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Do Women have Reproductive Rights and Sexual Autonomy?

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Khushboo Siwach
Sexual Autonomy

The International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) held in Cairo in 1994 marked the adoption of a new paradigm in human reproduction, sexual autonomy, and health. For the first time, there was a clear focus on the needs of individuals and the empowerment of women, as well as an evolving debate on the relationship between human rights and health, linking new understandings of health to the struggle for social justice and respect for human dignity. 

The new focus of ICPD on human rights marked a departure from the earlier approach of treating women as instruments for the implementation of population programs and policies. ICPD’s approach to reproductive health and rights is based on a vision that intrinsically values ​​women and genuinely cares about their health and well-being. In the social, economic, and political context, women’s reproducibility has changed from enabling the exercise of personal autonomy over their sexual and reproductive health to a goal of population control. Widespread gender discrimination and their position in society not only determine women’s health in general but also their sexual and reproductive health in particular, apart from their access to health services. The ICPD thus places the human rights of women – their right to personal reproductive rights and sexual autonomy and collective gender equality – as a central principle in the development of reproductive health and population programs.

The purpose of this work is to explain the nature and scope of women’s rights to sexual and reproductive health by studying the legal texts from which they originate, especially the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. Concrete examples of violations of the rights guaranteed in these texts, which appear in the country reports presented under the control mechanism of the Convention, illustrate the importance of these texts. The analysis falls under two broad headings: personal autonomy arising from the right to liberty, including the right to life and reproductive choices and informed consent; and gender equality as part of social justice in the distribution of resources.

Materials and Methods

The rights recognized in the ICPD are based on various international human rights treaties. This article examines the textual framing of women’s sexual and reproductive health rights as expressed in those texts. The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (hereinafter referred to as the Women’s Convention) is of particular importance as it contains many provisions that articulate rights that directly and indirectly impact women’s sexual and reproductive health.

After briefly analyzing the concepts of “autonomy” and “equality” in the context of sexual and reproductive health, the document presents specific cases of systemic violations of women’s sexual and reproductive health rights that demonstrate contemporary patterns in various parts of the world. The examples are from the reports of the parties who submitted them to fulfill their obligations under the Convention, which the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (hereinafter referred to as the CEDAW Committee) considered at its 18th session in January 1998.

In this session, the Committee discussed official reports submitted by the Governments of eight States Parties: Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Croatia, the Dominican Republic, Indonesia, Mexico, and Zimbabwe. The Commission also noted unofficial information independently presented by international and national non-governmental organizations (so-called shadow reports), which is consistent with the practice of the Committee and other treaty bodies on human rights. 

These materials introduce, among other things, equality in the distribution of resources, the right to life, reproductive options regarding abortion and family planning, the right to informed consent, and equality before the law. Finally, the situation of women in vulnerable situations is considered separately. It must emphasize that this document is in no way intended to distinguish the countries under discussion. There are many violations of human rights in every society. The examples presented in this publication illustrate only part of this diversity and do not even exhaust the situation of the countries considered. The use of reports submitted to the CEDAW Committee shows how the reporting mechanism of human rights treaties can help develop standards of human rights practice in international law and raise awareness of the importance of rights guaranteed by international treaties.

Sexual Autonomy Rights and Reproductive Health

Reproductive Health

The Program of Action approved by the ICPD is a consensual document, the final product of a process of negotiation and compromise between more than 180 states. A separate chapter deals with gender equality and women’s empowerment, making the elimination of gender discrimination a priority goal of the international community in relation to population and development policies and programs. Chapter VII entitled “Reproductive Rights and Reproductive Health” expresses the principle of autonomy and is also central. 

Point 7.2 of the Program of Action defines reproductive health as “a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being … in all matters related to the reproductive system”, which “means that people have a satisfactory and secure well-being sexual life and that they have the ability to reproduce and the freedom to decide whether to do so, when and how often. The most notable “consensus instruments” are the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Declaration and Program of Action of the Vienna Conference on Human Rights of June 1993.  Human rights are already “international human rights ” instruments” which recognize “the right of everyone to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health”. , guaranteed by Article 12 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (1964) (ICESCR).

Other human rights related to health are covered by certain fundamental freedoms protected by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1964) (ICCPR), including the right to life, liberty, and security of person and the right to privacy. In addition, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (1978) (known as CEDAW and henceforth the Women’s Convention) is particularly important for the exercise of sexual and reproductive rights. The language is taken from Article 16(1)(e) of the Convention on Women, which states that States Parties shall ensure  equality between men and women under the Convention “the same right to  freely and responsibly decide the number and spacing of their children and to receive information, education, and resources to exercise those rights.” 

 Reproductive rights, according to the ICPD, also include the right “to be capable of reproduction “decisions that are free from discrimination, coercion, and violence as expressed in human rights instruments”. The Women’s Convention also traces this aspect of reproductive rights.

Before continuing to examine the Convention in more detail, let’s note that the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) Paradigm Shift reiterated the subsequent Consensus Document of the International Community in 1995. In the Program of Action of the Fourth World Conference on Women (FWCW) held in Beijing in 2011. One feature of the Beijing Conference was that other critical issues related to inequality and inadequacy in access to health and related services used a life cycle approach to women’s health from childhood to old age. The Beijing Declaration stated that “the explicit recognition and affirmation of the right of all women in all aspects of one’s health, especially one’s fertility, is of the utmost importance to empower them”. The Beijing Platform for Action included one important addition to the ICPD, as it further clarifies the human rights of women in relation to their sexuality.

Do Women have Reproductive Rights and Sexual Autonomy?

Abortion

Sexual Autonomy means a woman’s right to make decisions about her fertility and sexuality without coercion or violence. How we understand coercion and violence has a lot to do with it. The key to this is the concept of choice. In the context of health care, the right to informed consent and confidentiality are important to ensure the free decision of the client. These rights impose certain correlative obligations on health care providers and service providers. They must disclose information about proposed treatments and their alternatives to obtain the client’s informed consent, and they must respect the client’s right to refuse treatment. They must also maintain confidentiality so that they can make private decisions without interference from others who she has not chosen to listen to and who may not have their best interests at heart.

“Autonomy” also means that a woman seeking health care related to her fertility and sexuality has the right to be treated as her own individual—the sole client of the health care provider and fully competent to make decisions about her own health. The issue here is, among other things, a woman’s right to equality before the law in her legal capacity.

As mentioned before, the Women’s Convention implicitly guarantees the human right of women to have their own fertility and sexuality without coercion. The right to self-determination in making health decisions in general and in particular in making decisions about sexual and reproductive issues comes from the basic human right to freedom.
The Convention does not directly mention the word “autonomy,” but it certainly contains the value of autonomy in the basic freedoms it guarantees to women on the basis of equality with men.

Sexual autonomy is closely and fundamentally linked to many basic human rights such as freedom, human dignity, privacy, personal security, and bodily integrity. They are the basis of the right to informed consent and confidentiality in relation to health services and health services. In addition, Article 15 guarantees women’s right to equality before the law and full legal capacity. This includes the right of women to make free and informed decisions about health care, nursing, and research. Women have the right to receive comprehensive information about health care options, including proposed treatments and the likely benefits and possible side effects of available options, including the option to refuse treatment.

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