A/HRC/47/38 fitness to become mothers are frequently employed by the authorities to take away their children.158 III. Conclusions and recommendations A. Conclusions 71. The sexual and reproductive health rights of women and girls are systematically neglected, not because of a lack of resources or technical knowledge but because of the widespread disregard for women’s dignity, bodily integrity and autonomy. Sexual and reproductive health matters are intrinsic to every woman and girl and tied to their ability to live with dignity and exercise their agency. The failure to ensure the sexual and reproductive health rights of women and girls is discriminatory and constitutes a major crisis in itself. 72. Crisis events cannot always be prevented, but States can be better prepared. They must rapidly establish safeguards to mitigate and address the harm experienced by women and girls to their sexual and reproductive health: it is their foremost duty. Crisis responses must be gendered and require a combination of emergency and long-term measures, specifically in relation to sexual and reproductive health. They must be developed and implemented with the active participation of women and girls, taking into account their urgent medical needs and the pervasive structural discrimination against them, while protecting individual autonomy and freedoms, through a coordinated and holistic approach.159 73. The COVID-19 pandemic has struck a planet that was already torn by many crises. As the world strives to recover from the combined effects of multiple crises and many States face the prospect of austerity measures – another foreseeable crisis that will disproportionately affect women and girls in relation to their sexual and reproductive health160 – the question of how to ensure that the sexual and reproductive health rights of women and girls are fully recognized and guaranteed must be at the fore. The management and recovery phases of a crisis provide a unique opportunity for reform, innovative thinking and transformation. The status quo, with millions of women and girls around the world highly exposed to gendered risks to their sexual and reproductive health, is unacceptable. The risks and harms that women and girls face in relation to their sexual and reproductive health must not be treated as unavoidable tragedies or collateral damage, but recognized as the outcomes of policy failures and as indicative of serious human rights violations. 74. Unless women and girls are able to fully enjoy their sexual and reproductive health rights, they will not be able to make progress in other fields. The sexual and reproductive health rights of women and girls can and must be realized through coherent laws and policies that affirm those rights and stronger accountability and immediate implementation of existing human rights obligations and political commitments, which unfortunately continue to be ignored with impunity. B. Recommendations 75. There are five interrelated sets of actions which can ensure progress towards securing the sexual and reproductive health rights of women and girls at all times, especially in situations of crisis. 158 159 160 See https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublicCommunicationFile ?gId=23724. See A/HRC/23/50; A/HRC/26/39; A/HRC/29/40; and A/HRC/32/44. See A/HRC/26/39. 19