Ep 23: The NSS at the UN: interview with Josephine Macintosh

In this week’s episode, Emma Park speaks to Josephine Macintosh, a solicitor and vice president of the National Secular Society, about her work representing the NSS at the United Nations. Earlier this year, Josephine attended the 43rd session of the UN Human Rights Council at Geneva. She made submissions on behalf of the NSS on its objections to male circumcision, proposed reforms to Italian law to counter child abuse in the Catholic Church, and the need for the UK to legislate explicitly against caste discrimination. She discusses the content of these submissions, the process of presenting them at the UN and lobbying for support, and why it’s vital for the NSS to be represented at international level. She also talks about the constraints that the coronavirus is likely to place on the UN’s human rights work. In this week’s episode, Emma Park speaks to Josephine Macintosh, a solicitor and vice president of the National Secular Society, about her work representing the NSS at the United Nations. Earlier this year, Josephine attended the 43rd session of the UN Human Rights Council at Geneva. She made submissions on behalf of the NSS on its objections to male circumcision, proposed reforms to Italian law to counter child abuse in the Catholic Church, and the need for the UK to legislate explicitly against caste discrimination. She discusses the content of these submissions, the process of presenting them at the UN and lobbying for support, and why it’s vital for the NSS to be represented at international level. She also talks about the constraints that the coronavirus is likely to place on the UN’s human rights work. Follow Emma on Twitter: @DrEmmaPark Watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/zdfQeKP8Tj8 Transcripts: https://www.secularism.org.uk/transcripts Notes 43rd session of the UN Human Rights Council https://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/RegularSessions/Session43/Pages/43RegularSession.aspx Protect all children from ritual genital cutting, NSS tells UN https://www.secularism.org.uk/news/2020/03/protect-all-children-from-ritual-genital-cutting-nss-tells-un NSS raises Italy’s response to child abuse in Catholic Church at UN https://www.secularism.org.uk/news/2020/03/nss-raises-italys-response-to-child-abuse-in-catholic-church-at-un The Vatican Is Talking About Clerical Abuse, but Italy Isn’t – New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/22/world/europe/italy-catholic-church-pope-francis-abuse.html Outlaw caste discrimination https://www.secularism.org.uk/outlaw-caste-discrimination/ NSS urges UN to push government to pass law on caste discrimination https://www.secularism.org.uk/news/2020/03/nss-urges-un-to-push-government-to-pass-law-on-caste-discrimination Make a stand for freedom, fairness and human rights by adding your voice to the call for a secular democracy. Join the National Secular Society today https://www.secularism.org.uk/join Support the podcast, share with a friend and leave reviews wherever you can.