Search Tips
sorted by
30 shown of 161 entities
Eliminating discrimination against women in economic and social life with a focus on economic crisis 2014, para. 74
- Paragraph text
- The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women has, for instance, held States responsible for denying equal access for women to private health providers. One binational trade agreement, supported by the ILO, linked access to markets in importing countries with improved labour conditions for the largely female garment workers in the exporting country. There are examples of corporate initiatives to provide childcare, career development and training for female workers in overseas garment industries, or to prevent use of ultrasound equipment, which may be used to increase sex-selective abortion.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in economic and social life with a focus on economic crisis 2014, para. 81
- Paragraph text
- Reproduction and care functions are the very basis of human life and society. These functions, whether paid or unpaid, are performed either solely or largely by women. The fact that these functions are performed by women creates a major barrier to women's equality of opportunity in the labour market or in business, finance and entrepreneurship. Women's maternity rights have been widely recognized in formal employment, but not extended to either other spheres of economic activity or care functions. There has been a systemic failure to properly integrate the biological function of reproduction and the gendered function of unpaid caring into macroeconomic policy in a holistic, effective and coherent way, to ensure that reproduction and caring go hand-in-hand with the overall economic empowerment of women. This policy failure in effect endorses a major structural barrier to the equality of economic opportunity for women.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in economic and social life with a focus on economic crisis 2014, para. 82
- Paragraph text
- It is crucial to recognize both the right to maternity benefits and also the right to an equal and fair distribution of care functions as fully-fledged economic and social rights. These rights are a prerequisite for the equal right of women to the enjoyment of all economic social and cultural rights and, in particular: the right to work; the enjoyment of just and favourable conditions of work; an adequate standard of living; freedom from hunger; enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health; and the right to take part in cultural life.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in economic and social life with a focus on economic crisis 2014, para. 85
- Paragraph text
- Women's reproductive functions include pregnancy, birth and breastfeeding. These are the biological functions of maternity. In accordance with the normative framework created by the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the ILO Conventions, in some States, there are provisions, statutory or judicial, prohibiting discrimination during pregnancy and protecting women against dismissal for a period of months or even years after they give birth. Nevertheless, there has been a rise in complaints of pregnancy discrimination in a number of countries, and effective measures are required to guarantee women's employment security during pregnancy and after birth.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in economic and social life with a focus on economic crisis 2014, para. 86
- Paragraph text
- The frameworks of the ILO and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women impose an obligation on States parties to provide paid maternity leave to employed women, set by the ILO at a minimum of 14 weeks with a recommended 18 weeks, and daily breaks for breastfeeding. The provision of maternity leave has become almost universal: 51 per cent of countries provide maternity leave of at least 14 weeks; 20 per cent of 18 weeks or more; 35 per cent of 12-13 weeks of leave. Only 14 per cent of countries provide less than 12 weeks.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in economic and social life with a focus on economic crisis 2014, para. 87
- Paragraph text
- State obligation under the Convention and ILO Conventions is to provide paid leave. Maternity leave policies without adequate compensation can lead to financial stress, and research suggests that women who return to work without taking their full maternity leave entitlement usually do so for financial reasons. Good practice for payment of maternity leave is through social insurance or public funds so as not to increase discrimination against women by employers seeking to avoid the burden of paid maternity leave.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in economic and social life with a focus on economic crisis 2014, para. 90
- Paragraph text
- Unlike women's reproductive function, care functions do not necessarily have to fall on women. All forms of care, including childcare, are amenable to social reconstruction, and indeed in the Nordic countries, which have long pursued a policy of gender equality in the division of work and childcare functions, the distribution of care work comes close to parity. Good practice regarding the allocation of care responsibilities, pioneered in the Nordic countries, encourages men to enter traditionally women's worlds, both in the family and in the workplace, thus allowing women to participate and advance in the labour market.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in economic and social life with a focus on economic crisis 2014, para. 94
- Paragraph text
- Redistributing care work involves restructuring the design, funding and delivery of care by households, markets, the State and civil society so that a disproportionate burden of unpaid care does not fall on women. The equal sharing of care amongst different actors requires, on one hand, the sharing of care responsibilities by men as well as women in households and, on the other, the provision by the State of affordable and accessible care facilities, including childcare, adequate hospital care and recuperation periods, and facilities for the care of the disabled and the elderly.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in economic and social life with a focus on economic crisis 2014, para. 95
