"Human rights in relation to sexual orientation and gender identity are at last reaching the heart of global debates. Yet 78 states worldwide continue to criminalise same-sex sexual behaviour, and due to the legal legacies of the British Empire, 42 of these - more than half - are in the Commonwealth of Nations. In recent years many states have seen the emergence of new sexual nationalisms, leading to increased enforcement of colonial sodomy laws against men, new criminalisations of sex between women and discrimination against transgender people. [This book] challenges these developments as the first book to focus on experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) and all non-heterosexual people in the Commonwealth. The volume offers the most internationally extensive analysis to date of the global struggle for decriminalisation of same-sex sexual behaviour and relationships."--Abstract, website.

Women’s minimal leadership role in national and local political spheres remains a serious concern worldwide. The Commonwealth Gender Plan of Action for Gender Equality 2005–2015 calls on governments to introduce measures to promote at least 30 per cent representation of women in parliament, government and business. The Impact of Women’s Political Leadership on Democracy and Development describes the barriers to women’s political participation and explains why the contribution of women is so crucial to democracy. It identifies established strategies – electoral reform (New Zealand), party voluntary quotas (South Africa), and legislative quotas (Bangladesh and India) – that have helped these Commonwealth countries to meet the global target of 30 per cent and thus to effectively advance the participation of women in decision-making at all levels.

Comprises ten papers which document "good practice" in gender budget work from across the globe.

This training resource has been developed by the Commonwealth Secretariat to promote a human rights-based approach to policing. It has been designed for use by police and law-enforcement trainers in Commonwealth countries in designing, developing, conducting and evaluating police training programmes at all levels. It will assist trainers to build human rights standards and considerations into regular police training.The manual includes chapters on policing and human rights in the context of counter-terrorism and dealing with the human rights responsibilities of prisons and penitentiary officers. Edited versions of the core applicable human rights institutions and UN codes of conduct have been included for ease of reference.

This book explores the issue of gender inequality through the lens of the Millennium Development Goals, particularly the first one of halving world poverty by 2015.

Stephen Gardbaum proposes and examines a new way of protecting rights in a democracy.