International News | April 2008
Council of Europe Takes Groundbreaking Step
[April 28, 2008]
On April 16th, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) approved a major resolution on access to safe and legal abortion. The Assembly urged all member states to "decriminalize abortion, within reasonable gestational limits" and to guarantee women's access to safe and legal abortion.
"This resolution shows the potential of regional human rights systems for advancing women's reproductive rights, "Director of the Center's International Legal Program Luisa Cabal commented on reading the resolution. "PACE's affirmation of the right to safe and legal abortion should prompt other regional bodies to call upon their member states to ensure women’s health and dignity."
Drafted by the Committee on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men, the resolution aims to remove all barriers to safe, affordable abortion services. In addition to its provisions on abortion, the resolution urges states to develop evidence-based, appropriate sexual and reproductive health policies, including compulsory sex education. States must also provide access to affordable contraception and family planning services.
International News | March 2008
Bringing Rights To Bear Anew
[March 18, 2008]
Bringing Rights to Bear, a signature publication of the Center, has been updated and redesigned. Initially published in 2002, Bringing Rights to Bear takes a long, hard look at the thousands of comments, statements, and recommendations produced by UN treaty monitoring bodies, and analyzes their potential for advancing reproductive rights. Our 2008 update, produced as a series of independent briefing papers, reflects the growing recognition among these UN bodies that reproductive rights are firmly grounded in international human rights treaties. The more flexible layout allows audiences with more tailored thematic interests to receive only the information they require.
Our first four updated briefing papers focus on the subjects of sex education, HIV/AIDS, violence against women, and contraception and family planning. Check back for briefing papers on the issues of maternal mortality, female genital mutilation, abortion, and marriage and private life, scheduled for release later this year.
International News | December 2007
Slovak Constitutional Court Rejects Attempt to Outlaw Abortion
[December 11, 2007]
On December 4, the Slovak Constitutional Court rebuffed an attempt by conservative politicians to outlaw abortion. Members of the Christian Democratic party had challenged the country’s abortion law, which allows the procedure upon request during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, on the grounds that it violates the right to life of fetuses. The Center submitted a friend of the court brief in the case, arguing that giving rights to fetuses would allow legal claims that undermined women’s fundamental rights to equality, health, life, and privacy. The Center had made a similar argument in 2003 at the European Court of Human Rights in another case involving fetal rights, Vo v. France. In that case, the court declined to give a fetus the legal rights of a born person. The Slovak case is the first in which a national-level high court has applied the Vo v. France ruling.
The Center filed its brief together with the CUNY Law School Human Rights Clinic, Slovak Family Planning Association, and ProChoice Slovakia.
Click here to read the brief in English > >
Click here to read the brief in Slovak > >
Center Challenges Brazil’s Record On Maternal Mortality
[December 7, 2007]
On November 30, the Center, with Brazilian partner Advocaci, filed Alyne da Silva Pimentel v. Brazil, the first maternal mortality case to be brought before the UN’s Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).
Alyne, a 28-year-old Afro-Brazilian woman, died of complications resulting from pregnancy after her local health center misdiagnosed her symptoms and delayed providing her with emergency care. Brazil’s maternal mortality rates are disproportionately high for a country of its economic status, and the chances of dying in pregnancy and childbirth are greatest among indigenous, low-income, and Afro-descendant women such as Alyne. The Center's petition argues that Brazil’s government violated Alyne's rights to life, health, and legal redress, all of which are guaranteed both by Brazil’s constitution and international human rights treaties, including CEDAW.
"Alyne’s story epitomizes Brazil’s violation of women’s human rights and failure to prevent women from dying of causes that, by the government’s own admission, are avoidable," said Lilian Sepúlveda, the Center’s Legal Adviser for Latin America and the Caribbean. "We filed this case to demand that Brazil make the necessary reforms to its public health system—and save thousands of women’s lives."
International News | October 2007
U.S.-based Sex-Ed Program Challenged in International Human Rights Case: Center Charges that Croatia is Endangering the Lives of its Young People
[October 10, 2007]
The Center for Reproductive Rights along with partners filed the first human rights legal challenge to a faith-based sex-education program based in the U.S. The program, TeenSTAR, promotes abstinence, discourages the use of contraception, reinforces gender stereotypes, and fosters discrimination against the LGBT community. If the case is successful, it could lay the groundwork for more successful challenges against similar faith-based programs (including those funded by the U.S.-government) in other countries around the world.
Click here to learn more about the case > >
International News | September 2007
European Court of Human Rights Rejects Poland’s Appeal in Landmark Abortion Decision
[September 27, 2007]
The European Court of Human Rights announced on September 25, 2007 that they will not review their earlier judgment in the case of Tysiąc v. Poland, despite a request to do so by the Polish government. In their March 2007 decision, the Court held for the first time that governments have a duty to establish effective mechanisms to ensure women’s access to abortion where it is legal. The case centered on the tragic story of Alicja Tysiąc, a Polish woman who is nearly blind because she was forced to continue a pregnancy that threatened her health.
