In a landmark verdict handed down last Monday, an Egyptian doctor was convicted of the manslaughter of 13-year-old Suhair al-Bataa, who died during an illegal female genital mutilation (FGM) procedure. Dr. Raslan Fadl was initially acquitted in November 2014, triggering a wave of anger among activists and women’s rights advocates. The new verdict provides a […]

ABSTRACT The United States has undergone a dramatic shift in the legal recognition of same-sex marriage, yet the majority of school sex education programs continue to focus almost exclusively on heterosexual relationships and marriage. These programs do not portray same-sex couples in vignettes and hypothetical dilemmas or discuss variations in sexual orientation and gender identity. […]

ABSTRACT Egyptian and Sudanese legal systems and societies have long led to discrimination and violence against homosexuals. Through a series of anecdotes, this article explores the daily struggles faced by individuals in these conservative and largely Muslim societies. We look for the sources of the discrimination and violence they confront, and we acknowledge that much […]

My documentary-style practice of portraiture investigates the photographic virtues of observation and collaboration. I aim to make pictures that add up to a world populated by isolated people who inexplicably still try and reach out and connect to others. I point to this tension in pictures through segregating and organizing subjects within a photographic frame. […]

Tony Elumelu, CON is a Nigerian Entrepreneur, with over twenty years experience in the Banking and Investment sector in Africa. In the course of his career, Elumelu says he has met hundreds of entrepreneurs who carry in them the hope of Africa’s future. “Many of them young people with incredible dreams and business ideas but […]

BY TOBIAS PETER In the developed world, parents have come to expect that living standards will rise for their children. A recent poll, however, reveals disturbingly low percentages of people living in developed countries who believe this will be true for millennials, the generation born between the early 1980s and early 2000s.  Especially striking is […]

Today activists at the Harvard Kennedy School held a powerful vigil for the tragic and unnecessary deaths of Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Trayvon Martin, and many of the other young black men who have lost their lives due to systemic injustices and racism that plague our society. This vigil took place in the Kennedy School […]

Developing countries need a democratization of development aid. Not the democratization of giving that Bill Clinton or Jeffery Sachs called for, but a democratization that is realized through a real and balanced collaboration between international aid disbursing organizations, local organizations and local communities that receive aid; a collaboration that moves receiving organizations, communities, and countries […]

Introduction Using interviews with sexual minorities as well as discussions with community organizers and leaders, this article reports on human rights issues faced by sexual minorities in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania in key areas, including discrimination, harassment, physical safety, family relationships, access to health and education, and protection by authorities. Sexual minorities in Dar es […]

Abstract Starting in late 2011, “LGBT rights” became a prominent and contentious part of the international development agenda. While most of the resulting attention has been directed to questions of aid conditionality, this essay instead aims to preliminarily map the range of policies set out by twelve of the largest development agencies on “LGBT” or […]

The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University hosted a talk by Harvard Kennedy School Professor Tarek Masoud on Monday, November 9. The lecture, entitled “When God Speaks, Does Anyone Listen?” was based on a study Dr. Masoud conducted on one of his recent trips to Egypt. Dr. Masoud began the presentation by […]

BY TAYLOR WOODS It has been a love-fest on the campaign trail this year. During weekends in October and the days leading up to Election Day, I’ve been a volunteer canvasser knocking on doors for Mike Michaud’s run for governor of Maine, US Senator Jeanne Shaheen’s reelection campaign in New Hampshire, and Wendy Davis’s run […]