• Public health vs rights based approaches

Public health vs rights based approaches

This article from the journal Health and Human Rights examines the concept of sexual and reproductive rights and argues that the term itself poses a challenge. In particular, the article suggests that the conflation of sexual rights with reproductive rights has caused sexual rights to be seen as a subset of reproductive rights. This has led to the removal of non-heterosexual, non-procreative sexual activity from human rights protection, and by association, the exclusion of groups such as lesbians, gay men, and transgender people and in some cases, men altogether. The paper further argues that a fear of sex and sexuality in family planning programmes has led to silence on these issues. It then considers the implications of creating a claim to sexual rights in this context.

The article calls for sexuality to be incorporated into discussions on reproduction and linked to public health more broadly, as well as human rights. Regarding sexual rights claims, it advocates an integrated approach, combining human rights advocacy and case law (largely focused on violations) and the more protection-focused approach of international standards. It calls for a full, universally recognised definition of sexual rights as human rights, incorporating gender and transsexual identity, sexual orientation, bodily integrity and freedom from violence.

This article is reprinted from Health and Human Rights, v.4, no.2: pp. 68-109., Miller, A., 2000, with the kind permission of Francois-Xavier Bagnoud Center for Health and Human Rights and the President and Fellows of Harvard College.

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