"Thousands of women are denied access to abortions they need and are legally entitled to in Poland every year," said Christina Zampas, Senior Legal Adviser for Europe at the Center. "This decision means that the Polish government—and other governments in Europe—must take steps to make sure that women like Tysiąc don't needlessly suffer at the whim of doctors." This final judgment is a tremendous victory for women in Poland and in all of Europe.
International News | August 2007
Imposing Misery: The Impact of Manila's Contraception Ban on Women and Families
[August 13, 2007]
Likhaan, ReproCen, and the Center for Reproductive Rights have released a report documenting the devastating impact of Manila’s contraception ban on women and their families. In 2000, the mayor of Manila, Jose "Lito" Atienza, issued an Executive Order (EO) "upholding natural family planning" and "discouraging the use of artificial methods of contraception like condoms, pills, intrauterine devices, surgical sterilization, and other [methods]." This sweeping EO, in effect, bans city health centers and hospitals from providing contraception to women in need of this essential reproductive health care service. Poor women are suffering the most under this ban.
The report, Imposing Misery: The Impact of Manila’s Contraception Ban on Women and Families, is based on a series of compelling interviews with women affected by the EO, government and health officials, and nongovernmental organizations. Its conclusions are clear: the EO harms the lives and health of women, as well as their families, by depriving them of the basic human right to make decisions about their own bodies and whether and when to have children. Further, the report establishes that the EO violates national and international law.
This report alerts the Manila City and national government to the violations resulting from the EO and issues recommendations to nullify the policy. Likhaan, ReproCen, and the Center for Reproductive Rights are working to ensure that Manila residents have easy and affordable access to a full range of family planning options, in accordance with the Philippines’ obligations under constitutional, national, and international law. In addition, these three organizations have called on the new mayor, Alfredo S. Lim, who took office this July, to revoke the ban.
International News | July 2007
Poland Appeals Tysiąc
[July 6, 2007]
The Polish government has announced that it will appeal the case of Tysiąc v. Poland to the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights. The case centers on the story of Alicja Tysiąc, a Polish woman who went nearly blind because she was forced to continue a pregnancy that threatened her health. In March of this year, the European Court of Human Rights held, for the first time, that European governments have a duty to ensure that women have access to abortion where it is legal. The conservative League of Polish Families (LPR), a ruling party in the government, has consistently pushed to ban abortion completely. "I hope that the Grand Chamber will reject the appeal," said Christina Zampas, Senior Legal Adviser for Europe at the Center, adding that "the Polish government should focus on protecting women's health rather than continuing a political fight with dire consequences for women."
UN Body Urges Action on Maternal Mortality in Nepal
In Nepal, a woman dies every 90 minutes in childbirth. In response, the U.N. body monitoring compliance with the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) has urged the Nepalese government to take action to make childbirth safer for women.
New Report produced by the Center and FIDA!
[7/3/07]
Providing women with affordable, accessible, and safe health services is a key obligation of the government of Kenya. However, as a new report produced by the Center for Reproductive Rights and the Federation of Women Lawyers—Kenya vividly illustrates, Kenya’s health care sector suffers from systemic and widespread problems that deny women high quality family planning and maternal health care.
Through interviews with women, health care providers, and government officials, Failure to Deliver: Violations of Women's Human Rights in Kenyan Health Facilities documents a wide range of violations of women's fundamental human rights. Findings include physical and verbal abuse of women seeking maternity services, detention of women and their babies for unpaid medical bills, and staff and equipment shortages that impair the ability to provide good care.
Very few formal channels exist to provide redress for the serious human rights violations taking place in both public and private health care facilities throughout Kenya. This report throws into sharp relief the need to remedy the rights violations that women in Kenya have endured, and to implement systematic changes to ensure that women's rights are protected when they seek reproductive health care.
Call for Applications to Legal Training
The Center and its partners–the Bulgarian Gender Research Foundation (BGRF) and the Network of East-West Women (NEWW)–are pleased to announce a call for applications to the second Women's Human Rights Training Institute (WHRTI), 2007-2009. The goal of the Institute is to strengthen the ability of lawyers from Central and Eastern Europe, the Baltic states and the Caucasus to litigate cases concerning women's human rights. The program is comprised of a two-year, four-part series of workshops bringing together the same group of fifteen participants over the course of the training.
International News | June 2007
Center Promotes Reproductive Rights at the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights
[6/13/07]
This May, the Center made its first submission to the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights since gaining observer status in December 2006. In collaboration with our partner, the Federation of Women Lawyers–Kenya, the Center submitted a shadow letter and made an oral statement to the Commission on reproductive rights in Kenya. Elisa Slattery, the Center's legal adviser for the Africa program, also participated in a pre-session Reproductive Health Day, leading a reproductive health panel focused on making the rights contained in the Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa a reality.
