Switzerland (Pahichan) June 21 – Twenty three trans and gender diverse activists and scholars from 19 countries gathered in Geneva, Switzerland, for Trans Advocacy Week with an objective to advocate on trans and gender diverse rights at United Nations.

In this week, there was a side event in 38^th session of Human Rights which was a panel on mainstreaming gender identity and expression in feminist and gender equality work where UN state delegates and organizations from various part of the world attended.

On the panel was Vaito’a Toelupe (Samoa) Rukshana Kapali (Nepal) Islem Mejri (Tunisia) Eszter Kismodi (Switzerland) along moderator: Joshua Seehole (South Africa).

Vaito’a Toelupe, a proud fa’afafine from the villages of Malie and Vailele and is a passionate activist in the Asia Pacific region, is the Technical Advisor to the Samoa Fa’afafine Association (SFA) which is mandated function is to progress the Health and Wellbeing, Political and Legislative, Economic and Social Development as well as Human Rights of all sexual and gender minorities in Samoa. Rukshana Kapali is a 19 year old indigenous transgender woman who is vocal about LGBTI issues, indigenous rights and social activism.

She works as a journalist at the LGBTI advocacy organization Blue Diamond Society that involves producing radio program and managing our online portal, and posting news about LGBTI working closely with numerous other rights organizations in Nepal as well, from feminist groups to environmental activists.

Based in Tunisia, Islèm Mejri is an LGBTQI+ activist. They have been advocating for LGBTQI+ rights on the national as well as the international level. They’re the Advocacy and Communications officer for the LGBTQI+ organisation, Mawjoudin (We Exist).

She has been working on trans issues and with trans activists over the past decade globally, locally and within the UN. She is the Board member of GATE and close collaborator with Asia Pacfic Transgender Network.

For the past 20 years her work has focused on developing ways in which human rights can be integrated into legal and policy development, advocacy, programming and research in relation to gender diversity, sexuality, sexual and reproductive health and rights.

Feminist movements have been in existence for over a century, and women’s rights have advanced in national and UN spaces, including in various resolutions and the establishment of agencies working specifically on the rights of women and girls.

However feminist movements have not always been inclusive of trans movements and identities, and in some cases can be openly hostile, especially to people with trans feminine identities and expressions. Partly as a result of this, trans movements and feminist movements have not always worked together on shared objectives.

This panel discussed how, in the 21st century, transgender rights can and should be a central part of gender equality and gender rights work, and how the concept of gender can broaden to be more inclusive of diverse identities, linguistic and cultural differences and terminologies. The panel also reflected on the reasons behind framing gender and gender equality as only pertaining to “women and girls” both in feminism and the international human rights framework, especially the impact colonialism.

The panel looked at responsibilities that various stakeholders have in creating inclusive approaches, spaces and policies, including feminist and trans activists and organizations, generalist human rights organisations, UN agencies and governments.

The speakers discussed the importance of broadening the scope and understanding of what gender is, including problematizing the gender binary that our systems are built on. They also touched upon the importance of intersectionality and working across movements and agendas.