Topic 3: Reproductive health

The learning outcome for this section is: To be able to discuss the importance of human rights to women's reproductive health.

The United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner, in Women’s Human Rights and Gender Equality, reminds us that "Gender equality is at the very heart of human rights and United Nations values. A fundamental principle of the United Nations Charter adopted by world leaders in 1945 is "equal rights of men and women", and protecting and promoting women's human rights is the responsibility of all States." In it section on Sexual and reproductive health and rights, the Office states: "Women’s sexual and reproductive health is related to multiple human rights, including the right to life, the right to be free from torture, the right to health, the right to privacy, the right to education, and the prohibition of discrimination. The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) have both clearly indicated that women’s right to health includes their sexual and reproductive health. This means that States have obligations to respect, protect and fulfill rights related to women’s sexual and reproductive health....Despite these obligations, violations of women’s sexual and reproductive health rights are frequent. These take many forms including denial of access to services that only women require, or poor quality services, subjecting women’s access to services to third party authorization, and performance of procedures related to women’s reproductive and sexual health without the woman’s consent"

Setting this in the context of inequality, the Office also states in a pamphlet on Maternal Mortality and Morbidity accessed from the page Sexual and reproductive health and rights: "According to the World Health Organization, “The maternal mortality ratio in developing countries in 2013 is 230 per 100,000 live births versus 16 per 100,000 live births in developed countries. There are also large disparities within countries, between women with high and low income and between women living in rural and urban areas.” Often seen as a public health concern, the issue of maternal mortality and morbidity must also be understood as a matter of human rights."

The resources section below provides more in-depth information on the relation between human rights and reproductive health.