New: The Slovak Government’s Response to Reproductive Rights Violations against Romani Women: Analysis and Recommendations This detailed paper summarizes the government of Slovakia’s response to Body and Soul: Forced Sterilization and Other Assaults on Roma Reproductive Freedom in Slovakia, a human rights fact-finding report, as of May 15, 2003. It also provides recommendations on further action the Slovak government must take. It begins with a summary of the findings of Body and Soul and key developments since the report’s launch. It then describes international support for the report, details flaws in the government’s investigation and ends with a discussion of ongoing civil proceedings. Available online in PDF format. Download the paper now Learn more about, download, or order Body and Soul

The Center for Reproductive Rights works to broaden the use of a rights-based approach to reproductive health, and to recast the discussion of women's reproductive rights in terms of human rights. Women's reproductive rights under international human rights law are a composite of a number of separate human rights:

• the right to health, reproductive health, and family planning
• the right to decide the number and spacing of children
• the right to marry and to found a family
• the right to life, liberty, and security
• the right to be free from gender discrimination
• the right to be free from sexual assault and exploitation
• the right not to be subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment
• the right to modify customs that discriminate against women
• the right to privacy
• the right to enjoy scientific progress and to consent to experimentation

These universally applicable rights are enshrined in human rights treaties and international consensus documents. International human rights treaties are legally binding agreements among nation states to respect the rights of all persons under each state party's jurisdiction. Consensus documents agreed to during international conferences, while not legally binding, reflect international consensus on human rights norms.

The Programme of Action, adopted at the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), was the first major international conference to define the term reproductive rights and affirm the link between existing human rights treaty provisions and reproductive rights. Governments endorsed the following statement at ICPD:

"Reproductive rights embrace certain human rights that are already recognized in national laws, international laws and international human rights documents, and other consensus documents. These rights rest on the recognition of the basic right of all couples and individuals to decide freely and responsibly the number, spacing and timing of their children and to have the information and means to do so, and the right to attain the highest standard of sexual and reproductive health. It also includes their right to make decisions concerning reproduction free of discrimination, coercion and violence, as expressed in human rights documents."

In collaboration with nationally based organizations, the Center for Reproductive Rights advocates for the full realization of reproductive rights as human rights at the national, regional, and international levels.