- Paragraph text
- Sharing of care responsibilities within the household should remain a matter of choice for women and men. For any real choice to be possible, paid care leave must be available to both parents. The Nordic countries were the first to introduce an independent paternity leave in order to overcome stereotypes and barriers to men sharing childcare functions. Such provisions are becoming more common around the world, with increased awareness of men's parenting roles and their need to reconcile work and family life. Paternity leave is usually much shorter than maternity leave and more often unpaid. Some countries have introduced more gender-neutral parental leave options, and recent best practice in one Nordic country provides symmetry in childcare leave, with five months for each parent individually and two months that can be allocated according to parental choice.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in cultural and family life, with a focus on the family as a cultural space 2015, para. 19
- Paragraph text
- In many contexts, States fail to establish and enforce a clear legal hierarchy based on the guarantees of equality and non-discrimination set forth in international human rights law and national legislation, thus helping to maintain patriarchal modes of organization and behaviours. Even when the law is independent of any religious source, it may be strongly influenced by culture, deriving from dominant ideologies linked to religion, traditional attitudes and social norms. Some States adopt national laws and regulations that restrict the rights, power and mobility of women on the basis of essentialist points of view belonging to a particular culture or religion. Conservative religious extremist movements impose strict modesty codes in order to subjugate women and girls in the name of religion, particularly in situations of political transition or conflict. For example, some branches of Islam have reintroduced forced and/or early marriage and some branches of Christianity prevent women from having access to therapeutic abortion. Religious extremism limits women's rights, including their right to health and economic activity, and they are generally subject to harsh sanctions for crimes committed against the patriarchy, such as adultery. At the international level, many States justify their reservations to articles of several human rights conventions, including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, in the name of preserving their cultures and religions. Human Rights Council resolutions 16/3 on promoting human rights and fundamental freedoms through a better understanding of traditional values of humankind and 26/11 on the protection of the family threaten to undermine international achievements in the field of human rights in the name of cultural and religious diversity.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Harmful Practices
- Health
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 60
- Paragraph text
- Women prisoners show high rates of mental health problems owing to violence and trauma to which they had been exposed and which are exacerbated by imprisonment. Concerns about their children also have a significant impact on the mental health of women prisoners, especially when they are breastfeeding; separation from their children creates anxiety and guilt, resulting in great suffering. Women are more likely to harm themselves or attempt suicide while in detention than men. Extensive reliance on preventive use of psychotropic medication for "safety" reasons in such situations is an example of overmedicalization.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 63
- Paragraph text
- The instrumentalization of women's bodies may result in conditioning women's access to medical assistance on the consent of a spouse or male guardian, causing withholding or delay of treatment, curtailment of women's autonomy and denial of respect for privacy and obstructing their access to health care, particularly reproductive and sexual health care. Patriarchal negation of women's autonomy in decision-making leads to violation of women's rights to health, privacy, reproductive and sexual self-determination, physical integrity and even to life.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 70
- Paragraph text
- The stigma and shame generated by stereotypes around menstruation have severe impacts on all aspects of women's and girls' lives, on their dignity and well-being as well as on their right to education and to employment, as they may feel obliged to stay home from school or work every month because of appropriate facilities and hygienic items are not available. Characterizing women's menstrual pain as "neurotic" tends to make women reluctant to seek help, which can delay diagnosis of, for example, the severely disabling disease of endometriosis, in which tissue that normally grows inside the uterus grows in an abnormal anatomical location.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 12
- Paragraph text
- The present report aims to clarify the meaning of equality in the area of health and safety, identify discriminatory practices, expose the instrumentalization of women's bodies in violation of their human dignity and reveal the barriers to women's autonomous, effective and affordable access to health care. Instrumentalization is defined as the subjection of women's natural biological functions to a politicized patriarchal agenda, which aims at maintaining and perpetrating certain ideas of femininity versus masculinity or of women's subordinate role in society.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 14
- Paragraph text