One outcome of these pre-session activities was the Commission's adoption of a resolution on reproductive health and rights introduced by Angela Melo, Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Women in Africa. The resolution reaffirms the right to abortion in accordance with the protocol, and calls on states to take all necessary measures to stop the practice of female genital mutilation and reduce maternal mortality.
Center Advocates Reversal of Nicaraguan Abortion Ban
[6/13/07]
On May 17, The Center for Reproductive Rights and Yale University's Allard K. Lowenstein International Human Rights Clinic submitted a joint friend-of-the-court brief to the Supreme Court of Nicaragua. Filed in support of local groups challenging the country's complete ban on abortion, the Center's brief provides a comparative legal perspective. This past October, Nicaragua's congress banned abortion on all grounds, eliminating the only exception under the previous law for women whose lives were at risk.
In May, Lilian Sepúlveda, Legal Adviser for Latin America and the Caribbean, traveled to Nicaragua to meet with local partners and take part in advocacy efforts to inform the public about the human rights implications of Nicaragua’s new abortion law. Her visit, which attracted national press attention, also included a presentation at a forum organized by the Polytechnic University of Nicaragua and the Nicaraguan Feminist Movement.
The Center awaits the decision by the Supreme Court, and will continue its efforts to reverse this dangerous law.
Center Cites Rights Violations in Death of HIV-Positive Woman Following Childbirth
[6/5/07]
Gita Bai, a 30 year-old woman, died on April 2, 2007 when, because she was HIV-positive, doctors at a public hospital in India refused to assist her during childbirth. In response to the violations of Ms. Bai's human rights, the Center submitted a letter to the Human Rights Commission of the state of Madhya Pradesh in support of a petition filed by our partners, the MP Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS (MPNP+) and the Human Rights Law Network, MP Unit, Indore (HRLN, MP). The Center has requested that the Commission respond immediately to this case.
Ms. Bai was evicted from the M.Y. Hospital while in labor after the doctors learned of her HIV status. She subsequently gave birth in a vehicle on her way out of the hospital. When she attempted to re-enter the hospital after delivering her baby, the guards were ordered to block the doorway, thereby preventing her from receiving life-saving treatment. When she was finally admitted, two days later, she was denied crucial follow-up care, including nevirapine, a drug used to prevent maternal-infant HIV transmission. After three days of trauma and humiliation, Gita Bai succumbed to the most common causes of maternal death: sepsis and excessive bleeding.
Gita Bai's case is a stark example of the discrimination faced by people living with HIV/AIDS, and reveals the heightened vulnerability of women–especially pregnant women–to abuse and discrimination.
International News | May 2007
Abortion Laws Worldwide
Countries around the world have adopted laws that protect a woman's right to have an abortion. Currently, 61% of the world's people live in countries where induced abortion is permitted on broad grounds or without restriction as to reason.
The Center's fact sheet "The World's Abortion Laws" offers a detailed look at the legal status of abortion in countries worldwide.
International News | April 2007
Center Commends Mexico City Decision to Legalize Abortion in First Trimester
[4/24/07]
April 24, 2007 -- Today Mexico City's legislature voted to make abortion legal in the first trimester, a landmark decision in a region where the procedure is highly restricted. This important change should dramatically decrease the number of women who die or suffer complications from unsafe abortions every year in Mexico City. And though it is groundbreaking, the Mexico City vote aligns with recent progress toward abortion liberalization, both in the region and across the globe. "In passing this law, the legislature has recognized the pressing need to address abortion as a public health issue," said Lilian Sepúlveda, the Legal Advisor for Latin America and the Caribbean at the Center for Reproductive Rights. "This law should enable a woman to go to her doctor's office and get the treatment that is in her best interest, without the interference of political or personal ideologies."
Proposed Polish Constitutional Amendments that Threatened Women's Rights Have Failed
[4/13/07]
In a victory for women's rights, the Polish Parliament rejected several constitutional amendments that had the potential to ban abortion in all circumstances. The amendments sought to extend the Constitution's protection of life and human dignity to the moment of conception. Extending this protection threatened to further restrict Poland's current law, which permits abortion only to save a woman's health and life, in cases of fetal impairment, and when the pregnancy is a result of a crime. Although the majority of the Parliament supported the proposed changes, they were unsuccessful in obtaining the necessary two-thirds vote. The leader of the League of Polish Families, a political party in the ruling coalition, made a statement soon after the voting that his party will continue efforts to strengthen legal protection of fetal life.
The Center and our partner, the Polish Federation for Women and Family Planning, submitted comments to key government officials and members of Parliament arguing that international human rights treaty provisions do not extend "right to life" protections to fetuses and that recognizing the right to life from conception threatens women's basic human rights, including rights to dignity, equality, and privacy.
