A/HRC/14/20
United Nations
General Assembly
Distr.: General
27 April 2010
Original: English
Human Rights Council
Fourteenth session
Agenda item 3
Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil,
political, economic, social and cultural rights,
including the right to development
Report of the Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to
the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical
and mental health, Anand Grover*
Summary
In the present report, submitted in accordance with Human Rights Council
resolution 6/29, the Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the
highest attainable standard of physical and mental health examines the relationship between
the right to the highest attainable standard of health and the criminalization of three forms
of private, adult, consensual sexual behaviour: same-sex conduct and sexual orientation,
sex work, and HIV transmission.
Section I contains a brief introduction. In section II, the Special Rapporteur
considers the criminalization of consensual, same-sex conduct between adults, along with
criminalization based upon sexual orientation or gender identity. In that section the Special
Rapporteur highlights how recent international and national jurisprudence has recognized
close connections between the concepts of privacy, equality and dignity, and examines its
effects on the enjoyment of the right to health.
In section III, the denial of sex workers’ enjoyment of the right to health that results
from the criminalization of sex work and related practices (such as solicitation) is
considered. Impacts on the right to health, similar to those discussed in section II, are
canvassed along with issues particular to sex work. Specifically, the failure of legal
recognition of the sex-work sector results in infringements of the right to health, through
the failure to provide safe working conditions, and a lack of recourse to legal remedies for
occupational health issues. Additionally, the distinction between sex work and trafficking is
considered, in particular with respect to legislation and interventions that, by failing to
distinguish between these groups, are increasingly infringing sex workers’ right to health.
* Late submission.
GE.10-13118 (E)
210510