Women's Human Rights Resources Database

This article outlines how the HIV/AIDS pandemic is affecting women's human rights and particularly focuses upon the denial of reproductive rights to HIV positive women. The author argues that there exists a gap in ensuring that non-discrimination principles are applied to HIV positive women in order to protect their reproductive rights. The article also reviews developments in international law concerning women's reproductive rights and considerations of human rights and HIV/AIDS. The final section of the article reviews relevant provisions from the Program of Action of the Cairo International Conference on Population and Development for the protection of women's rights. [Descriptors: Reproductive Rights - HIV/AiDS, International]

This paper examines, through a three-step approach, "culturally challenging" practices of female genital surgeries (FGS). It reviews ways in which the popularization of FGS has raised questions about how this issue is framed, as well as how Westerners and non-Westerners are represented in the popular consciousness. It also explores the positive aspects as well as the pitfalls of using the legal system in combatting surgeries. [Descriptors: Reproductive Rights - Female Genital Cutting, International]

This article focuses on the adverse effects of health-care services user fees on maternal health, providing a human rights perspective. Complications during childbirth and pregnancy are a main source of death and disability among women of reproductive age, particularly in developing countries. User fees were introduced in the 1980s and promoted by the World Bank as a solution to under-funded public health care services that would improve efficiency and equity by increasing revenues. The authors argue that the user fees have an adverse impact on maternal health and should be eliminated by the global community. They hold that, in reality, user fees create barriers to affordable maternal healthcare services, particularly in emergency-care settings, and violate the rights of women to health, life and non- discrimination. The authors then explore alternatives to user fees and make recommendations for eliminating barriers to service and ensuring affordable maternal health services. Margaux J Hall, Aziza Ahmed & Stephanie E Swanson, Answering the Millennium Call for the Right to Maternal Health: The Need to Eliminate User Fees (2009) 12 Yale Human Rts & Dev LJ 62.

This article discusses the treatment of abortion by the European Court of Human Rights, with a focus on A,B,C v Ireland. The article argues that the Court's treatment of abortion has been inconsistent, in that it has refused to address the issue self- determination while only upholding claims that deal with procedural aspects of the right to abortion. In particular, the paper discusses Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, the right to respect for private life, which requires that the state not interfere unjustifiably with a woman's right to make her own choices and provide an effective and realistic procedure to allow a woman to exercise all lawfully available options. Samantha Harper, The Morning After: How Far Can States go to Restrict Access to Emergency Contraception (2006) 38:1 Colum HRL Rev 221.

This article notes that health and human rights impacts of both sexuality and reproductive health are now widely known. It analyzes the role states can and should play in ensuring the realization of women's sexual and reproductive health as part of their responsibility toward the promotion and protection of women's health. In particular, the author discusses how provisions in both the Economic Covenant and the Women's Convention - the potential of which has long been underestimated in this area - could be used to eliminate the causes of gender-related violations of the right to health. [Descriptors: Reproductive Health - Overview, International]

This article notes that reproductive freedom as a matter of concern to the international community is part of a personal right to privacy as well as part of a fabric of social rights which include rights to health care and equality for women. Using the sources of international law as an analytical framework, the author argues that reproductive freedom is now included in the body of protected international human rights; thus, any governmental interference with the individual's exercise of such freedom constitutes an impermissible intrusion into the individual's rights. Part II outlines the rights to privacy, health and equality and posits that these protected peripheral rights include the right to reproductive freedom. Part III reviews domestic abortion laws and practices worldwide and concludes that they establish reproductive freedom as an international right in se. [Descriptors: Reproductive Rights - Reproductive Freedom, International]

The article describes five areas where women's reproductive rights are violated, often related to women's HIV status, age, race, ethnicity, class and sexual orientation. The first area of violation discussed is the requirement for mandatory HIV testing of pregnant women, which may prevent pregnant women from seeking prenatal care. The second area is prevention of mother-to-child transmission, which can focus on the needs of the child to the detriment of the needs of the woman. The third area of violation is coerced sterilization, which involves the forced sterilization of women during other medical procedures. The fourth area is limited access to safe and legal abortions for HIV-positive women. The fifth area of violation is the denial of reproductive health services to HIV-positive women. The author advocates for the use of litigation as a tool to address these violations and advance women's reproductive rights.

This article reviews the impact of the United States foreign policy regarding funding for reproductive health services overseas and the provision of HIV/AIDS services in Africa. Part I of the article discusses the political background of the policy which prohibits funding for organizations which provide information on abortion. Part II outlines legal arguments against the policy. Part III assesses the impact of this policy on organizations providing services to HIV/AIDS patients, with a particular focus on the needs of women. Part IV outlines legal suggestions focused on limiting the negative impact of this policy and concludes that the policy should be fully repealed. [Descriptors: Reproductive Rights - HIV/AIDS, International - Africa]

This presentation discusses current efforts to develop and enforce a human rights norm with regards to preventable maternal death. The author begins by presenting statistical data regarding pregnancy-related deaths, which shows that rates vary starkly with the wealth of the country. Wealthy countries are no longer as vulnerable to pregnancy-related deaths as poor countries, which indicates that dying during pregnancy is preventable. The author argues that the continuation of high maternal death rates is due to a failure of government will. The author calls for the creation and implementation of standards to enforce government accountability in this matter. The presentation concludes with a discussion of some such standards that have already been enforced in different parts of the world.

