The criminalisation of abortion is taking an increasing toll in my country. Women die because of lack of access to life saving abortion care, the entire hospitals rely illegally on the consciousness clause. The recent police intervention in the case of a woman who took an abortion pill and another who miscarried show how the restrictive legal and policy environment is facilitating the abuse of powers by authorities, and legitimising the refusals of care by medical providers.
The relationship between health, race, caste, class and gender is rooted in colonial, patriarchal and capitalist control over women’s sexuality, reproduction and bodies and produces distinct experiences of oppression that are often fatal. Racialised women are specifically targeted by harmful stereotypes, the essentialisation of women to their reproductive capacities, forced sterilisation, forced pregnancies and chromosomal testing in sporting events through state interventions or purposeful inaction. This has profound impacts on their health and human rights.
This submission argues that one of the essential elements to “profoundly transform economies to make them greener, fairer and more inclusive” is to review the current macroeconomic system, which itself is a continuation of the historical and ongoing consequence of colonialism: its impact on people and to embark on a radical global system change - one which places people and the planet before profits.
Summary of the submission to the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) to inform the elaboration of General Recommendation no 37 on racial discrimination and the right to health
Submitted by: Sexual Rights Initiative (SRI), National Council of Women Leaders (NCWL), Dalit Human Rights Defenders Network (DHRDNet), International Dalit Solidarity Network (IDSN), The Association for Women’s Rights in Development (AWID), Her Rights Initiative (HRI), and Alisa Lombard
The 52nd session of the UN Human Rights Council will take place from 27 February to 4 April 2023.
Below you can find information about:
Anticipated sexual rights-related resolutions, panels and reports
UPR outcomes
SRI’s online events taking place during the 52nd session
As we embark on another year of activism for sexual rights, we wanted to share with you our highlights of 2022. While the UN human rights system continues to be confronted by multiple challenges –from funding shortages, geopolitical tensions and polarisation and attempts to undermine multilateralism to the presence and influence of regressive and conservative actors, we have made steadfast progress in advancing sexual rights in this system. Read below for our highlights of 2022.
The 42nd session of the Universal Periodic review begins on the 23rd of January 2023. The working group session will take place from 23 January to 3 February 2023. 13 Countries will be under review during the session: Czechia, Gabon, Benin, Switzerland, Argentina, Ghana, Guatemala, the Republic of Korea, Pakistan, Japan, Sri Lanka and Zambia. In collaboration with our partners, the SRI collaborated on reports for Guatemala, Japan, Pakistan, Switzerland and Zambia.
The 41st session of the Universal Periodic review begins on the 7th of November 2022, and this session marks the beginning of the fourth cycle of the UPR. The working group session will take place from 7 November to 18 November 2022. 14 Countries will be under review during the session: Bahrain, Ecuador, Tunisia, Morocco, Indonesia, Finland, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, India, Brazil, Philippines, Algeria, Poland, Netherlands and South Africa. In collaboration with our partners, the SRI collaborated on reports for South Africa, India, Poland and the Netherlands.
In between Human Rights Council sessions, there are many ways activists, movements and organisations can engage the UN human rights system to advance further their advocacy. In this post, we focus on recent calls for inputs by Special Procedures that provide avenues for feminist engagement.
In September 2022, SAT Botswana, a youth-focused organisation, convened a workshop to consult with other youth-led and focused organisations, with ten organisations present. The objective of the meeting was to deliberate and develop a report for the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) on critical issues, focusing on the state of adolescent and youth sexual and reproductive health and rights in Botswana. In addition, the workshop discussed issues concerning adolescents and young people, highlighting some of the increasing sexual health challenges emanating from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 42nd session of the Universal Periodic review begins on the 23rd of January 2023. The working group session will take place from 23 January to 3 February 2023. 13 Countries will be under review during the session: Czechia, Gabon, Benin, Switzerland, Argentina, Ghana, Guatemala, the Republic of Korea, Pakistan, Japan, Sri Lanka and Zambia. In collaboration with our partners, the SRI collaborated on reports for Guatemala, Japan, Pakistan, Switzerland and Zambia.
The 43rd session of the Universal Periodic review begins on 1 May 2023. The working group session will take place from 1 to 12 May 2023. 14 Countries will be under review during the session: France,Tonga, Romania, Mali, Botswana, the Bahamas, Burundi, Luxembourg, Barbados, Montenegro, the United Arab Emirates, Israel, Liechtenstein and Serbia. In collaboration with our partners, the SRI collaborated on reports for Romania and Botswana.
Around the world, health systems and health financing have been eroded, undermined and weakened by decades of neoliberalism, austerity, privatisation and structural adjustment programs and an emphasis on minimising State intervention and relying on a discourse of “personal responsibility.
The rising inequalities, made even starker due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, are a symptom of the failed economic system that prioritises profit over people and impoverishes people. It is very important to look at the impact of the erosion of public systems through privatisation and financialisation and resulting human rights violations and abuses. In particular, to delve deeper into why public health systems were woefully inadequate to deal with the Pandemic.
