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ILGA
Lesbians have always been present in various civil society movements, with gay men's organizations, in feminist groups, as well as in the artistic sphere and in the fight for decolonization and independence of their country. In recent decades lesbians have been present in the fight for equal rights for women of colour, aborigen women, and more broadly with feminist movements. The present publication is a collection of experiences from individuals worldwide involved in lesbian movements, civil society and human rights organizations. January 2010.
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The term "reproductive rights" is relatively recent: it was coined during the International Meeting on Women and Health in Amsterdam (1984). This event can be seen as the starting point of a long struggle waged by women's movements worldwide to expand the scope of the concept of human rights.
Almost a decade later, in 1993, at the World Conference on Human Rights held in Vienna, participant States agreed to regard any violation of the specific rights of women as a human rights violation. The initiatives and participation of women in this Conference prompted a major shift in human rights theory, as at that point it was recognized that human rights can be enjoyed in private as well as in public, and thus can be violated in both spheres. In Vienna human rights were defined as universal, interdependent and indivisible.
Since the Vienna Conference women have been involved in several international events, contributing their research, proposals and demands, with the goal of consolidating and furthering what has been achieved thus far: Cairo in 1994, and Beijing in 1995, besides their engagement in regional and international networks and NGO forums, among others.
Throughout this process, the concept of human rights has undergone revisions and expansions. The agenda had been limited to abuses committed by the State, ignoring other spheres. Thus, the need to expand and redefine the social contract was posed -a contract from which women have been historically excluded, both in terms of its definitions and their condition as political subjects. Difference has always been construed as deficiency, and the result has always been inequality, an inequality requiring protection.
A lot of ground has been covered and progress continues to be made, but the road has not been free from obstacles. The Third Special Session of the UN General Assembly, known as "Women 2000: Gender Equality, Development and Peace in the 21st Century", took stock of the advances made in the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action's recommendations (WPA or Beijing + 5). There, tensions arose when conservative groups tried to prevent the final document from being adopted.
In spite of the difficulties, Beijing +5 closed an intense cycle of legitimation and visibility for the debate over unsafe abortion at a global level. Since then tensions have tended to be expressed domestically. International agreements bind signatory States, but that is not enough. Countries must pass the laws that are necessary to enable the enforcement of the commitments undertaken, which signatory countries still fail to observe for the most part.
Today there are new global political circumstances which affect the debate over reproductive health and pregnancy termination. The US Congress has pressed to include a conditionality clause with respect to development cooperation funds, aimed to prevent organizations that are in any way connected with pregnancy termination from accessing such funds. Financing from USAID is limited by this conditionality, having a regressive impact on the politics of the recipient countries of this agency's funds. This pressure is furthered by anti-abortion groups and conservative sectors of certain religions, thus placing at the top of the agenda the debate over laicism and democracy and the need to reassess the relationship between religion and State.
In this context, Uruguay's Reproductive Health Protection Bill -already approved by the lower chamber of parliament- marks an important step forward. Its significance lies in its holistic approach to reproductive health and in the fact that it promotes discussion on a regional level despite the current political climate describe above.
The current political conjuncture of aggressive fundamentalism and militarism presents serious risks to women's human rights worldwide. DAWN (Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era) like a number of other organizations, is concerned about the possibility of setbacks to the gains made for women's human rights during and in relation to the UN conferences of the 1990s.
In January 2001, the Bush Administration re-instated the rule to globally obstruct the population programme of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). This policy is designed to limit the activities of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that receive family-planning aid, prohibiting them from using such funds to provide legal abortion services -even if they are not supplied by the United States-, advising women on abortion, or referring them to health practitioners for safe and legal abortions -even when their life or health is at risk-, or lobbying governments to revise restrictive abortion laws. By Ximena Machicao B. and Elizabeth Salguero C.
Anyone who has grown up in an Indian household has to have heard this at some stage of growing up. Indians are obsessed with purity. And as humans we are in love with our neat little binaries. The amorphous, the shadowy, and the unclear inspire a deep fear in the human brain that is trained to simplify. The world is thus conveniently ordered into right and wrong, dirty and clean, black and white. February 2006.
The United States may be inching closer to an overturning of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 US Supreme Court decision that secured the individual woman's right to choose to terminate a pregnancy. On February 22, 2006, South Dakota's Senate voted 23 to 12 on a bill to ban abortions in the state, and on March 6, Governor Michael Rounds signed the bill into law. March 2006.