Abortion Legalized in Portugal
President Cavaco Silva of Portugal recently signed a bill to legalize abortion on request during the first 10 weeks of pregnancy. In March, the Portuguese parliament voted to reform its abortion law, which had criminalized the procedure except when a woman's life or health was at risk and in cases of rape. While Portugal's legal restrictions on abortion were in place, tens of thousands of Portuguese women underwent illegal abortions every year, many under unsafe conditions and some resulting in prosecution. Under the new law, a woman in the first 10 weeks of an unwanted pregnancy will be able to seek safe abortion services without fear of criminal prosecution.
International News | March 2007
Center Applauds Landmark Abortion Decision by European Court of Human Rights
[3/22/07]
The European Court of Human Rights held on March 20, 2007, for the first time, that governments have a duty to establish effective mechanisms for ensuring that women have access to abortion where it is legal. The case centers on the tragic story of Alicja Tysiąc, a Polish woman who nearly went blind because she was forced to continue a pregnancy that threatened her health. "There are thousands of women who are denied access to abortions they need and are legally entitled to in Poland every year," said Christina Zampas, Senior Legal Adviser for Europe at the Center. "This decision means that the Polish government—and other governments in Europe—must take steps to make sure that women like Tysiąc don't needlessly suffer at the whim of doctors."
UN human rights machinery crucial for protecting women's reproductive rights
[3/21/07]
This month, as the UN Human Rights Council meets for its fourth session, it is conducting a review of the "Special Procedures," a system of independent experts who monitor and publicly report on specific human rights situations and themes worldwide. Alarmingly, several states are proposing measures that would weaken the role of these experts.
The Center for Reproductive Rights is concerned by proposed changes that would compromise the ability of Special Procedures to act on behalf of victims of human rights violations. As objective parties who can quickly respond to allegations of human rights violations, these experts have played a critical role in promoting and protecting women's human rights, including their reproductive rights. For example, the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women has brought attention to coercive sterilization as a reproductive rights violation, and the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to health has made a dedicated effort to show governments that reproductive and sexual rights are fundamental elements of the right to health. The Center routinely engages with such independent experts in its legal advocacy, and hopes that their mandates will be further strengthened, not weakened, so that they can continue to monitor and advance women's reproductive rights around the world.
Kenya Must Strengthen and Protect Girls' Reproductive Health and Rights, UN Body Says
[3/12/07]
In its review of Kenya's compliance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Committee on the Rights of the Child issued recommendations on several of the key issues highlighted in a December 2006 shadow letter submitted by the Center and the Federation of Women Lawyers-Kenya.
In its Concluding Observations, the Committee called on the Kenyan government for the following:
- Improved access to sex education and reproductive health services to address rising rates of HIV/AIDS and maternal mortality among adolescent girls.
- Better funding for comprehensive sex education for youth that promotes contraceptive use and includes confidential counseling and testing.
- Free, adequate health and social services for all pregnant women.
- Awareness-raising campaigns that strengthen and enforce the prohibition of harmful traditional practices, such as female genital mutilation and early marriage.
The Committee also noted that the criminalization of abortion in cases of rape and incest—and the difficulties pregnant schoolgirls have in continuing their education—contribute to maternal deaths among adolescent girls. The Center commends the Committee for its strong recommendations; their implementation would significantly improve the lives of girls in Kenya.
Celebrating Victory on International Women's Day
[3/8/07]
Today, on International Women's Day, the Center is celebrating a recent victory, A.S. v. Hungary. A.S., a Hungarian woman of Roma origin, was sterilized against her will in a public hospital in Hungary. This landmark decision, from the United Nations committee that monitors compliance with the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women, establishes that the Hungarian government must pay restitution to A.S. It is a clear declaration in international law that a woman must be the decision-maker about her own fertility.
The Center is also celebrating the release of Gaining Ground, a new resource for advocates promoting law reform at the national level.
India Must Protect Women's Health, UN Body Says
[3/5/07]
In an advanced version of its Concluding Observations released this month, the Committee monitoring compliance with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) voiced concern about high maternal mortality rates, unsafe abortion, and inadequate obstetric and family planning services in India. Maternal mortality accounts for 15% of all deaths of women of reproductive age in that country. The Center called attention to these issues in a shadow letter submitted to Committee members, which highlighted violations of Indian women's sexual and reproductive rights.
Specifically, our letter pointed to the serious risk faced by adolescents and adult women of dying of pregnancy-related causes. It also emphasized lack of access to modern contraceptives, lack of awareness and education about HIV/AIDS, and the prevalence of harmful practices such as child marriage. Furthermore, our letter outlined disturbing evidence of coercion in family planning services as a result of state-level laws and policies that punish couples for having more than two children. A recent Supreme Court case that upheld one such coercive law—denying individuals with more than two children the right to hold or run for public office at the panchayat level—is a tragic example of the state's failure to comprehend the impact of widespread disregard for reproductive health and rights in India.
The Committee urged the Indian government to prioritize decreasing maternal mortality rates by establishing adequate obstetric delivery services and ensuring women access to health services, including safe abortion and comprehensive contraceptive services. The Committee also recommended that the Indian government provide detailed information about the impact of its programs to decrease maternal mortality and improve access to health care. The Center commends the CEDAW Committee for demonstrating its commitment to women's health and rights by raising these important issues and hopes the Indian government will take immediate steps to implement the Committee's recommendations.