Current discourse about the nature of sex work in Zambia and the experiences of sex workers is narrow. Discussions on laws criminalising sex work are often informed by arguments on morality. Morality is a complex and subjective issue, heavily informed by patriarchal, religious norms and standards - criminal laws must comply with international human rights standards.
This report is submitted by SEXUAL HEALTH Switzerland and the Sexual Rights Initiative. It examines the human rights situation in Switzerland, with a focus on sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR).
This submission, prepared ahead of the 4th Cycle of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) for the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, examines the challenges faced by the young people living with HIV in Pakistan in relation to HIV, AIDS treatment and human rights.
This joint stakeholder report assesses Pakistan’s progress since its third cycle review in meeting its obligations to respect, protect, and fulfill the sexual and reproductive health and rights obligations it has towards young people, particularly women and transgender persons. The submission focuses on access to safe abortion, the sexual rights of LGBT people, and access to sexual and reproductive health information, education and services.
This report has been jointly prepared by the African Sex Workers Alliance (ASWA), the Sexual Rights Initiative (SRI) and Sisonke, South Africa. It seeks to highlight the existing and ongoing human rights violations against sex workers due to restrictive and punitive laws and policies in South Africa It also outlines South Africa commitment to provision and protection of rights through various national and international mechanisms, including the previous cycle of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) and the relevant recommendations.
This report is jointly submitted by CREA and the Sexual Rights Initiative (SRI). The report outlines the current legal and policy context as relates to sex work - and the threat posed by ongoing legislative and executive initiatives that conflate trafficking with voluntary adult sex work. It focuses on how criminalization of all forms of sex work harms sex workers in India, and violates their fundamental rights as contained in the Constitution of India and in international treaties and norms, exposing sex workers to violence, police harassment, and hindering access to justice and healthcare.
In response to the Special Rapporteur’s call for inputs on racism and the right to health, SRI made a submission advocating for an analysis of racism and the right to health addressing both racism and colonialism as determinants of health and as structural violence.
SRI Statement to the Interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance at the 50th session of the UN Human Rights Council.
SRI statement to Annual full-day discussion on the human rights of women - Panel 2:Human rights-based and gender-responsive care and support systems at the 50th session of the Human Rights Council
SRI, Her Rights Initiative, the Women’s Legal Centre Statement to the Interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
SRI Statement on the commemorative event on the occasion of the 50th session of the HRC.
The Human Rights Council will marked its 50th session through a high-level interactive discussion that provided stakeholders an opportunity to reflect on the achievements made and the lessons learned since its 1st session. The following is SRI's statement to this interactive discussion.
In response to the Special Rapporteur’s call for inputs on violence and its impact on the right to health, SRI made a submission addressing violations of bodily autonomy and the operation of systems of oppression as structural violence
In response to the Special Rapporteur’s call for contributions, SRI made a submission locating the impact of COVID-19 on the right to sexual and reproductive health within a broader context of racial capitalism, patriarchy, colonialism, ableism and austerity.
Action Canada makes this statement also on behalf of the Sexual Rights Initiative during the 47th session of the Human Rights Council.
Action Canada makes this statement on behalf of the Association HERA XXI and the Sexual Rights Initiative.
The Federation for Women and Family Planning's statement on on behalf of the Sexual Rights Initiative during the 47th session of the Human Rights Council.
Initially, in our quest to delve into the subject matter of wellbeing and wellness, we mistakenly used the two words interchangeably. Now, we only use the term wellbeing. This is because ‘wellbeing’ refers to the more holistic aspect of one’s life rather than just the physical health, which is what ‘wellness’ tends to encompass. It was important for us to recognise and appreciate that people’s welfare is affected by so much more than physical health, so many intangible factors like racism, sexism, patriarchy and capitalism that disproportionately affect LBQ women, activists and human rights defenders mobilising on the continent. Our hope is that these groups of people are holistically well.
The SRI collaborated on submissions for Eswatini, Hungary, Samoa, Sudan, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, and Papua New Guinea for the 39th Universal Periodic Review (UPR) session.
This submission reviews bioethics and how it has related to the rights of persons with disabilities. It first highlights how bioethics constitutes its own authority and experts to have a say in the lives of persons with disabilities. Secondly it provides a brief overview of a global feminist approach to bioethics and its contributions to a critique of the field. After highlighting the contributions of women with disabilities to the so-called “bioethical discussions,” the submission recommends to move away from bioethics and adopt a human rights-based analysis.
The Sexual Rights Initiative and partners co-sponsored a side event at the 20th session of the Human Rights Council focusing on criminal laws and women’s right to health. The objective of the event was to provide a forum for States and stakeholders in Geneva to discuss the key findings and recommendations of the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health’s 2011 report to the General Assembly on the criminalization of sexual and reproductive health including abortion.
Learn more about the event here.
UPR Submissions - 15th session
Country: Afghanistan
Collaborators: SRI, Afghan Family Guidance Association & International Planned Parenthood Federation (South Asia Regional Office)
Key Words: HIV/AIDS; People who inject drugs; Discrimination; Stigma; Health Systems Strengthening; Access to Services; Education; Availability of Services; Accessibility of Services.
