According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, political instability and other forces have caused more than 22 million refugees to flee their homes. Eighty percent of those refugees are women and children. Rates of maternal mortality and morbidity are extremely high among refugee women and girls, who face:
- unsafe delivery
- lack of prenatal care
- exposure to sexually-transmissible infections (STIs), including HIV/AIDS
- unwanted pregnancies
- rape and other forms of sexual and gender violence.
Fundamental to the protection of refugee women and girls is the promotion of their rights to reproductive self-determination and reproductive health. They have a right to access the following health services:
- safe motherhood
- family planning
- emergency obstetrics
- treatment and prevention of STIs, including HIV/AIDS
- integrated services and protection against sexual and gender violence for refugee women and girls.
The international community and governments have assumed legal obligations to protect the rights of refugees, including their reproductive rights.
The 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) governments agreed to take "[a]ll necessary measures ... to ensure the physical protection of refugees - in particular, that of refugee women and refugee children - especially against exploitation, abuse, and all forms of violence."
Abortion
