CSBR News on Sexual & Bodily Rights

Global Advocates: Family Planning Summit Must Put Women’s Human Rights First

Five international organizations urge world leaders to prioritize women’s human rights and comprehensive health care for all women at July summit 

06/19/2012—(PRESS RELEASE) International human rights groups are urging world leaders attending next month’s global Family Planning Summit to ensure that any effort to increase the use of contraceptives be a part of a broader strategy to improve comprehensive sexual and reproductive health care and uphold sexual and reproductive rights for all women.

While contraceptive information and services are an essential part of the health services that women need throughout their lives, efforts to increase family planning services can have negative consequences if women’s fundamental human rights and reproductive autonomy are not protected—according to the joint statement issued today by the Center for Reproductive Rights, Amnesty International, the International Women’s Health Coalition, Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era (DAWN), and Realizing Sexual and Reproductive Justice (RESURJ).

Experts at these respected organizations have long found that severely negative consequences— including forced sterilization and coerced use of contraception—can result from family planning policies that condone or unintentionally lead to pressuring women to use contraceptives. Further, the summit’s primary focus on contraception must not divert attention from other reproductive health challenges that women face, including the denial of essential health care services to young, poor, and marginalized women.

 Over 320 organizations, groups and individuals from more than 80 countries have endorsed the call for the Family Planning Summit and its organizers—the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the U.K. Department for International Development (DFID)—to pay greater attention to women’s human rights.

“It is long past time world leaders came together to find solutions for the millions of women across the globe without real options and education when it comes to reproductive health and contraceptives,” said Nancy Northup, president and CEO for the Center for Reproductive Rights. “This initiative is critical to that effort, but lasting solutions must improve the full range of sexual and reproductive health care services available to women, so they can make the best decisions possible about their health and their family’s health.”

 “We welcome more funding for family planning services, but not if it comes with targets and incentives for doctors to pressure women to ‘accept’ contraceptives,” said Françoise Girard, President of the International Women’s Health Coalition. “That formula leads to coercion of women, plain and simple.”

The groups identified several critical steps summit organizers and attendees can take to protect women’s reproductive autonomy and human rights in family planning programs; including developing initiatives that do not have unnecessary contraceptive quotas that could lead to coercive measures.

“Women’s rights to health, to life, and to live free from discrimination must be at the center of any discussions regarding family planning—a failure to do so can have serious consequences, ” Rajat Khosla, policy coordinator for health at Amnesty International.

Women, including young women, must have a clear role in the development and implementation of family planning programs. The groups stressed the importance of accountability and the ability to track and monitor family planning programs’ impact on women and their rights.

“Family planning cannot be a silo provided by itself, but must be integrated into overall sexual and reproductive health services and with the utmost protection and promotion of women’s human rights,” said Gita Sen, executive committee member of DAWN. “Civil society organizations cannot act alone as a watchdog for these critical issues; programme monitoring and evaluation need to include strong in-built mechanisms and indicators to ensure the highest standards of accountability.”

 “Sexually-active adolescent girls and young unmarried women must have access to condoms and other contraceptives methods to protect their health and avoid unintended pregnancies. Services that are tailored to adolescent and young women’s needs must be front and center at the Family Planning Summit,” said Ximena Andion, member of the Coordination team at RESURJ. 

The Family Planning Summit, which is scheduled to be held on July 11 in London, has a stated goal of giving an additional 120 million across the globe access to family planning information, services, and supplies by 2020.

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The Center for Reproductive Rights is a global legal organization dedicated to advancing women’s reproductive health, self-determination and dignity as basic human rights.

The International Women’s Health Coalition (IWHC) promotes and protects the sexual and reproductive rights and health (SRRH) of all women and young people, particularly in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, by helping to develop effective health and population policies, programs, and funding.

Amnesty International is a Nobel Peace Prize-winning grassroots activist organization with more than three million supporters, activists and volunteers in more than 150 countries campaigning for human rights worldwide.

Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era (DAWN) is a network of feminist scholars, researchers and activists from the economic South working for economic and gender justice and sustainable and democratic development.

RESURJ is an international alliance of feminist activists seeking full implementation of international commitments to secure all women’s and young people’s sexual and reproductive rights and health by 2015.

CSBR Statements

Say NO to safeguarding “traditional values” over women’s human rights!

STATEMENT OF FEMINIST AND WOMEN’S ORGANISATIONS ON THE VERY LIMITED AND CONCERNING RESULTS OF THE 56TH SESSION OF THE UN COMMISSION ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN[1]

We, the undersigned organisations and individuals across the globe, are alarmed and disappointed that the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) failed to adopt agreed conclusions at its 56th session. This failure has diminished the considerable work, energy, time and costs that women all over the world invested on the 56th session of the CSW.  The advancement of women’s human rights should not be put on hold because of political battles between states.  We say NO to any re-opening of negotiations on the already established international agreements on women’s human rights and call on all governments to demonstrate their commitments to promote, protect and fulfill human rights and fundamental freedoms of women.

