Overarching themes
Reproductive Rights 2000: moving forward
Promoting a rights-based approach to women’s sexual health
Authors:
; Center for Reproductive Rights
Publisher:
Center for Reproductive Rights, formerly known as the Center for Reproductive Law and Policy, New York, 2003
Women’s reproductive rights are central to the more general debate on women’s status that has taken place worldwide over the past ten years. In particular, the last five years have seen expanded governmental action to improve women’s reproductive health and promote their rights. This publication, produced by the Centre for Reproductive Rights, argues that more work still needs to be done in order for reproductive rights to be recognised as basic human rights.
The paper provides an overview of the state of women’s reproductive rights, looking at eight critical areas that affect these rights: (1) population, reproductive health and family planning; (2) contraception; (3) abortion; (4) HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs); (5) harmful traditional practices such as female circumcision and genital mutilation; (6) sexual violence and coercion; (7) marriage and family law; and (8) reproductive rights for adolescents. For each of these, the concept of basic human rights, the impact of law and policy, the legal developments since 1995, and policy recommendations, are discussed.
This publication defines reproductive rights as the right to reproductive health care and the right to reproductive self-determination and finds that:
- Governments have a duty to ensure the availability of and access to reproductive health services for all and to remove legal barriers to reproductive health care
- Reproductive health and family planning are often addressed in population policies and may not necessarily focus on the rights of women to comprehensive health care and to autonomy in reproductive decision-making
- In a number of countries, despite policies that provide for full access to contraception, governments are unable to meet the needs of those wishing to plan their family. Other governments place obstacles in the way of women’s access to the full range of contraceptive choices, and there have also been cases around the world of coercion in the use of contraception, even as extreme as sterilisation
- Discriminatory laws and practices in many countries continue to violate the rights of people with HIV/AIDS.
Although there has been some progress regarding the above issues in various countries since 1995, the paper makes the following recommendations for the future:
- There is a need for population and reproductive health laws and policies that comprehensively address women’s reproductive and sexual health needs and encompass a rights-based approach to the provision of all health services.
- Governments should eliminate restrictions on contraception and provide accurate information on each method. Family planning services should be provided to anyone requiring them.
- Governments should recognise the right to reproductive self-determination as a basic human right and therefore make abortion legal, safe and accessible to all women.
- The AIDS epidemic should be approached from a gender perspective since women are more at risk of contracting the disease due to their subordinate role in society and for physiological reasons. Efforts to prevent HIV should be focused on enhancing the ability of all members of society to protect themselves against infection, and governments must intervene to protect the rights of those living with HIV/AIDS.
