T

he politics of disgust. The clitoral complex. The science of sensitivity. Have you ever even heard of these terms? I never had, before attending the Asia-Pacific Conference on Reproductive and Sexual Health and Rights (APCRSHR) that is.  

The APCRSHR describes itself as being “a civil society-led regional forum for inclusive, participatory dialogue toward rights-based and optimal sexual and reproductive health and well-being for all.” Bang on!

This year, it was held in Vietnam from Nov. 27 to 30, in Halong Bay, designated a world heritage site by UNESCO.  

I did the bay cruise on my first day before the official conference started. Looking at some of the almost 2,000 limestone karst monolithic isles topped with lush green vegetation, jutting out from the green waters, and the amazing stalactite caves, I was awestruck. Was I on earth or in Avatar land?   

The venue of the conference was at the majestic Quang Ninh Exhibition of Planning and Expo Center, overlooking the bay. The building consists of two structures, one shaped like a species of pearl-making shelled mollusk found in abundance in local waters. The second was said to be dolphin-inspired, but to me the elongated curved shape made it look like a strange looking spacecraft (or penis, depending on your imagination!), which with the islets’ backdrop gave it all a surreal feeling.  

However, the issues at the conference hall were real, many painfully so. Take for example the politics of disgust I mentioned earlier, taken from a speech by Dede Oetomo, the Indonesian doyen of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex, Queer (LGBTIQ) activism.  

In his plenary speech, Dede cited the eminent philosopher Martha Nussbaum, from her influential book From Disgust to Humanity: Sexual Orientation and Constitutional Law (2010) — most appropriate for the theme of the first plenary session: Overcoming social, cultural and religious barriers in sexual and reproductive health.  

Dede pointed out that “everywhere in Asia and the Pacific people and communities of diverse sexual orientations, gender identities and expressions and sex characteristics (SOGIESC) have become increasingly visible and assertive in various new constructions.”

At the same time, this trend has been taking place in mainly conservative societies who resist this growing trend by drawing upon “traditions, cultures, faith interpretations and ideologies.” This justifies discrimination, persecution and even violence towards people, usually powerless minorities.

When you see feces, an open wound oozing in puss and maggots, or smell a really nasty odor, it’s normal to feel disgust right? But imagine expressing this same disgust to LGBTIQ, people of different races/ethnicities/religions, the disabled, even the poor, who deviate from mainstream “morality” and culture, i.e. the hegemonic norm: This is the politics of disgust.  

United States President Donald Trump, in his contempt of Mexicans, Muslims, in his sexism, indeed, misogyny, his mocking of the disabled, is the most well-known proponent of the politics of disgust.   

Not only is the politics of disgust a violation of human rights, it also has an economic cost. For example, the price of homophobia and transphobia creates a burden to the macro economy of a nation. In countries like India and Indonesia, this translates into a few billion dollars annually. Gulp!

 In her keynote speech, Associate Prof. Dr. Rosalia Sciortino, the chairperson of the APCRSHR Scientific Committee (ISC), pointed out the “widening disparities in development and health and social exclusion” whereby the multiple inequities of economics, social factors, ethnicity, race, gender, politics and institutions were mutually reinforcing. Naturally.

It’s true that perhaps never before has the wealth gap between a narrow upper class and the rest of humanity been so wide as to constitute a gaping chasm. According to Credit Suisse’s global wealth report, the richest 1 percent owns half of the world’s wealth. The title of Edoardo Campanella’s article, “Inequality and the Coming Storm” (Project Syndicate, Dec. 8, 2017), says it all.  

The theme of the conference is Leave no one behind! Justice in Sexual and Reproductive Health.

But how can there be justice in sexual and reproductive health when there is no justice in basic economic and political rights?  If “economic” and “political” were added on, the theme of the first plenary could have easily been the theme of the entire conference.  

The APCRSHR has been held eight times before: in the Philippines (2001 and 2014), Thailand (2003), Malaysia (2005), India (2007), China (2009), Indonesia (2011) and Myanmar (2015).

 I attended the ones in Indonesia and Myanmar as a speaker. This time I attended as an observer at the behest of the South East Asia Researcher’s Network (SEARN) on SRHR (sexual and reproductive health and rights). SEARN-SRHR serves to connect individuals in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Timor Leste who conduct research on LGBTI, human rights, HIV, etc. To see what else they do, please visit their website (http://searn-srhr.org).

Unlike the box lunches, which were bland and boring, the conference sessions were a veritable smorgasbord of delights. Besides the issues that normally appear at each APCRSHR conference — women’s rights, sexual education, sexual abuse/violence, LGBT, safe abortion, discrimination of sex workers, etc there were issues related to climate change, female disabilities, transgender issues, and of course the role of social media. According to veterans of APCRSHR, the comprehensiveness of topics was better than at previous conferences, and each sector was represented.

Many speakers and sessions mentioned the context of the changing times we live in, i.e. the growing conservatism in many parts of the world. At the same time, there was a lot of optimism due to the growing awareness and activism in the field of SRHR. There was certainly a lot of sharing of knowledge, especially for young and first time attendees, and with 40 countries and over 1,000 participants, much networking. Where else would I meet Passang Dorji, a young gay activist from Bhutan, a landlocked country with a population of less than 800,000 and learn about his struggles?  

The clitoral complex? Ah, you were waiting for that right? That was the title of a presentation by Michael Tan, chancellor of the University of Philippines Diliman. It’s about clitoral discourses (?), too complicated to explain here, but I thought I’d mention it because of the intriguing title!

 There was one presentation by Jed Patrick Montero Catalan, the founder of the Adult Care Service Center in the Philippines that has a special unit, the Gay Care Center. His presentation, based on his ongoing doctoral dissertation, The Science of Sensitivity as an Art in Caring Practice, could be our society’s aspiration.  

So do you think we could go from “the politics of disgust,” weave our way through “the clitoral complex” and aim for “the science of sensitivity?” What a better world we would live in, and I don’t mean just sexually!

 ________________________________


The writer is the author of Sex, Power and Nation.