This article focuses on the mistreatment of women during childbirth and identifies this area of international law as underdeveloped. The author conducts a comprehensive review of the human rights standards in international law pertaining to the mistreatment of women during childbirth. The main categories of mistreatment are physical, sexual, and verbal abuse; stigma and discrimination; care that falls short of professional standards; and poor rapport with providers. The author then identifies more specific forms of mistreatment within each category and the human rights that combat each. The author identifies this research as useful to health care providers and policymakers in identifying forms of mistreatment in order to monitor violations, further goals of accountability, and developing measures to prevent such violations using international legal framework. 

This article focuses on how existing human rights principles can be applied to protect and promote women's sexual autonomy. Part I discusses the extent to which women's rights have been recognized as human rights and how far current understanding of international human rights law goes toward protecting women's ability to exercise their sexual autonomy. Part II applies the human rights methodology to two case studies to analyze the promise and limitations of the present human rights framework for eradicating such violations. The discussion is informed by the ways in which cultural and social attitudes toward female sexuality create the context for such abuses to occur, and how these attitudes affect women's ability to seek redress. Part III proposes steps for strengthening international protection for women's sexual autonomy. [Descriptors: Reproductive Rights - Overview, International]

This article applies feminist theory to an understanding of liberty rights using the Canadian case of R v. Morgentaler case and its claim for reproductive control under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (Section 7). The author begins by examining the reasoning of various judicial opinions delivered in the Morgentaler case. The author then provides an overview of certain tenets of feminist theory in order to establish the premises of the equality-based arguments behind feminist theorizing. Finally, the author draws a connection between the themes underlying feminist discourse and the possibilities for a reconception of liberty through the rights to liberty and security of the person guaranteed in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. [Descriptors: Reproductive Rights - Abortion, Canada]

This article discusses how The United States Board of Immigration Appeals treats asylum claims made based on forced sterilization differently from those based on past female genital mutilation (FGM). While involuntary sterilization is considered automatic ground for asylum, the treatment of claims for asylum made on the basis of FGM is inconsistent. The article discusses the development of the different approaches and offers five reasons for the difference: gender bias, realpolitik, ideological pressure, cultural justifications, and temporal considerations. The author argues that involuntary sterilization and FGM should be treated the same and both should be grounds for asylum, holding that the current inconsistency in the law undermines the integrity of U.S. asylum policy. The article recommends two changes to address this issue: a statutory amendment to the current U.S. policy and an adoption of an integrated theoretical framework grounded in international human rights norms. Carrie Acus Love, Unrepeatable Harms: Female Genital Mutilation and Involuntary Sterilization in U.S. Asylum Law (2008) 40:1 Colum HRL Rev 173.

This article compares contemporary legal developments in Indian reproductive rights with that of Nepal, another South Asian country that has made significant recent progress in that area. The author begins by noting the similarities between both South Asian courts’ sensitivity to the socio-economic inequality that informs reproductive rights within their jurisdictions, arguing that recent Supreme Court decisions go further than the approach in Roe v. Wade to incorporate the notion of dignity in reaching meaningful equality for women. Next, they examine the incomplete and problematic features of criminal legislative frameworks that govern reproductive rights in each region, finding that further statutory reform is needed to combat problematic ideas of women’s autonomy that undermine their ability to have full control over their bodies. The article concludes by highlighting the role of the state to implement reproductive rights and remove barriers marginalised women face in obtaining such services. 

This article explores the tension between the United States immigration policy, which generally excludes those who are HIV/AIDS positive, and the obligations of the US under international refugee law. The author argues that women with HIV/AIDS who are facing persecution in their own countries would constitute a particular social group under the definition of refugee in US law. The article also examines many of the negative perceptions regarding individuals with HIV and argues that focusing on this debate through the lens of asylum would allow for the inclusion of positive rights and freedoms. [Descriptors: Migration - Refugees and Immigration, Reproductive Rights - HIV/AIDS, International]

In this article, the author argues that the continued practice of female genital cutting (FGC) in Africa is a mode of expressing identity and cultural difference. She notes that African women are deeply suspicious of Western interference in African culture. The author then examines various justifications for FGC and finds that the internal rationale for the practice is linked to suppressing women's sexuality or depicting women's sexuality as monstrous or dirty. She theorizes, however, that Eurocentric intervention simply cements the practice and that an Afrocentric resistance, which gives full voice to the colonial concerns of African women, should be developed. [Reproductive Rights - Female Genital Cutting, International - Africa]

This article examines the implications of forced sterilization for HIV-positive women. The author begins by discussing the physical, psychological and social harm that sterilization has on women and goes on to identify international human rights violations that occur with forced sterilization. The second part of the article focuses on the possibility of using litigation to remedy the related rights abuses. The author discusses two cases, the first is pending before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights regarding the use of forced sterilization of an HIV-positive woman in Chile, and the second is before the Namibian High Court regarding the use of forced sterilization in Namibia. The article then discusses how litigation can offer redress for victims of forced sterilization, may prompt policy shifts in governments, and promote respect for reproductive rights. Pooja Nair, Litigating Against the Forced Sterilization of HIV-Positive Women: Recent Developments in Chile and Namibia (2010) 23 Harv Hum Rts J 223.

