The 46th session of the Universal Periodic was held from 29 April to 10 May 2024. 14 Countries were under review during the session: Afghanistan, Cambodia, Chie, Comoros, Cyprus, the Dominican Republic, Eritrea, New Zealand, North Macedonia, Slovakia, Uruguay, Vanuatu, Viet Nam and Yemen. 

In collaboration with our partners, the SRI submitted reports for Cambodia, North Macedonia, Chile and Uruguay. 

The UPR outcome for each State reviewed during UPR 46 will be adopted at the 57th session of the HRC which begins in September 2024. The outcome report indicates which recommendations the State agrees to implement and its responses to other recommendations. 

The adoption of the outcome is the only opportunity for civil society to make an oral statement during the official UPR process. The SRI, in collaboration with partners and allies, will work to ensure that sexual and reproductive rights are visible during this segment of the UPR process.

The intervening period is an opportunity to engage in dialogue with States on accepting relevant recommendations – and, at the same time, not accepting those recommendations that are inconsistent with human rights norms and standards. It is also a means for gaining the support of the media and the general public.

 

Sexual Rights-Related Highlights

Below are some sexual rights-related highlights from each UPR 46 review. Click here for the full list of recommendations made related to sexual rights, including State responses to date. We have noted with interest the breadth of sexual rights issues raised in recommendations this session including on addressing violence against women, digital rights, and on the right to legal gender recognition by self identification.
 

Afghanistan

Deferred:

• Ensure the equal representation and meaningful participation of women and girls from all religious and ethnic groups in all decision-making processes affecting their lives (Kyrgyzstan);                                        
• Develop a comprehensive national healthcare plan that would ensure women and girls access to healthcare services, including sexual and reproductive healthcare services (Slovenia);
• Take steps to ensure women and girl’s access to quality education and active participation in all aspects of public life, as well as desist from committing threats or acts of violence, including arbitrary detention, sexual abuse, or any form of torture, ill-treatment or punishment against women and girls (Denmark);
• Remove misogynist restrictions and edicts and eliminate all barriers, restrictions and discriminatory practices that are based on gender which deny women and girls the exercise of their fundamental rights to education, employment, freedom of movement, peaceful assembly, freedom of expression, participation in public life and enjoyment of public spaces, culture and protection against domestic violence (Costa Rica).

                                         

Cambodia

Read our submission for Cambodia here.

Deferred:

• Strengthen efforts to prevent, investigate and punish cases of human trafficking for sexual and labour exploitation, especially in cyber scam centres, and guarantee sufficient protection and full reparation to the victims, addressing the particular needs of women and girls (Mexico);                                        
• Implement measures to eliminate barriers faced by girls in enrolling and remaining in school at secondary and tertiary levels, and take action to address the persistence of discriminatory stereotypes against women and girls (Zimbabwe);
• Adopt and implement a transparent administrative procedure for legal gender recognition based on self-determination (Iceland);                                        
• Enhance its efforts to prevent statelessness by guaranteeing the birth registration of all persons born in Cambodia and provide legal pathways to citizenship or other forms of legal status for refugees (Gambia).                                      

Chile

Read our submission for Chile here. 

Deferred:                           

• Integrate a gender and human rights approach into public policies aimed at closing the digital divide in all its facets, guaranteeing the privacy and security of people in digital environments (Panama);
•   Modify the provisions relating to the joint marital property regime in the Civil Code in order to guarantee women equal rights in the administration of property (Mexico);  
• Decriminalize abortion, in particular when there is a risk to the physical or mental health of the pregnant woman, or when the pregnancy is the result of incest (Sweden);                                       
• Create a public policy for transgender health and guarantee access to appropriate health services (Iceland).                                       

 

Comoros

Deferred:

• Amend the law on nationality so as to allow foreign nationals to acquire Comorian nationality through marriage (Togo);                                                                      
• Amend the Criminal Code to define marital rape as a stand-alone criminal offence (Iceland);
•  Promote and protect the rights of women and girls, in particular combatting gender-based violence, improve conditions of detention for female inmates, and increase the participation of women in Comoros’ educational, economic and political life (Brazil);                                   
• Ban child, early and forced marriage and enforce the law on the minimum marriage age of 18 years (Iceland).                                      

 

Cyprus

Deferred:

• Take steps to reduce discrimination in employment, housing, education, and access to public services and health care against members of racial and ethnic minority groups, including Roma, as well as against refugees and asylum seekers, persons with disabilities, and LGBTQI+ persons (United States of America); 
• Strengthen support for families to prevent separation, including through parenting support, prevention and early intervention programmes, programmes on positive parenting and communication skills and spaces for family leisure (Kazakhstan);                                    
• Redouble efforts to increase women’s representation in decision-making positions throughout the public and private sectors and to reduce the gender pay gap (Luxembourg);                                        
• Establish a database to collect disaggregated data on all forms of sexual and gender-based violence, as well as related court cases (Panama);                                                                 

 

Dominican Republic

Deferred:

• Repeal article 317 of the Penal Code and so end the detention of women for abortion-related offences, ensure their immediate release, and the provision to them of adequate reparations (Ireland);
• Redouble efforts to adopt a comprehensive sexual and reproductive health policy for adolescent girls; eradicate child labour and commercial sexual exploitation of children (Cabo Verde);
• Provide comprehensive protection to pregnant and lactating Haitian women, ensuring access to prenatal care and health services (Ecuador);                                        
• Adopt measures to guarantee universal birth registration, with a view to preventing and reducing statelessness of boys and girls and ensuring their access to equitable, quality and non-discriminatory education (Brazil).                                     

