October 21st, 2020
Humanists UK last night announced its first ever fully online public event, The Awakening: Humanism and the Age of Reason, a discussion between Charles Freeman, historian and author of The Awakening, and journalist and broadcaster Samira Ahmed. The Awakening: Humanism and the Age of Reason 27 November, 19:30 (UK time) With geography no barrier to […]
October 8th, 2020
The British Medical Association (BMA) looks like it must end its policy of opposing assisted dying, according to Humanists UK, after 50% of members said they support changing the law to allow terminally ill and incurably suffering adults the option of a legal assisted death. The results come in a landmark members’ survey, where just […]
October 2nd, 2020
In its latest intervention at the UN Human Rights Council, Humanists UK has commended Sudan for abolishing the death penalty for apostasy earlier this year, and called on other countries with the death penalty for apostasy or blasphemy to do likewise. However, Humanists UK has also called on Sudan to go further and decriminalise apostasy […]
October 2nd, 2020
Religiously segregated schools and widespread bias towards the Christian faith throughout the education system represents a major threat to children’s rights, Northern Ireland Humanists has told a key body advocating for these rights in Northern Ireland. In response to a call for evidence from the Children’s Law Centre, Northern Ireland Humanists highlighted the various ways […]
September 30th, 2020
Humanists UK has challenged discrimination against and the persecution of religion or belief minorities, in its latest intervention at the UN Human Rights Council. In particular, Humanists UK raised Turkey’s blasphemy laws, and its faith-based religious education system. In a video intervention during the universal periodic review of Turkey, Humanists UK Director of Public Affairs […]
September 22nd, 2020
The Government has today announced that it will not be changing the process by which an individual can legally change their gender, with existing requirements to stay in place. LGBT Humanists, which supports reform of the Gender Recognition Act to ease the lives of trans people, has expressed disappointment at the decision. In 2018 the […]
September 21st, 2020
The plight of Nigerian Humanist Association President Mubarak Bala, who has now been held for five months without charge for alleged blasphemy, was raised in the UK Parliament today by the Labour front bench, with the UK Government concurring with the opposition about the severity of the case, and committing to do everything possible to […]
September 21st, 2020
Humanists UK and British Muslims for Secular Democracy have made a joint intervention today at the UN Human Rights Council, in which they have spoken out against the Chinese persecution of Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang Province, and asked if the reports of mass imprisonment and horrendous human rights abuses meet the legal definition of genocide. […]
September 15th, 2020
Today sees the first meeting of the UK FoRB Forum, a new civil society body established to uphold freedom of religion or belief all around the globe. Humanists UK’s Chief Executive Andrew Copson is on the steering group of the Forum, and has today welcomed its launch. Humanists UK works through Parliament and with the […]
September 14th, 2020
Young people who do not mix with those from other religions or beliefs are more likely to hold extremist views than those who do, a new report has found. Humanists UK, which has long campaigned for an integrated school system that is open to all irrespective of background, said that the findings show just how […]
September 14th, 2020
It has been reported that the Government is drawing up plans to opt the UK out of key parts of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), which is enshrined in UK law through the Human Rights Act 1998. The Convention is an agreement of 47 countries across Europe, including Russia, Turkey, and Azerbaijan. In […]
September 10th, 2020
Northern Ireland may become the first part of the UK to ban the pseudoscientific and abusive practice known as ‘conversion therapy’. Justice Minister Naomi Long and Communities Minister Carál Ni Chuilin, committed in a meeting with Minister for Health Robin Swann to take forward work to ban the harmful practice. Northern Ireland Humanists, which has […]