While many women’s rights activists may avoid the over-used and often vaguely defined term, ‘fundamentalism’, most of us can agree that those political movements that have been lumped together under the general rubric of ‘fundamentalism’ share the common trait of undermining women’s rights and claiming to do so for religious reasons. A history review of the troubled use of the words ‘fundamentalism’ and ‘fundamentalisms' In this article, the writer examines several criticisms in order to develop a conceptual framework that offers some cohesion to the term ‘fundamentalisms’. By Kathleen McNeil, July 2005.
It is important to use the plural when speaking of fundamentalisms; significant differences characterize the emergence of these movements, the political conditions which encourage their growth, and the dialectical relations which link them to national powers and international finance, as well as their forms of expression. December 1998.
The article examines changes in Peru’s population policy since the International Conference on Population and Development (1994) and assesses the extent to which the policies and measures adopted have enhanced or detracted from the reproductive health and rights of women and girls in Peru. 2004. Pdf format.
Towards the end of this month an elite circle of men will meet in Abuja, Nigeria with the power to make a significant difference in changing the lives of women on the African continent. This edition of Pambazuka News is focused on the rights of women. Most of the articles are about the experience of African women in the areas of food security and sexual and reproductive health rights. January 2005.
After withdrawing support from the U.N. Population Fund (UNFPA) two years ago, the United States is now seeking to isolate the agency from other U.N. bodies and nongovernmental groups. June 2004.
This issue features the legal international advancements concerning the sexual rights of all people, and women's in particular, as well as the threats, challenges and opportunities of these achievements that go hand in hand with cultural progress. By Ana Elena Obando.
Sexual rights are at a precarious and fascinating historical moment. The concept of these rights has achieved a potentially powerful, yet fragile public status. Paper presented by Alice Miller at the "Sexual, Reproductive and Human Rights Seminar" organized by CLADEM on November, 2001. Pdf. format.
There are new threats and new wars to deal with, as well as some potentially new openings for political conversations and new directions to emerge in terms of international institutions and human rights. By Charlotte Bunch.
We cannot ignore Roman Catholic fundamentalism for it is a danger to two critical values of the progressive movement: the lay state and women's rights, especially sexual and reproductive freedom. By Frances Kissling, President of Catholics for a Free Choice.
There is an undeniable link between sexuality and development. Sexual rights violations are not just an issue of concern to minorities. They have an economic
impact, not only for the people directly affected, but also for their families, friends and social and labour networks. Their impact on impoverishment is a real consequence that we have to reflect about. Social networks are the main bulwark against poverty in developing countries. Prejudice and discrimination. November 2007.
Presented as a lecture in the Sexuality, Health and Gender Seminar, Department of Social Sciences, Public Health School, Columbia University, October 2002. By Sonia Correa, doc format.
The debate on this issue has gained prominence following the US government's increased funding of abstinence only programmes for young people. However, despite the US federal government's 20-year support for abstinence-only-until-marriage programmes for American adolescents, there is no peer-reviewed research proving that these have had a positive impact on behaviour.
While in Uruguay for a meeting on DAWN’s research project on "Health sector reform, maternal mortality and abortion: a global policy research effort", Sonia Correa, DAWN Research Coordinator for sexual and reproductive health and rights, spoke at Montevideo City Hall on 20 May 2003.
Around the world, more than 200 million women lack access to safe, effective contraception. While the repeal of the Mexico City Policy is significant, increased funding for international family planning and other sexual and reproductive health services is also critical to ensuring effective U.S. foreign assistance. January 2009.
The overwhelming majority of countries, 97 per cent, permit abortion to save the woman’s life. In five countries, abortion is not permitted. Abortion laws and policies are significantly more restrictive in the developing world. In developed countries, abortion is permitted for economic or social reasons in 78 per cent of countries and on request in 67 per cent of countries. In contrast, 19 per cent of developing countries permit abortion for economic or social reasons, while in 15 per cent of developing countries abortion is available on request. This chart provides information available on the legal status of induced abortion for the 195 Member and non-Member States of the United Nations. To complement this information, data on abortion rates, contraceptive prevalence, total fertility and maternal mortality are also provided. August 2007.