International News | February 2007
Center Files Case Against Government of Nepal
[2/27/07]
On February 22, the Center for Reproductive Rights and our partner, The Forum for Women, Law, and Development in Katmandhu, filed a case in Nepal's Supreme Court to force Nepal's government to protect women’s lives. Five years ago Nepal legalized abortion. Yet, five years later, the right to abortion remains a right on paper only. According to the World Disasters Report, neo-natal and maternal mortality claim twenty-five times more lives each year than the lives claimed yearly in Nepal’s decade-long conflict. Complications from unsafe abortion are estimated to account for 20 percent of maternal deaths in health facilities alone—not counting the women who never make it to a hospital. An abortion in a government hospital can cost more than the average monthly salary, and 80 percent of rural women are not even aware that abortion is legal. Women are still dying from unsafe abortion. Rural and poor women are the ones who suffer most.
Melissa Upreti, Legal Adviser for Asia at the Center for Reproductive Rights and a Nepali citizen, joined the fight for abortion rights in Nepal over a decade ago, and is a petitioner on the case. "By failing to ensure that this essential health service is affordable and available, the government is discriminating against women, because only women need abortion. We are asking the government to prove its commitment to women by making safe abortion available and affordable to all women," Upreti said.
Concluding Observations on Nicaragua Released
[2/20/07]
The United Nations Committee monitoring compliance with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) released an advanced unedited version of its Concluding Observations last week, expressing concern about Nicaragua's criminalization of therapeutic abortion. The Committee stated that the ban on abortion could lead more women to seek unsafe, illegal abortions, with consequent risks to their life and health. Specifically, the Committee recommended that the government of Nicaragua remove punitive provisions imposed on women who have abortions and provide them with access to services to manage complications arising from unsafe abortions.
Prior to the release of the Concluding Observations, the Center had submitted a shadow letter to the CEDAW Committee outlining the grave public health consequences and human rights violations resulting from a lack of access to safe, legal abortion in Nicaragua. At the United Nations, Lilian Sepúlveda, Legal Adviser for Latin America, also urged the Committee to call Nicaragua to task for violating women's rights. "Denying access to safe, legal abortion violates the human rights of women recognized in international treaties ratified by Nicaragua," she told the Committee. The Center is continuing its work with local partners to fight for repeal of the ban.
On the Ground in Nicaragua: Lilian Sepúlveda
[2/14/07]
"Every Nicaraguan woman of child-bearing age is at risk," says Lilian Sepúlveda, Legal Adviser for Latin America at the Center, who recently returned from Managua. "Women are scared. Today, in Nicaragua women are dying because of lack of access to therapeutic abortion." Sepúlveda traveled to Managua for a meeting of activists, lawyers and doctors who came together to strategize about legal challenges to Nicaragua's recently passed total ban on abortion. This outrageous ban makes no exceptions, even when a woman's life is at risk. "Doctors are particularly concerned; they face criminal prosecution for trying to save their patients' lives. It's a dangerous situation." Sepúlveda, along with other international legal experts, provided advice on what should be included in the legal challenge, which was brought before Nicaragua's constitutional court on January 8. The challenge requests that the Court declare Law 603, which repealed the only exception to the penal code's ban on abortion, unconstitutional. The court is expected to rule by April of this year.
In January, Sepúlveda went to the UN, where she asked the committee that monitors compliance with the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) to call Nicaragua to task for violating women's rights. "Denying access to safe, legal abortion violates the human rights of women recognized in international treaties ratified by Nicaragua," she told the committee. The Center is continuing its work with local partners to fight for repeal of the ban.
Training Lawyers in Poland on How to Use the European Court of Human Rights
[2/13/07]
This month, in collaboration with the Polish Federation for Women and Family Planning and the Warsaw University Law Clinic, the Center is leading a capacity-building training for Polish lawyers. The four-day session will train approximately 15 lawyers on how to take reproductive rights cases to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).
Throughout Europe, reproductive rights advocates are finding that the ECHR has tremendous potential to advance reproductive rights in the region. In fact, one case currently pending before the Court may do just that. Tysiąc v. Poland centers on a Polish woman who is severely visually impaired and was denied an abortion that would have prevented further irreversible damage to her eyesight. While abortion is legally restricted in Poland, it is permitted to avert threats to a pregnant woman’s physical health, such as the one the applicant faced. The Tysiąc case, in which the Center filed an amicus brief, was recently declared admissible by the Court, and is expected to be decided this year.
International News | January 2007
Two new reports now available from the Center!
