Rasha criticises homophobic laws

Rasha Moumneh London - Arabstoday Rasha Moumneh condemned raids by Lebanese police on a gay venue in Beirut on July 28 which ended with 36 men being arrested and forced to undergo anal tests to test for homosexuality  which is a crime in Lebanon under "sexual acts against nature." Rasha stated "These ‘tests of shame' as local activists call them, should stop immediately. The state has no business punishing and degrading its citizens for consensual sexual conduct.” Rasha Moumneh is the Middle-East and North Africa investigator of sexual and bodily rights violations for the organisation Human Rights Watch. Her current projects focus on police violence against vulnerable persons in Lebanon including migrant workers, drug users, LGBT people, sex workers and police abuse of transgender women in Kuwait. When describing the importance of her work she explained "In times of social strain, gender and sexuality often become the focal point of broader anxieties, a phenomenon evident in media frenzies, new proposed legislation, and the brutality of the police and the impunity with which they act against an already vulnerable population." She further stated "The government should be concerned with the security and livelihoods of its citizens, rather than subjecting them to abuse under the guise of determining their sexual practices.”