Tanyanika Samuels
From Despair to Dignity: Supporting Migrant and Refugee Sex Workers in Uganda
On the streets skirting refugee camps across Uganda, sex workers eke out a living on the margins of legality; their very profession and immigration status marking them for harassment, arrest, and detention. Within this community, lesbian, bisexual and queer women have become particularly vulnerable after Uganda’s recent passage of the Anti-Homosexuality Act, a draconian law that criminalizes homosexuality, making some offences …
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AJWS Statement: Congress Must Reject Trump’s Latest Attack on Foreign Assistance
American Jewish World Service (AJWS) strongly urges members of the U.S. Congress to reject the Trump Administration’s second rescission package, which includes $4.9 billion in foreign assistance cuts across multiple fiscal years. This is another brazen attempt to weaken the role, power and oversight of Congress. And it further diminishes the United States’ reputation on …
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Against All Odds: The Legal Warriors Defending Uganda’s LGBTQI+ Community
Since the passage of the Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Act (AHA) in 2023, the ability of LGBTQI+ people to live freely, openly and safely has been shattered. The draconian law criminalizes consensual same-sex relationships, punishing certain offences with life in prison and even the death penalty. After a similar law was repealed over a decade ago, this …
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American Jewish World Service Condemns Drastic Changes to the Human Rights Reports and Calls on Congress to Safeguard Global Human Rights
American Jewish World Service (AJWS) strongly condemns the U.S. State Department for drastically limiting their reporting on human rights abuses documented in the annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices and calls on Congress to act to safeguard global human rights. Expected reductions in the content of these reports narrowly define who is entitled to …
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“Somos Pájaras”: Radical Joy and Belonging in the Dominican Republic
In the Dominican Republic, “las pájaras” is a pejorative slang for women attracted to other women. However, in the heart of Santo Domingo, the queer young women of Junte Pajaril are reclaiming it. “When someone asks me, ‘what are you?’ I don’t say ‘lesbian’ or ‘bisexual.’ I say ‘I’m a pájara,’” says Ferdelis Fabián, one …
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More Than a Promise: COLESDOM’s Fight for Intersex Rights
The first time someone from Comunidad de Liderazgos y Espacios Inclusivos Dominicana (COLESDOM) knocked on her door, Grabiela was suspicious. The representative explained that COLESDOM was a nonprofit organization that supports LGBTQI+ people and that they were there to help. But she’d heard those promises before — promises that no one had kept. Grabiela lives …
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AJWS Condemns Trump Administration Travel Ban
Senseless executive order will destabilize countries in conflict, says leading Jewish human rights organization NEW YORK, NY – American Jewish World Service (AJWS) strongly condemns President Trump’s Executive Order banning travel from 12 countries, including several in which AJWS supports grassroots human rights organizations. This senseless and inhumane action fails at its ostensible objective of …
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