The basis for these rights can be found in various articles of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. Rights to reproductive and sexual health include the right to life, liberty and the security of the person; the right to health care and information; and the right to non-discrimination in the allocation of resources to health services and in their availability and accessibility. Of central importance are the rights to autonomy and privacy in making sexual and reproductive decisions, as well as the rights to informed consent and confidentiality in relation to health services.
The paper is illustrated by issues that reflect systemic violation of the above rights in varied forms, including maternal mortality, lack of procedures for legal abortion, inadequate allocation of resources for family planning, coercive population programs, spousal consent to sterilization, and occupational discrimination of pregnant women. The International Conference on Population and Development ICPD held in Cairo in marked the acceptance of a new paradigm in addressing human reproduction and health.
For the first time, there was a clear focus on the needs of individuals and on the empowerment of women, and the emergence of an evolving discourse about the connection between human rights and health, linking new conceptions of health to the struggle for social justice and respect for human dignity. The new attention to human rights in the ICPD marked a departure from the previous approach that treated women instrumentally, as tools through which to implement population programmes and policies.
The reproductive health and rights approach adopted at ICPD is premised on a view that values women intrinsically and is genuinely concerned about their health and well-being. The ICPD thus posits the human rights of women - their right to personal reproductive autonomy and to collective gender equality - as a primary principle in the development of reproductive health and population programs. The meaning of these texts is illustrated through concrete examples of violations of the rights guaranteed thereunder, finding expression in country reports submitted within the monitoring mechanism of the Convention.
The analysis is brought under two broad headings: personal autonomy, as derived from the right to liberty and including the right to life and to reproductive choice and informed consent; and gender equality as a component of social distributive justice in the allocation of resources. The rights recognised in the ICPD are based in various international human rights treaties.