Gaining Ground: A Tool for Advancing Reproductive Rights Law Reform > >
Litigating Reproductive Rights: Using Public Interest Litigation and International Law to Promote Gender Justice in India > >
International News | December 2006
NEPAL DRAFT CONSTITUTION RECOGNIZING REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS IS ADOPTED
On December 16, 2006, Nepal's interim constitution was agreed upon by national political leaders. The interim constitution recognizes the right to reproductive health and other rights relating to reproduction as fundamental rights. This recognition constitutes a major political victory for women. It also marks the first time that a government in the region has explicitly recognized women's reproductive rights as fundamental rights in a national constitution. The Center is pleased that the constitution has been adopted. "If the government's own official estimates are correct, more women have died due to pregnancy in the last decade than men and women due to the armed conflict. Most of these deaths could have been prevented," said Melissa Upreti, Legal Adviser for Asia at the Center. "The recognition of women’s reproductive rights as fundamental rights is a bold and timely step in the right direction."
The constitutional recognition of women's rights to reproductive health, freedom from violence and discrimination, equal property, and proportionate representation at all levels of government marks significant progress. The interim constitution will provide the starting point for a new constitution, which is expected to be completed by 2009. The Center and its partners will work to ensure that the current provisions are included in the new draft constitution and lobby for the recognition of pregnancy, marital status, gender, and age as prohibited grounds of discrimination. "This commitment must now be translated into reality through concrete policy measures," Upreti said. "The support of government officials, civil society and donors will be critical."
Upreti had submitted recommendations to the Interim Constitution Drafting Committee (ICDC) advocating for inclusion of reproductive rights in the text. Advocate Chhatra Gurung, a member of the ICDC and the Legal Aid and Consultancy Center, a long-time NGO partner, played an instrumental role in advancing the recommendations. Another long-time partner of the Center, the Forum for Women, Law and Development in Katmandu, gave strong support to the recognition of women's health rights in the drafting process.
BIG STEP FORWARD FOR NEPALESE WOMEN
December 18, 2006, on the 27th anniversary of CEDAW, the Government of Nepal ratified CEDAW's Optional Protocol. Now Nepali women have the power to bring claims of gender discrimination directly to the UN committee that monitors compliance with CEDAW. Women in Nepal experience many reproductive health problems due to discrimination, and the Center for Reproductive Rights would like to congratulate the Nepali government for empowering women to use the leading international women's rights mechanism to obtain justice when domestic remedies fail.
Discrimination impacts many aspects of women's reproductive lives in Nepal. The country has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world, with 740 women dying per 100,000 live births. Most women still do not use modern contraceptives. Child marriage is common, and HIV/AIDS is spreading fast.
The Nepali government's willingness to hold itself accountable to women and to international bodies such as CEDAW is admirable, and provides hope for the women of Nepal. Our partner, the Forum for Women Law and Development (FWLD), has played a major role in Nepal’s ratification of the CEDAW Option Protocol by lobbying the government extensively. The Center is working closely with FWLD to develop strategic litigation on reproductive rights in Nepal.
CENTER GRANTED OBSERVER STATUS BEFORE THE AFRICAN COMMISSION ON HUMAN AND PEOPLES' RIGHTS
December 12, 2006 -- Last month, the Center was granted observer status before the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights. The Commission is a regional human rights mechanism charged with promoting and protecting human rights throughout the African continent and with monitoring compliance with the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights and its protocols, including the Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa which provides broad protections for reproductive rights. Observer status provides us with an opportunity to engage more closely with the Commission on reproductive rights issues through such activities as attending and participating in sessions of the Commission, submitting shadow reports and other information, and having greater access to Commission documents. Our application was considered at the Commission’s 40th session, which took place from November 15-29 in Gambia.
Banning Contraception in the Philippines
December 11, 2006 -- In the Philippines, the government is currently reviewing a bill that seeks to impose penalties for the production, selling, and distribution of so-called abortifacients. In its definition of "abortive" drugs and devices, the bill includes oral contraceptives, emergency contraception, injectables, and IUDs, banning these commonly used forms of contraception.
In response to this alarming proposal, the Center submitted a letter in December to the committee responsible for reviewing the bill, stating that the bill’s characterization of commonly used contraceptives as "abortive" drugs and devices has no scientific or legal basis. Our letter further argues that restricting access to the full range of contraceptive methods violates women's basic human rights. The letter cites international treaties, concluding observations from UN treaty monitoring bodies, and the recent decision by Colombia's Constitutional Court on abortion. While the passage of the bill does not seem imminent at this point, the Center's analysis provides an important human rights perspective against a reprehensible proposal which, if it were to become a reality, would be devastating to women's reproductive rights in the Philippines and would set an awful precedent in the current context of growing fundamentalism against women's reproductive and sexual rights.
Read the Center's letter > >
Inter-American Commission issues Landmark Statement Declaring that Nicaragua's Abortion Ban Jeopardizes Women's Human Rights
[12/1/06]
December 1, 2006 -- On November 30, 2006 the Center for Reproductive Rights learned that the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights had released a statement declaring that Nicaragua's recently passed abortion ban is contrary to international law and threatens women's human rights. This statement, addressed to the Nicaraguan government, was released prior to the ban becoming law and is the first ever issued by the Commission on abortion. It comes after years of legal advocacy by the Center, and follows two other victories in abortion cases in the region in the last year. "Governments considering violating women's rights by banning abortion will be called to task. The world is watching, the international community is watching, and human rights bodies are watching," said Luisa Cabal, Director of the International Legal program at the Center.