 

Eritrea

Deferred:

• Introduce a specific legal definition of “discrimination against women” based on international standards in all appropriate legislation (Malta);                                        
• Immediately withdraw immediately its troops from northern Ethiopia to end human rights violations committed by the Eritrean Defence Forces accountable for human rights violations in Tigray, including conflict-related sexual violence (Canada);                                     
• Consider the development of a specific regulatory framework addressing the rights of women and the adoption of a comprehensive strategy to eliminate discriminatory stereotypes and harmful practices against women and girls (South Africa);                                      
• Address intersecting forms of discrimination against women and girls with disabilities and ensure their inclusion and enjoyment of all rights under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (Malawi)              

                       

New Zealand

Deferred:

• Increase efforts to address the disproportionately high number of Māori in prison, including women and young people and to reduce recidivism including by identifying its underlying causes and by revising regulations and policies leading to high rates of incarceration of Māori (Ireland);                                        
• Provide the necessary reparations to the Māori population in the face of the State’s negligence in the care of children in its care and the intergenerational damage caused by physical, psychological and sexual abuse inflicted (Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of));                                     
• Introduce pay transparency legislation requiring all businesses to end pay secrecy, report pay gaps and publish initiative to eliminate pay inequity on the basis of ethnicity, disability, and gender (Netherlands (Kingdom of the));                                        
• Respect intersex children’s right to self-determination and ban medically unnecessary surgeries (Iceland).                                

 

North Macedonia

Read our submission for North Macedonia here.

Deferred:

• Continue efforts to achieve equal pay between the two sexes (Egypt);                                      
• Enhance educational opportunities for girls and women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields and advocate for increased awareness and interest in STEM through targeted campaigns, outreach programs and initiatives (Armenia);                                        
• Address the low representation of women, in particular women from ethnic minority groups, in parliament, municipal councils, central and local government and the armed forces, in particular in decision-making positions (Canada);                                      
• Ensure access to free menstrual health products for all female students in schools, and in all public toilets (Panama);                                        

                       

Slovakia

Deferred:

• Provide capacity-building to law enforcement officials on sex-based and gender-based discrimination (Japan);                                        
• Ensure access to safe abortion by removing legislative and non-legislative barriers, and protecting, rather than restricting, existing rights in the field of sexual and reproductive health (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland);                                     
• Intensify efforts to eliminate and punish the segregation of Roma women in hospital maternity wards as well as verbal and physical abuse by hospital staff against them (Costa Rica);                                        
• Create a legal institution such as a registered partnership or civil union that provides same-sex partners with protection equivalent to that afforded by marriage (Luxembourg).                                   

 

Uruguay

Read our submission for Uruguay here.

Deferred:

• Raise the minimum age of marriage to 18 years, consistent with international standards (Australia);                                        
• Guarantee safe, legal and effective access for women and girls, under equal conditions and regardless of their migration status, to voluntary interruption of pregnancy throughout the country (Mexico);                                        
• Implement legislation prohibiting discrimination against women and take necessary measures to eliminate gender inequalities in access to education, decision making positions, healthcare and the job market (Azerbaijan);                                        
• Allocate the necessary financial and human resources to ensure the effective implementation of Law 19.580 on Gender-Based Violence, including the provision of counselling services, shelters and assistance to victims, and ensure access to justice and the conduct and prosecution of thorough investigations into acts of gender-based violence, including against LGBTQIA+ persons (Switzerland).                             

 

Vanuatu

Deferred:

• Take measures to promote women’s access to employment in the formal sector, with equal pay for equal work, just and favourable conditions of work and adequate social protection, as well as to protect them against the risk of unemployment (Portugal);                                     
• Continue efforts to address climate change and reduce disaster risk with a human rights-based approach, integrating a gender perspective, Indigenous knowledge, and special measures for persons in vulnerable situations (Mexico);                                        
• Ensure women’s equal participation in public and political life, including by adopting temporary quota in the National Parliament and in the provincial, local and municipal councils (Belgium);
• Review the traditional and legal systems to ensure that provisions on women’s rights are consistent with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (Namibia).                              

Viet Nam

Deferred:

• Implement effectively the National Action Plan on the eradication of mother-to-child transmission of HIV and the National Strategy to end AIDS by 2030, including the elimination of all forms of discrimination against people living with HIV (Malaysia);                                       
• Continue to promote women’s participation in STEM fields and support women entrepreneurs, especially in rural areas (Bahamas);                                        
• Guarantee the full respect for the human rights of women and girls, including by criminalizing all forms of gender-based violence against women, including sexual harassment, forced marriage, domestic violence and marital rape (Argentina);                                      
• Expand the definition of gender equality, gender-based violence and gender-based discrimination in the Law on Gender Equality to include persons of diverse sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and sex characteristics (Iceland).                                       

 

Yemen

Accepted:

• Facilitate immediate, safe and unimpeded delivery of humanitarian aid to civilians in need, particularly women, children, and the elderly (Brazil);                                        
• Strengthen legal frameworks and support services for survivors of gender-based violence, and promote women’s participation in political and decision-making processes (Malaysia);                                        
• Make more efforts to enhance the protection of vulnerable sectors, including women, children, and internally displaced people, and strengthen social programs that provide them with protection (Iraq);         

Deferred:                                

• Criminalize all forms of gender-based violence, including sexual harassment, domestic violence, marital rape, child marriage and female genital mutilation (Panama).                                       

Read the full list of
sexual rights-related recommendations