This article emphasizes that the Southern Africa Development Community Countries (SADC) are all party to international human rights agreements that urge, in strong terms, the importance of access to abortion for the physical, mental and socio-economic well-being of women. In spite of this, the author argues that most SADC countries make abortion available only under the most onerous terms and with a plethora of administrative difficulties that, combined with the critical shortage of doctors, sometimes render even abortion that meets the strict criteria impossible in practice. The author urges SADC countries to liberalize their abortion laws, but further, calls on them to seriously commit resources to ensuring that women are able to exercise this right. [Descriptors: Reproductive Rights - Abortion, International - Africa]

The author seeks to contribute to the debate on female circumcision by articulating perspectives that have been largely ignored. Although the author approves of a strong stand against the more physically harmful forms of female circumcision, she argues that it is problematic to prohibit all forms without understanding the significance of female circumcision to those who take part in it. She points out that female circumcision is of complex symbolic and functional value to both the communities where it is performed and the women on whom it is performed. The author argues that the negative Western reaction to female circumcision is based on a flawed interpretation of its purpose and significance. Looking at methods to contain female circumcision, the author rejects punitive responses as being ineffectual, counter-productive, and possibly harmful to women. The author examines the merits of alternative methods such as education and clinicisation. [Descriptors: Reproductive Rights - Female Genital Cutting, International]

This article first highlights the principal challenges which adolescents may face in obtaining information on sexual and reproductive matters and in gaining access to contraceptive methods and services. The author then attempts to clearly identify which human rights are relevant in the prevention of unwanted pregnancy among adolescents, with particular attention to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). The article also addresses, and endeavours to resolve, the apparent conflict between the competing interests and rights of children and their parents or guardians. The author contends that in light of the legal rights of children and the present day realities of adolescent sexual activity and its consequences, the degree of parental authority with regard to contraceptive information and services sought by a child should be moderated. [Descriptors: Reproductive Rights - Adolescents, International]

This article challenges the legality of government-sponsored population policies targeting Indigenous people from an international human rights’ perspective. The paper analyzes state-sponsored forceful interference with Indigenous people’s reproductive rights across the world with a special focus on Australia and Peru. Such programs threaten the long-term survival of Indigenous peoples. The author argues that international human rights law can play a crucial role in protecting Indigenous people’s reproductive rights through developing effective legal mechanisms for the prevention of future reproductive policies, and reparation for past practices. The paper concludes that Indigenous women’s right to reproductive autonomy must be recognized as an integral component of Indigenous people’s rights to self-determination, to health, and to prior and informed consent under international law.

This article evaluates the impact of gendered stereotypes on abortion reform in Uruguay, determining whether the country’s relatively liberal abortion law further undermines international human rights efforts to suppress harmful stereotypes against women. The author first examines Uruguay’s widely praised legal regime regulating abortion access, situating it as the first of its kind in Latin America. In the following two sections, the author demonstrates Uruguay’s continuing legal obligation to resist damaging stereotypes and critically assesses the country’s parliamentary debates on decriminalization of abortion with relation to the portrayal of women seeking abortion. They argue that while Uruguayan abortion law seemingly upholds liberal values of women’s reproductive freedom, it rests firmly on patriarchal attitudes of the societal role of women.  

Persons with disabilities experience inequalities in reproductive and parenting rights. This article begins with an overview of sexual and parenting rights regarding disabled peoples. The author specifically focuses on the frequency of sterilization amongst disabled populations, and the reasons, provided from multiple different populations, used to justify these procedures. Next, the article examines the obligations of various nations regarding rights to access to reproductive health. Finally, the article concludes by pressing the need for future research to examine the complex issues surrounding the reproductive rights of disabled peoples. 

This article discusses how the legal status of induced abortion helps determine the availability of safe, affordable abortion services in a country, which in turn influences rates of maternal mortality and morbidity. It aims to inform people of both the current status of abortion laws worldwide and the extent to which those laws are changing. The article reviews abortion-related laws in 152 nations and dependent territories and documents the changes in laws since 1985. The authors conclude that a global trend toward liberalization of abortion laws observed before 1985 appears to have continued. Nevertheless, they note that women's ability to obtain abortion services is affected not just by the laws in force in a particular country, but also by the interpretation of these laws, how they are enforced and the medical community's attitude toward abortion. [Descriptors: Reproductive Rights - Abortion, International]