- States are obliged to secure women's rights to the highest attainable standard of health and safety, including their underlying determinants, and women's equal access to health-care services, including those related to family planning, as well as their rights to privacy, information and bodily integrity. The obligation to respect, protect and fulfil women's right to equal access to health-care services and to eliminate all forms of discrimination against women with regard to their health and safety is violated by neglecting women's health needs, failing to make gender-sensitive health interventions, depriving women of autonomous decision-making capacity and criminalizing or denying them access to health services that only women require. In some situations, failure to protect women's rights to health and safety may amount to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment or torture, or even a violation of their right to life.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 16
- Paragraph text
- Substantive equality in the area of health and safety requires differential treatment. Throughout their life cycle from childhood to old age, women have health needs and vulnerabilities that are distinctively different from those of men. Women have specific biological functions, are exposed to health problems that affect only women, are victims of pervasive gender-based violence and, statistically speaking, live longer than men, resulting in their greater need to access health services frequently and into older age. Hence, women and girls experience the negative effects of insufficiencies in health-care services more intensively than men.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 17
- Paragraph text
- Women face a disproportionate risk of being subjected to humiliating and degrading treatment in health-care facilities, especially during pregnancy, childbirth and the post-partum period. Furthermore, they are especially vulnerable to degrading treatment in situations where they are deprived of liberty, including in migrant detention facilities or mental institutions. They are subjected to humiliating treatment within the health-care system because of their gender identity and sexual orientation, sometimes expressly in the name of morality or religion, as a way of punishing what is considered "immoral" behaviour.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 18
- Paragraph text
- Women's bodies are instrumentalized for cultural, political and economic purposes rooted in patriarchal traditions. Instrumentalization occurs within and beyond the health sector and is deeply embedded in multiple forms of social and political control over women. It aims at perpetuating taboos and stigmas concerning women's bodies and their traditional roles in society, especially in relation to their sexuality and to reproduction. As a result, women face continuous challenges in accessing health care and in maintaining autonomous control in decision-making about their own bodies. Understanding and eliminating the instrumentalization of women's bodies, which is based on harmful cultural norms and stereotypes, and its detrimental impact on women's health, is critical for change to occur.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 20
- Paragraph text
- The State is accountable for fulfilling its international human rights obligation to ensure that women are provided with gender-responsive scientific research, medicines and health interventions and for providing appropriate and adequate gender-based resources and a system of effective monitoring, budgeting, remedies and redress. It is also obligated to provide women with autonomous, effective and affordable access to health care. The State has a responsibility to ensure that barriers to women's enjoyment of the right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health are dismantled, including by exercising due diligence.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 23
- Paragraph text
- Central among women's and girls' health needs are those relating to their reproductive and sexual health. Substantive equality requires that States attend to the risk factors that predominantly affect women. For instance, since only women can become pregnant, a lack of access to contraceptives is bound to affect their health disproportionately. Equality in reproductive health requires access, without discrimination, to affordable, quality contraception; maternal health care, including during childbirth and the post-partum period; access to safe termination of pregnancy; access to effective screening and early treatment for breast and cervical cancer; and special attention to the high rate of HIV infections among young women and treatment to prevent mother-to-infant transmission.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 24
- Paragraph text
- Equality also requires health policy to be based solely on women's health needs and not to be influenced by instrumentalization and politicization. Political contestation around rights to reproductive and sexual health remains a global challenge, resulting in women paying a high price in terms of their health and lives. In adopting the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, States committed to ensuring universal access to sexual and reproductive health-care services, including for family planning, information and education, and the integration of reproductive health into national strategies and programmes. A strong commitment to women's sexual and reproductive rights in international and national law, policies and programmes is crucial for achieving gender equality and ensuring women's and girl's right to health and well-being.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 25
- Paragraph text
- Many drug therapy protocols and other medical treatments and interventions administered to women are based on research conducted on the male of the species without any investigation and adjustment for biological and gender differences. Equality requires the conduct of medical research on the basis of women's experience and biological differences. It also requires adequate attention to be paid to the particular health risks to which women are disproportionately exposed, such as depression and suicide, and proper gender-sensitive treatment of diseases which tend to be considered, inaccurately, as typically masculine, such as cardiovascular diseases.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 28
- Paragraph text
