NEWS
UNITED NATIONS COMMITTEE ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD (CRC) ADDRESSES ADOLESCENT’S SEXUAL AND REPRODUCTVIE RIGHTS IN LITHUANIA
December 2005
United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) addresses adolescent’s sexual and reproductive rights in Lithuania.
In December 2005, the United Nations Children’s Rights Committee, in its review of Lithuania’s compliance with the Children’s Rights Convention, highlighted adolescents’ lack of access to reproductive health services and information in Lithuania.
The Center and its partner, Seimos Planavimo ir Seksualines Sveikatos Asociacija (FPSHA-Lithuania Family Planning Association), drew the Committee’s attention to this issue in a shadow letter that highlighted several concerns, including adolescents’ limited access to family planning and affordable modern contraception. The letter addressed the lack of unbiased and balanced government-funded sexuality education programs in Lithuanian schools and the resulting rapid spread of HIV/AIDS among adolescents. The Center and the LFPA also noted that barriers to adolescent access to reproductive health care services – including access to contraceptives and to medical abortion – compromise adolescents’ health and rights under the CRC.
In its Concluding Observations, the Committee posited many of the issues outlined in our letter. To address these problems, the Committee recommended that the Lithuanian government take steps to make reproductive health and sexuality education and counseling available for adolescents. According to the Committee, doing so would help prevent adolescent pregnancy and raise awareness about contraceptive protection to prevent the spread of STD’s and HIV/AIDS. The Center and the LFPA hope that the Lithuanian Government, in response to the Committee’s recommendations, will take measures to improve the reproductive health of adolescents and better ensure to access to services.
Read the letter > >
PUBLICATIONS
Reports
Women of the World: Laws and Policies Affecting Their Reproductive Lives – East Central Europe
Read the chapter on Lithuania from Women of the World: Laws and Policies Affecting Their Reproductive Lives – East Central Europe
The Women of the World reports are the product of collaboration between the Center for Reproductive Rights and NGOs around the world. Each volume presents regional and national information about the following:
- Laws and policies regarding health, population, contraception, abortion, sterilization, safe pregnancy, HIV/AIDS and other sexually-transmitted infections;
- Women's legal status within marriage, including divorce, custody and property; labor rights; access to credit and education; and the right to physical integrity;
- Reproductive health and rights of adolescents, including the legal status of adolescent marriage, sex education, and sexual offenses against minors;
- Customary and religious laws and practices that influence the status of women and girls.
The reports show that although many countries have adopted laws and policies to promote women's reproductive health and rights, such instruments have not necessarily had the desired effect. The reproductive rights of women around the world continue to be violated on account of discriminatory laws and policies as well as social practices that undermine their reproductive autonomy.
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