International News | November 2006
Victory in Landmark Reproductive Rights Case Before CEDAW
November 9, 2006 -- While undergoing surgery in connection with a miscarriage in a public hospital in Hungary, A.S., a Hungarian woman of Roma origin, was asked to sign a statement of consent to a caesarean section. The statement also contained a barely legible handwritten note containing the Latin word for sterilization. It was only after she was sterilized that A.S. discovered that she could never become pregnant again. Her inability to have children has caused her great suffering.
Today, the United Nations committee that monitors compliance with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women found Hungary in violation of the Convention for its failure to protect A.S.'s reproductive rights. The decision establishes that failure to ensure that women provide their full and informed consent to be sterilized violates their most basic human rights. It marks the first time an international human rights tribunal has held a government accountable for failing to provide necessary information to a woman to enable her to give informed consent to a reproductive health procedure. "The practice of coercive sterilization must be stamped out globally," says Christina Zampas, Legal Adviser for Europe at the Center for Reproductive Rights. "Now we have clear precedent in international law, and women whose rights have been violated have a legal tool to fight back with."
The Center filed an amicus curiae brief in A.S. vs. Hungary, a case brought by the European Roma Rights Center (ERRC) and the Budapest-based Legal Defence Bureau for National and Ethnic Minorities (NEKI) on behalf of A.S. The case was brought before the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.
International News | October 2006
Center Supports Case on Behalf of Nepalese Girls
The Center was recently invited to submit a memorandum in support of a case in Nepal that centers on a harmful traditional practice. The Nepalese practice of kumari pratha involves appointing a girl as young as two years old to assume the role of a "living goddess" until she attains puberty.
Separated from their parents, Kumaris adhere to strict religious rules and rituals that impose severe restrictions on their mobility, diet, access to health care and education. The practice also interferes with their rights to marry and establish families, as spouses of Kumaris are believed to suffer misfortune or die young. Our memorandum, which was submitted to Nepal’s Supreme Court in October, argues that the practice represents an institutionalized form of discrimination against girls.
Many reproductive rights violations are rooted in harmful cultural practices and religious beliefs. The Center's memorandum to the Court demonstrates that under international human rights law, enjoyment of the right to cultural and religious freedom cannot be protected by governments at the expense of other basic human rights. On October 31, Nepal's Supreme Court heard the case and ordered the government to form a committee to investigate the harmful impact of the practice and offer recommendations for reform.
Center Condemns Passage of Nicaragua's Abortion Ban
October 26, 2006 --On October 26, Nicaragua's congress passed a complete ban on abortion. The ban offers no exceptions for women's health, for victims of rape or incest—or even for women whose lives are at risk. By passing this outrageous ban Nicaragua has joined the ranks of Chile and El Salvador, the only countries in the world to have imposed total abortion bans in the last 20 years. It now awaits signature by the president in order to become law. "This movement backwards comes at a time when Nicaragua already has an extremely high rate of maternal mortality, largely due to illegal and unsafe abortion. Yet, instead of lawmakers acting to adopt measures that protect women, they have chosen to send the message that they don't care if women die," said Luisa Cabal, Director of the International Legal Program at the Center.
UN Report on Violence Against Women Highlights Center's Cases
On July 6, 2006, the UN Secretary General released an in-depth study on all forms of violence against women. The study calls for local, national and international efforts to eradicate violence and identifies ways to eliminate the gap between States' obligations under international norms, standards and policies and their inadequate and inconsistent implementation at the national level.
The report specifically points to unsafe abortion and forced sterilization as women's rights abuses. The Center was a member of a task force that provided input on the study. Our submission described how accountability mechanisms can be used to address violence against women, focusing on cases involving violations of sexual and reproductive rights.
The UN report highlighted two of the Center's cases—María Mamérita Mestanza Chávez v. Peru and KL v. Peru—as examples of important international jurisprudence on violence against women. The Center is encouraged by the UN’s focus on these issues of critical importance to women.
Read the report in:
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Chinese |
French |
Spanish |
Russian
International News | September 2006
TRAINING LAWYERS IN INDIA AND NEPAL
September 2006
In August, the Center, in collaboration with our local partners, the Human Rights Law Network and the Forum for Women, Law and Development, conducted multi-day capacity building trainings for lawyers in India and Nepal. The trainings, the first of their kind in the region, provided information about international and comparative legal norms and jurisprudence. They are part of the Center's long term strategy to build the capacities of regional legal organizations to do strategic reproductive rights litigation and engage with international mechanisms and national human rights bodies. Approximately forty lawyers traveled from various parts of India and Nepal to participate. By sharing information about successful legal approaches in different parts of the world, the Center works with local experts to develop creative legal strategies to address rights abuses. Based on positive feedback from participants, the Center will develop a more in-depth series of trainings in the region and support litigation initiatives.