- Discriminatory practices in the area of health and safety occur at all stages of women's life cycle. Multiple discrimination merits particular consideration and remedies. Denying women access to services which only they require and failing to address their specific health and safety, including their reproductive and sexual health needs, are inherently discriminatory and prevent women from exercising control over their own bodies and lives. Gender-based discrimination in the administration of medical services also violates women's human rights and dignity.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 29
- Paragraph text
- Denial of access to essential health services with respect to termination of pregnancy, contraception, treatment for sexually transmitted diseases and infertility treatment has particularly serious consequences for women's health and lives. Women may be denied such services through criminalization, reduction of availability, stigmatization, deterrence or derogatory attitudes of health-care professionals. In reality, denial of access drives service provision underground into the hands of unqualified practitioners. This exacerbates the risks to the health and safety of the affected women. Persistently high maternal mortality rates often reflect a lack of investment in and underprioritization of services required only by women
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 33
- Paragraph text
- The Working Group notes with concern that issues relating to women's health are not addressed in a holistic manner on political and health agendas at the national and international levels. Policies regarding women's health services are often limited to questions of "maternal health". Despite the importance of prioritizing this issue, such a restrictive focus fails to recognize the full spectrum of women's rights to sexual and reproductive health at all stages of their life cycle and contributes to the instrumentalization of women's bodies, viewing them mainly as a means of reproduction.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 34
- Paragraph text
- Many girls are exposed to a wide variety of practices which are harmful to their health and well-being, such as female genital mutilation, discrimination in food allocation resulting in malnutrition and discrimination in access to professional health care. Furthermore, early marriage and adolescent pregnancy have a long-lasting impact on girls' physical integrity and mental health. Pregnancy and childbirth are together the second leading cause of death among 15- to 19-year-old girls globally, putting them at the highest risk of dying or suffering serious lifelong injuries as a result of pregnancy. For example, up to 65 per cent of women with obstetric fistula, which is a severely disabling condition and often results in social exclusion, develop this condition as adolescents.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Harmful Practices
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 37
- Paragraph text
- During pregnancy, many women are vulnerable to malnutrition owing to discrimination in the allocation of food. This can result in a serious and irreversible deterioration of women's general health and increase the risk of premature delivery, low birth weight and birth defects. After childbirth, such discrimination can continue to affect women's health, including in connection with breastfeeding. Furthermore, as stated by the Special Rapporteur on the right to food, structural violence is an underexamined barrier to women's right to adequate food and nutrition. Gender-based violence, which is a primary form of discrimination, can impede women from accessing adequate food and nutrition.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Food & Nutrition
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 38
- Paragraph text
- Delays in seeking appropriate medical care, in reaching an appropriate health facility and in receiving appropriate care once at a facility, along with the lack of accessible maternal health care, are the main reasons behind high rates of maternal mortality and morbidity. A human rights-based approach that provides a functioning health system with adequate supplies, equipment and infrastructure as well as an efficient system of communication, referral and transport are therefore essential to eliminate these preventable deaths and to ensure women's rights to health and life.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 39
- Paragraph text
- Women's mental health during pregnancy, childbirth and the post-partum period requires both stability in their environment and emotional support. Reports of disrespect and ill treatment during childbirth in health facilities in many countries provide a deeply distressing picture of the extent of women's exposure to degrading treatment, lack of privacy, and even verbal and physical violence. Pregnant women are sometimes refused pain relief during labour or anaesthesia during a termination of pregnancy by curettage. The use in some countries of custodial or punitive rather than educative measures to prevent injury to the fetus as result of drug or alcohol consumption by addicted pregnant women is another manifestation of gender discrimination.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in the area of health and safety, with a focus on the instrumentalization of women's bodies 2016, para. 40
- Paragraph text
- Women have a longer life expectancy and are particularly exposed to neglect and abuse in older age, including in health-care settings, and higher risks of diseases such as Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia. A gender- and age-sensitive approach needs to take into account the specific needs for care and protection of older women, including those widowed, living alone or displaced, those with dementia or other disability, those in need of palliative and geriatric care and those in emergency situations; these women are most at risk of multiple forms of discrimination, violence and poverty.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Older persons
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph