden announced the first Office of Gun Violence Prevention
In an America where mass shootings are on the agenda, the Biden Administration tried, from the very beginning, to intervene on weapon control. On September 22nd, the President Joe Biden announced the creation of an office which will count on the Vice president Kamala Harris as its supervisor and will be led by Stefanie Feldman, already his counsellor on the themes related to guns. The news arrived as a reply to the pressure of the groups against guns violence, who have been asking for much more coordination to contrast the diffusion and the usage of guns in the country for years. “We know that true freedom is not possible if people don’t feel safe”, said Kamala Harris during the announcement.
Argentina: the Congress approved the Olimpia Law
On October 23rd, the Government promulgated a law introducing the digital violence as a form of gender-based violence. It includes the respect of the dignity, reputation and identity, even in the digital environments. Furthermore, the law also includes several precautionary measures of protection that justice can use, such as to impose to the digital operating systems the cancellation of such content. This law has been named after the Mexican activist Olimpia Coral Melo, a victim of the diffusion of intimate pictures, who converted into an icon of the fight against the digital violence in Latin America.
Italy: the law on oncologic oblivion is approved
On December 05th, 2023, Italy votes for the oncological oblivion. The law, previously approved by the Chamber of Deputies, is approved by the Senate as well, with 139 votes positive; no one was contrary, and nobody abstained. In Italy, it is common to ask for information about the previous health conditions of ex oncological patient: many banks denied mortgages or tried to make insurance premiums higher, creating a situation of disease for the applicant. For this reason, the right to be forgotten allows people recovered from a tumour to choose not to give information about their previous disease. This possibility lets them close a chapter of their life. Italy is among the first countries in Europe to adopt a law on oncological oblivion. The Netherlands, France, Portugal, and Luxembourg came first.
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L'Autore
Chiara Giovannoni
Chiara Giovannoni, classe 2000, è laureata in Scienze Internazionali e Diplomatiche all’Università di Bologna. Attualmente frequenta il corso di laurea magistrale in Strategie Culturali per la Cooperazione e lo sviluppo presso l’Università Roma3.
Interessata alle relazioni internazionali, in particolare alla dimensione dei diritti umani e alla cooperazione.
E’ volontaria presso un’organizzazione no profit che si occupa dei diritti dei minori in varie aree del mondo.
In Mondo Internazionale ricopre la carica di autrice per l’area tematica Diritti Umani.
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Death penalty self-identification decriminalization of abortion prevenction oncological oblivion