CENTER SHADOW LETTERS SEE RESULTS AT UN
September 2006
The Center for Reproductive Rights submitted shadow letters during the 35th and 36th sessions of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) highlighting violations of reproductive and sexual rights of women in China, Malaysia, Mexico, and the Philippines. Delegations from these countries reported to the Committee on their governments' efforts to fulfill treaty obligations under the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, a key UN treaty established to further women’s right to nondiscrimination and gender equality. The Committee has since released its Concluding Observations, calling attention to several concerns raised in the Center’s shadow letters.
International News | August 2006
CENTER FOR REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS ANNOUNCES NEW ARABIC LANGUAGE PUBLICATIONS ON WEBSITE
[8/31/2006]
One of the only online resources for reproductive rights information in Arabic
With support from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, we have expanded the Arabic language section of our website with nine new translations of our key publications. These resources provide information and advocacy tools on a range of reproductive health and rights topics, including contraception, abortion, female genital mutilation, the Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa, UN treaty monitoring bodies, and issues affecting adolescents, refugees, women with disabilities, and HIV-positive women. The website, launched earlier this year, now features a total of 14 publications, as well as background information on reproductive health and rights issues.
CENTER HIGHLIGHTS REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS AT TORONTO INTERNATIONAL AIDS CONFERENCE
[8/13/2006]
From August 13 - 18, 2006, the 16th Annual International AIDS Conference will convene in Toronto, Canada to focus on the promises and progress made to scale-up treatment, care and prevention of HIV/AIDS.
The Conference will highlight model programs, discuss key challenges and their potential solutions, facilitate the exchange of information, and acknowledge countries and organizations that are successfully addressing these issues. As governments around the world respond to the AIDS pandemic, pregnant women are increasingly at the center of global prevention efforts. The Center seeks to ensure that these women’s reproductive rights are not ignored and that governments implement health programs with a keen awareness of the experiences of women living with HIV/AIDS. At the Conference, the Center will give presentations on "Claiming Rights for Women in HIV/AIDS" and "Human Rights Advocacy and Accountability" to leaders in science, government, and the community.
To learn more about the connection between HIV/AIDS and reproductive rights, please visit:
Global Law Reform Consultation in Mexico City, Mexico.
On April 26-27, 2006, in furtherance of the Center's strategy to promote reproductive rights law reform globally, the Center hosted an expert consultation in Mexico City to discuss the needs of advocates pursuing legal change in countries around the world.
The consultation, co-sponsored by Grupo de Informaciõn en Reproducciõn Elegida (GIRE), a reproductive rights NGO based in Mexico, brought together six high-level law reform advocates from Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America. At the meeting, experts, Center staff and observers discussed the resources currently available to advocates and the unmet needs of groups working to effect legislative and regulatory change in their countries. The experts provided direct feedback on the Center's forthcoming comparative legal resource publication, Gaining Ground, which is aimed at supporting law reform worldwide. The publication, which will be available by the end of 2006, presents advocates with information and policy examples to help translate international reproductive rights norms into national laws and policies.
African Protocol Enters into Force
Signaling a milestone for women's reproductive rights, on October 26, 2005, Togo became the 15th country to ratify the Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa. Now with the required number of ratifications, the Protocol will enter into force within 30 days.
The Protocol, which supplements the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, is a landmark treaty that provides broad protection for women's human rights, including their sexual and reproductive rights. It also contains a number of global "firsts," including explicit articulation of a woman's right to abortion when pregnancy results from sexual assault, rape, or incest; when pregnancy endangers the life or health of the woman; and in cases of fetal defects that are incompatible with life.
The other countries that have ratified the Protocol are Cape Verde, The Comoros, Djibouti, The Gambia, Lesotho, Libya, Malawi, Mali, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa and Benin.
The Center's new briefing paper The Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa: An Instrument for Advancing Reproductive and Sexual Rights explains how the Protocol can be used to protect and enforce reproductive rights in Africa. It is a valuable resource for women's health and rights advocates both within and beyond Africa.
INTRODUCTION TO THE CENTER'S INTERNATIONAL LEGAL PROGRAM
The Center for Reproductive Rights engages in international, regional, and national-level advocacy, policy analysis, legal research, public education, and international litigation with the goal of advancing women's equality throughout the world and ensuring that all women have access to a full range of freely chosen reproductive health services.
In particular, we seek to ensure that national-, regional-, and international-level discussions of women's reproductive rights occur within a human rights framework. Moreover, we aim to contribute to the development of robust legal and policy foundations for reproductive rights in all of the regions and countries where we work.
In collaboration with numerous women's organizations, the Center for Reproductive Rights currently is actively involved in advocacy efforts in the regions of Africa, Asia, East Central Europe and the former Soviet Union, and Latin America and the Caribbean.