In 1995, the Beijing Platform for Action expressly called upon governments to re-examine restrictive abortion laws. The Beijing mandate reflects a global trend toward abortion law liberalisation -a trend that first gained momentum in the late 1960s and continues today. Currently 70 countries representing more than 60 percent of the world's population permit abortion without restriction as to reason or on broad grounds. Twelve years after Beijing, advocates for abortion law reform can continue to point to the global commitment, declared in 1995, to stopping unsafe abortion. They can also highlight the examples of 17 countries that have removed legal restrictions on abortion in the last 12 years alone. Pdf format, July 2007.
Bodily integrity rights are deeply rooted in the most basic principles of human rights. In general, rights related with sexuality and reproduction cover two basic principles: the right to sexual and reproductive health care and the right to sexual and reproductive self-determination. By Ana Elena Obando, March 2003.
CLADEM, the Latin American and Caribbean Committee for the Defense of Women's Rights, presents the systematization of the international instruments connected with sexuality and reproduction, developed by the Universal System of the United Nations, and the Inter-American System of the Organization of American States. Also included are the general resolutions and recommendations made by the leading organs of both systems in reference to these issues. Spanish version.
Romani women in Europe are currently facing this particularly gross form of
discrimination and rights violation, but contemporary practices of coercive
sterilisation exist in a historical context with an enduring legacy. It is clear that law isn't enough, and that publicity and
mobilisation are going to be key partners to legislative change in the
struggle for women's reproductive rights. October 2006.
Addressing sexual and reproductive health is key to achieving the Millennium Development Goals, reveals a new report released by the UN Millennium Project at the Global Health Council's 33rd Annual International Conference on Global Health. Public Choices, Private Decisions: Sexual and Reproductive Health and the Millennium Development Goals confirms that combating HIV/AIDS, promoting gender equality, improving maternal and child health, and fighting poverty are all greatly helped by improving the delivery of sexual and reproductive health services in developing nations. June 2006.
This key issues guide reviews current policy issues and explores cutting-edge debates relating to sexual and reproductive health and rights highlighting positive approaches to sexuality and reproduction, identifing challenges, and considering the role of innovative technologies. February 2006.
To mark the tenth anniversary of the Cairo conference, the Swedish Association for Sexuality Education (RFSU) has published this ICPD guide. The guide is for all those wanting to better acquaint themselves with the political debate surrounding sexual and reproductive health and rights. It is a useful tool for those who negotiate and advocate on these issues. The reader is provided with a general picture of the PoA, an explanation of controversial terms, "the opposition", political arguments, and a summary of international treaties and documents relevant to our efforts to reinforce sexual and reproductive health and rights as a fundamental human right. Pdf format.
Organizations from Uruguay, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, Argentina, Bolivia, and Peru, along with national coordination's and networks, met in Montevideo in September 2000 and built the following initiative from the gathering of experiences and policy tools.
As a regional mechanism, AMANITARE supports the work of African NGOs to prioritize and promote issues of sexual and reproductive health rights of women and girls in their national public policy agendas.
These chapters of the Programme of Action define reproductive rights and call on governments to regard unsafe abortions as a major public health concern, improve family planning services to avoid abortions, provide health care and guidance for women who have unwanted pregnancies, and urge the implementation of policies and changes in the approach to abortion on a national and local level, in accordance with national legal systems, declaring that 'in all cases women must have access to quality services to manage complications arising from abortions. Post-abortion counseling, education and family planning services should be offered promptly, helping women to avoid repeat abortions'; also asserting the need 'to revise the laws that penalize women who have illegal abortions'.
In the first half of 1999, the United Nations assessed what has been achieved by way of implementing the recommendations of the International Conference on Population and Development-Cairo 1994. The process is known as Cairo+5 and it started February of that year in The Hague, where NGO and youth fora preceded an initial governmental meeting. By Sonia Correa; Gita Sen.
Family planning is a central component of reproductive health as defined by the 1994 International Conference on Population and evelopment (ICPD). But the Conference gave reproductive health a broad-based character by linking family planning with the treatment and prevention of sexually transmitted diseases, the reduction of maternal mortality and the promotion of maternal health and sexual and reproductive health of both men and women. Due to political manoeuvring by a small group of countries, the goal of universal reproductive health by 2015 was not included among the goals of the Millennium Declaration adopted by the heads of state and government at their summit at the United Nations in 2000. This situation could only be rectified in 2005 when the MDG+5 Summit agreed to include the reproductive health goal as an additional target to be achieved by 2015. March 2008.