We  are particularly concerned to learn that our governments failed to reach a consensus on the basis of safeguarding “traditional values” at the expense of human rights and fundamental freedoms of women. We remind governments that all Member States of the United Nations (UN) have accepted that “the human rights of women and of the girl-child are an inalienable, integral and indivisible part of universal human rights” as adopted by the 1993 World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna.   Governments must not condone any tradition, cultural or religious arguments which deny human rights and fundamental freedoms of any person.  After more than 60 years since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) was embraced and adopted by the UN, the relationship between traditional values and human rights remains highly contested.  We affirm the UDHR as not only ‘a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations’ but a common standard of assessment for all traditional values.  The UDHR is an embodiment of positive traditional values that are universally held by this community of nations and are consistent with the inherent dignity of all human beings.  We remind governments that under the Charter of the United Nations, gender equality has been proclaimed as a fundamental human right.  States cannot contravene the UN Charter by enacting or enforcing discriminatory laws directly or through religious courts nor can allow any other private actors or groups imposing their religious fundamentalist agenda in violation of the UN Charter.

“No one may invoke cultural diversity to infringe upon human rights guaranteed by international law, nor limit their scope.  Not all cultural practices accord with international human rights law and, although it is not always easy to identify exactly which cultural practices may be contrary to human rights, the endeavour always must be to modify and/or discard all practices pursued in the name of culture that impede the enjoyment of human rights by any individual.” (Statement by Ms. Farida Shaheed, the Independent Expert in the field of cultural rights, to the Human Rights Council at its 14th session 31 May 2010)

Amongst other things, it is alarming that some governments have evoked so-called “moral” values to deny women’s sexual and reproductive health and rights. Sexual and reproductive rights are a crucial and fundamental part of women’s full enjoyment of all rights as well as integral to gender equality, development and social justice.  Social and religious morals and patriarchal values have  been employed to justify violations against women. Violence against women, coercion and deprivation of legal and other protections of women, marital rape, honour crimes, son preference, female genital mutilation, ‘dowry’ or ‘bride price’, forced and early marriages and ‘corrective rapes’ of lesbians, bisexuals, transgender and inter-sexed persons have all been justified by reference to ‘traditional values’.

We remind governments that the CSW is the principal global policy-making body dedicated exclusively to gender equality and advancement of women with the sole aim of promoting women’s rights in political, economic, civil, social and educational fields.  Its mandate is to ensure the full implementation of existing international agreements on women’s human rights and gender equality as enshrined in the Convention on  the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women, the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the International Conference on Population and Development Programme of Action as well as other international humanitarian and human rights law.

We strongly demand all governments and the international community to reject any attempt to invoke traditional values or morals to infringe upon human rights guaranteed by international law, nor to limit their scope.  Customs, tradition or religious considerations must not be tolerated to justify discrimination and violence against women and girls whether committed by State authorities or by non-state actors.  In particular, we urge governments to ensure that the health and human rights of girls and women are secured and reaffirmed at the coming Commission on Population and Development and the International Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20).  Any future international negotiations must move forward implementation of policies and programmes that secure the human rights of girls and women.

We call upon the member states of the UN and the various UN human rights and development entities to recognise and support the important role of women’s groups and organisations working at the forefront of challenging traditional values and practices that are intolerant to fundamental human rights norms, standards and principles.

 

ASIA PACIFIC FORUM ON WOMEN, LAW AND DEVELOPMENT (APWLD)

ASSOCIATION FOR WOMEN’S RIGHTS IN DEVELOPMENT (AWID)

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S HEALTH COALITION (IWHC)

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S RIGHTS ACTION WATCH ASIA PACIFIC (IWRAW ASIA PACIFIC)

WOMEN LIVING UNDER MUSLIM LAWS (WLUML) / VIOLENCE IS NOT OUR CULTURE CAMPAIGN

COALITION FOR SEXUAL AND BODILY RIGHTS IN MUSLIM SOCIETIES (CSBR)

WOMEN’S AID ORGANIZATION (WAO)

WOMEN FOR WOMEN’S HUMAN RIGHTS (WWHR) – NEW WAYS

ASSOCIATION TUNISIENNE DES FEMMES DEMOCRATES (ATFD)

PILIPINA LEGAL RESOURCES CENTER

MUNTADA – ARAB FORUM FOR SEXUALITY EDUCATION AND HEALTH

 

This will be submitted to UN Member States, CSW and other relevant UN human rights and development entities.Endorse here. The deadline 5 April 2012.

More information:

Download the statement here: Statement from Women’s Organisations on CSW

Click here to read statements from Norway and the EU supporting women’s human rights

Click here to read UN Women’s Michele Bachelet “Impasse at CSW deeply regrettable”

For the statement in French

For the statement in Spanish

[1] Drafted by Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development (APWLD), Association For Women’s Rights in  Development (AWID), International Women’s Health Coalition (IWHC), International Women’s Rights Action Watch Asia Pacific (IWRAW Asia Pacific) and Women Living Under Muslim Laws (WLUML)/ Violence is Not Our Culture Campaign.