NEWS
November 2005
In 2003, the African Union adopted a Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa to supplement the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights. The Protocol, which entered into force in November 2005, provides broad protection for African women’s human rights, including sexual and reproductive rights. The Center's briefing paper explains how the Protocol can be used to protect and enforce reproductive rights in Africa.
PUBLICATIONS
Reports
Female Genital Mutilation: A Matter of Human Rights
An Advocate's Guide to Action
"Our position is that FC/FGM must be acknowledged as a violation of the human rights of women and girls - it cannot be separated from deep-seated and pervasive discrimination against women."
"This practical guide is intended for advocates working to stop the practice of FC/FGM. Its objective is to assist advocates in their efforts to engage their governments in this struggle."
"The international community has generally regarded FC/FGM as a violation of children's rights because FC/FGM is commonly performed upon girls between the ages of four and twelve, who are not in a position to give informed consent."
Female Genital Mutilation: A Guide to Laws and Policies Worldwide
This is the most extensive report currently available on the use of law and policy to address the practice of female genital mutilation (FGM). In encouraging a pro-active governmental response to the practice, the book places it firmly in a human rights and legal framework. The result of a major research report in 41 countries, both North and South, it covers not only the prevalence of FGM but the various laws and other measures in place to prevent it.
The book describes FGM, its history, its consequences for health and the movement now working to combat it. It then reports on each country - its prevalence and governmental measures for its eradication.
Reproductive Rights are Human Rights
Read the report online in English (PDF) > >
Read the report online in French (PDF) > >
The legal foundations for women's reproductive rights are built upon a variety of human rights recognized under international law. This pocket-size booklet delineates ten key human rights, cited from major international legal instruments, which encompass and set the basis for recognition of reproductive rights as human rights.
To order, visit our online bookstore > >
Read the report online in English (PDF) > >
Read the report online in French (PDF) > >
Women of the World: Laws and Policies Affecting Their Reproductive Lives – Francophone Africa
Read the chapter on Cameroon from our report, Women of the World: Laws and Policies Affecting Their Reproductive Lives – Francophone Africa > >
Women of the World: Laws and Policies Affecting Their Reproductive Lives - Francophone Africa, is the result of an in-depth examination of laws and policies affecting women's reproductive health and rights in seven countries of Francophone Africa: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Côte d'Ivoire, Mali, and Senegal.
The report makes clear that although these countries have adopted policies to address many of the reproductive health problems common to the region, including high levels of maternal and infant mortality and high prevalence rates of HIV/AIDS, these policies have not had the desired effect. Women continue to suffer in the face of discriminatory customary laws and practices that undermine their social and economic autonomy. It is recommended that governments should resolve the contradictions between customary laws and statutory laws, and between laws and policies. In the absence of a commitment on the part of national governments to resolve these contradictions or to ensure that those laws already in place are respected and applied, women will continue to face discrimination in those areas that most directly affect their public and private lives.
Briefing Papers
Reporting to Treaty Monitoring Bodies
Organizations like the Center for Reproductive Rights and its partners play an essential role in providing credible and reliable independent information to international human rights treaty monitoring bodies regarding the legal status and real-life situation of women and the efforts being made by governments to comply with human rights treaties. Shadow reports work to supplement, or "shadow," governments' reports on human rights issues by calling attention to their strides, as well as their setbacks.
Regional Partner Organizations