When the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were conceived by the United Nations about five years ago, the world body failed to single out the importance of a crucial socioeconomic factor in battling poverty and hunger: population growth. September 2005.
The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) should incorporate sexual and reproductive rights, which were ignored in the targets and indicators adopted by the international community in 2000, along with the recommendations of U.N. conferences on population and women. November 30, 2004.
On the tenth anniversary of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) held in Cairo in 1994, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) organized an Open-ended Meeting of the Presiding Officers of its Sessional Ad Hoc Committee on Population and Development, in which thirty-seven countries approved by acclamation a statement that reaffirms the Cairo consensus.
The Bush Administration sought to reverse historic agreements that have significantly contributed to advancing the rights, economic status and health of the world's women. The United States was the only country to reverse long-standing support of the historic agreements reached in Cairo in 1994 and Beijing in 1995.
Multilateral Development Banks’ reproductive health
Present research has revealed some startling trends in Multilateral Development Bank (MDB) funding for reproductive health and HIV/AIDS and the quality of their investments. The largest funder for both reproductive health and HIV/AIDS —the World Bank— is diminishing its funding. This is occurring simultaneously when conservative political appointees are trying to weaken World Bank commitments and investments in reproductive health. The other MDBs that fund reproductive health and HIV/AIDS projects provide relatively little support, in particular, the Inter-American and the Asian Development Banks provide very little funding for reproductive health, and African Development Bank provide astonishingly few resources for reproductive health and HIV/AIDS. These findings confirm existing research that ‘donor’ policies include gender equality goals, but these commitments often evaporate or disappear in budget allocations.
Rights are exercised. Indeed. But, what happens when those rights are not clearly defined? What courts do you turn to for assertion? How are they protected? What laws are provided to enforce them? This site aims to promote a continuous debate in Latin America and the Caribbean, developing partnerships and coordinated efforts to organize an Inter-American Convention to define and protect sexual and reproductive rights. Spanish version.
More than 100 African leaders from 15 countries who attended the continent's first regional conference on unsafe abortion concluded deliberations in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, March 7 with a strong call for action to address this global public-health problem. Unsafe abortion results in the deaths of about 30,000 African women every year, according to the World Health Organization.
This precautionary measure was issued some days ago by Federal Judge Cristina Garzón de Lascano, who prohibited the sale and manufacture of 97 percent of the birth control products on the market, including IUDs. A campaign was launched to dismiss the judge from office and overturn her decision. The request for removal was filed by numerous feminist, women, and social organizations, together with national representatives of both sexes. The petition is backed by nearly fifty social organizations and grassroots movements, among others. Spanish version.
Latin America is home to some of the most restrictive abortion laws in the world and women’s organizations have fought for the right to safe and legal abortion for decades. Even though abortion is illegal in almost all countries in the region, most countries allow criminal penalties to be waived or lowered in specific circumstances, including -most often- where the life or health of the pregnant woman is in danger, or where the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest. In this report is a list of countries and their present status on abortion legislation. October 2006.
Nearly half of all induced abortions are unsafe, putting the lives and health of women at major risk. Each year, about 70,000 women die due to unsafe abortion and an additional five million suffer permanent or temporary disability. Despite the worldwide abortion rate slowly declining between 1995 and 2003, the unsafe abortion rate was essentially unchanged. Better access to contraception as well as safe and legal abortion services is a core tenet of improving the health of women worldwide. Report by the Guttmacher Institute and the World Health Organization (WHO) published in the 13 October 2007.
This paper offers a brief overview of the status of abortion legislation in Latin America and an in-depth analysis of international human rights law in this area. In addition to citing international treaty texts, it draws heavily from the work of United Nations treaty monitoring bodies.1 Human Rights Watch hopes that this distillation of international law will support the efforts of women’s rights activists in Latin America. From the date of this publication (May 2006) onwards, it must be added that the Constitutional Court of Colombia has legalized abortion in three special cases.
Lesbians have always been present in various civil society movements, with gay men's organizations, in feminist groups, as well as in the artistic sphere and in the fight for decolonization and independence of their country. In recent decades lesbians have been present in the fight for equal rights for women of colour, aborigen women, and more broadly with feminist movements. The present publication is a collection of experiences from individuals worldwide involved in lesbian movements, civil society and human rights organizations. July 2009.