Country: Cambodia
Country: Chile
Collaborators: SRI, Organizando Trans Diversidades
Key Words: Identidad de género; orientación sexual; personas trans; reasignación registral; discriminación; violencia; acceso a la salud; educación y trabajo. C
Country: Macedonia
Collaborators: SRI, Margini Coalition, Reactor, Health Education and Research Association
Key Words: Abortion; contraception; antenatal healthcare; access to healthcare for Romani women
In the present report, submitted pursuant to Council resolution 24/6, the Special Rapporteur provides a brief account of his activities since he took office in August 2014.
The main focus of the report is on the work of the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the right to health, focusing on the right to health framework, and the development of the contours and content of the right to health. He then reflects on how he sees the way forward, based on the current context, challenges and opportunities for the full realisation of the right to health.
Human Rights Council – 29th session – June 2015
Item 3: Clustered ID with the Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
Statement by Action Canada for Population and Development
Action Canada makes this statement in collaboration with the Sexual Rights Initiative.
HRC32 - ITEM 3 - Report of the Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard...
Human Rights Council – 34th session
Guided by the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations, Reaffirming the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and recalling the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities,
Item 6: Consideration of Malta’s UPR Outcome - Statement by Action Canada for Population and Development
Country: Ireland
Collaborators: SRI, Irish Family Planning Association
Key Words: Abortion; Criminalization; Right to Health; Discrimination
Country: Lithuania
Collaborators: SRI, Family Planning and Sexual Health Association
Key Words: Sexuality Education; Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights of Young People
Country: Venezuela
Country: Bolivia
Collaborators: SRI, Clayvert Alcon Saavedra
Key Words: Sexual Orientation; Gender Identity; Sex Work; Discrimination; Access to Health Services; Violence
Country: Bosnia and Herzegovenia
Collaborators: SRI, Organization Q
Key Words: Sexual Orientation; Gender Identity; Sexuality Education; Discrimination; Freedom of Expression; Violence
Country: Fiji
UPR Submissions - 5th session
UPR Submissions - 4th session
In his Preliminary observations during a Country visit to Croatia from 28 November to 6 December 2016, the UN Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, Mr. Dainius Pūras, recognized the importance of sexual rights stating “…I would like to underline that sexual and reproductive health rights are human rights.
Despite several initiatives to improve children’s health and reduce preventable mortality, including, among others, those undertaken to implement the Millennium Development Goals, the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development and the Secretary General’s Global Strategy for Women's and Children's Health, several challenges remain. As noted in the Human Rights Council’s resolution 19/37, more than 7.6 million children under the age of 5 die each year, mostly from preventable and treatable causes.
The right to health is central to the achievement of sustainable development and the realization of all other human rights. This submission focuses on sexual and reproductive health, which are confirmed to be “integral elements of the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health” and yet, often marginalized; for instance, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) added target 5B on ‘universal access to reproductive health’ as late as 2006, and this target is among the ones least likely to be met by 2015.
In response to the Special Rapporteur’s call for input on the right to health, SRI made a submission focusing on the sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) of persons with disabilities. The submission challenges stereotypes surrounding sexuality and disability, outlines some of the common barriers to SRHR experienced by women and girls with disabilities, and advocates for an approach centered on autonomy.
The 36th session of the UN Human Rights Council will take place from the 11th to the 29th of September 2017. Find below information about anticipated sexual rights-related resolutions, panels and reports, UPR outcomes, and parallel events taking place during the 36th session.
The 35th session of the UN Human Rights Council took place from the 6th to the 23rd of June 2017. The HRC35 Recap provides information on some of the key sexual rights related resolutions and oral statements. All of which the Sexual Rights Initiative (SRI) was engaged with during the session.
The 35th session of the UN Human Rights Council took place from the 6th to the 24th of June 2017. The SRI made oral statements related to sexual orientation and gender identity, poverty, women’s rights, peaceful assembly, family, and physical and mental health. Continue reading for complete transcripts of each statement.
Submission by the Sexual Rights Initiative for the Human Rights Council report on the protection of the family and the contribution of families in realizing the right to an adequate standard of living
During the 29th session of the UN Human Rights Council, the SRI collaborated with national-level organizations and advocates to deliver oral statements regarding outcomes from the Universal Periodic Review ‘s (UPR) of Guyana, Kenya, Turkey, and Spain.
During the 29th regular session of the UN Human Rights Council, four UN Special Procedures — the Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and in practice, the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, the Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, and the Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography — sent a letter to the President of the Human Rights Council expressing concerns regarding the debates on the Protection of the Family resolution.
The 29th session of the UN Human Rights Council will take place from the 15th of June to the 3rd of July 2015.
During the 24th session of the UN Human Rights Council, the Sexual Rights Initiative (SRI) collaborated with national-level organizations and advocates to deliver oral statements regarding outcomes from the Universal Periodic Review ‘s (UPR) of Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Canada, Colombia, Russia and Uzbekistan.