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Criminalisation of sexual and reproductive health 2011, para. 14
- Paragraph text
- In their application, criminal laws and other legal restrictions may prevent access to certain sexual and reproductive health-care goods, such as contraceptive methods, directly outlaw a particular service, such as abortion, or ban the provision of sexual and reproductive information through school-based education programmes or otherwise. In practice, these laws affect a wide range of individuals, including women who attempt to undergo abortions or seek contraception; friends or family members who assist women to access abortions; practitioners providing abortions; teachers providing sexual education; pharmacists supplying contraceptives; employees of institutions that are established to provide family planning services; human rights defenders advocating for sexual and reproductive health rights; and adolescents seeking access to contraception for consensual sexual activity.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Families
- Women
- Year
- 2011
- Date modified
- Feb 13, 2020
Paragraph
Criminalisation of sexual and reproductive health 2011, para. 9
- Paragraph text
- Reproductive health rights also feature prominently in the Programme of Action of the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development, the 1995 Beijing Platform for Action and the Millennium Development Goals, which affirm the rights of women to control all aspects of their health, to respect bodily autonomy and integrity and to decide freely in matters relating to their sexuality and reproduction, free of discrimination, coercion and violence. The Beijing Platform for Action states that States should consider removing punitive measures related to sexual and reproductive health. The relationship between improved sexual and reproductive health for women and poverty reduction is particularly emphasized. Unfortunately, the Millennium Development Goals Report 2010 declared that progress in parts of the world in some indicative areas, such as adolescent pregnancy and contraceptive use, had slowed and that aid for family planning as a proportion of total aid to health had declined sharply between 2000 and 2008.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Women
- Year
- 2011
- Date modified
- Feb 13, 2020
Paragraph
Right to health in early childhood - Right to survival and development 2015, para. 20
- Paragraph text
- The global health community has also given attention to the human rights dimensions of under-5 mortality and morbidity and has committed to ground its efforts in human rights. The Secretary-General's Global Strategy for Women's and Children's Health is grounded in global human rights commitments and emphasizes that legislation and policies should be in line with human rights. The new global strategy, which is to replace the existing strategy in the coming months, will call for the integration of human rights in all efforts to improve women's, children's and adolescents' health.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2015
- Date modified
- Feb 13, 2020
Paragraph
Right to health in early childhood - Right to survival and development 2015, para. 56
- Paragraph text
- Experts recommend major changes in routine baby medical checks to detect and address social and emotional difficulties, which could be early signs of toxic stress, as a means of reducing many of society's most complex and costly medical issues, from heart disease to alcohol and drug abuse. In addition, some of the evidence-based health interventions that are included in the "zero draft" of the new global strategy for women's, children's and adolescents' health, such as nutrition counselling and "kangaroo" mother care for small babies, can be very useful in assisting main actors adopting a modern approach to health interventions.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Children
- Infants
- Women
- Year
- 2015
- Date modified
- Feb 13, 2020
Paragraph
Work of the mandate and priorities of the SR 2015, para. 35
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur will continue applying a gender perspective in his work, with a special focus on sexual and reproductive health and rights as an integral part of the right to health. He will apply a life-cycle approach to his work, paying special attention to the needs of the children and adolescents in the realization of the right to health, and the needs of other groups in vulnerable situations, including persons with disabilities. He will continue paying attention to the issue of access to medicines, including access to essential and controlled medicines, and its human rights dimensions.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Children
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2015
- Date modified
- Feb 13, 2020
Paragraph
Work of the mandate and priorities of the SR 2015, para. 47
- Paragraph text
- The cooperation between sectors can also be beneficial to facilitate access to preschool education, especially for children of families at risk, and enable community readiness to accept and integrate children and adults with disabilities into all of the everyday life of the community. This approach can also offer opportunities for adolescents and youth at risk to find alternatives to youth violence by engaging them in community programmes that support recreation centres for older persons, thus contributing to the reinforcement of intergenerational links and improving the quality of human relationships in general.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Children
- Older persons
- Persons with disabilities
- Youth
- Year
- 2015
- Date modified
- Feb 13, 2020
Paragraph
Right to health of adolescents 2016, para. 15
- Paragraph text
- States policies towards adolescents are too often characterized by targeted or punitive interventions aimed at addressing problems such as juvenile delinquency and violence, as well as perceived challenges, including substance use and sexual activity; too little attention is typically paid to building positive environments in which adolescents can thrive. Punitive and excessively biomedical interventions ignore the powerful social and economic determinants influencing adolescent behaviour, opportunities and well-being. Stigmatizing, demonizing and discriminating against adolescents by, for example, criminalizing or pathologizing their behaviours and diversities, negatively affects their socially perceived roles, self-esteem, well-being and sense of empowerment. These approaches fail adolescents, their holistic development and their right to health.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Year
- 2016
- Date modified
- Feb 13, 2020
Paragraph
Right to health of adolescents 2016, para. 5
- Paragraph text
- Lack of access to safe reproductive health services and information contributes to adolescent girls among the most at risk of dying or suffering from serious or lifelong injuries associated with early pregnancies and childbirth. The lack of effective adolescent mental health policies and services leads to significant failures in emotional and social development, including violence against and among adolescents. Nearly all these risks are preventable, with outcomes grounded in physical and social environments and frequently mediated by their behaviours.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Girls
- Year
- 2016
- Date modified
- Feb 13, 2020
Paragraph
Right to health of adolescents 2016, para. 1
- Paragraph text
- Adolescence (10-19 years of age) is a life stage when inequities become more sharply differentiated in terms of access to services, life decisions and future trajectories. Foundations laid down during adolescence, in terms of emotional security, health, education, skills, resilience and the understanding of rights will have profound implications for the social, economic and political development of adolescents. The costs of failing adolescents are high, which is why a powerful case exists for paying greater attention to the right of adolescents to the highest attainable standard of health and development.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Year
- 2016
- Date modified
- Feb 13, 2020
Paragraph
Report of the SR on the right to health and Agenda 2030 2016, para. 58
- Paragraph text
- The fields of global health and human rights have, in recent years, developed accountability analysis and institutions, which can inspire accountability for the health-related Sustainable Development Goals and help to shape new arrangements. In 2011, the Commission on Information and Accountability for Women's and Children's Health, established to propose a framework to ensure that commitments made under the Global Strategy for Women's and Children's Health (2010-2015) were met, proposed a tripartite model of accountability, composed of monitoring, review and remedial action. That model, derived from the human rights understanding of accountability, was subsequently taken up by the Secretary-General, including in the Global Strategy for Women's, Children's and Adolescents' Health 2016-2030, which supports the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals related to women's, children's and adolescents' health.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date modified
- Feb 13, 2020
Paragraph
Right to health of adolescents 2016, para. 11
- Paragraph text
- Adolescence is a period of development towards increasing capacity for independent decision-making, moving away from the protective environments associated with earlier childhood. It is accompanied by greater experimentation, risk-taking and impulsivity and by the increased influence of the peer group. These behaviours contribute to building resilience, character and self-confidence and to the exploration and understanding of boundaries, and reflect the gradual adjustment from protection towards autonomy. Accordingly, while adolescents under 18 years of age continue to be entitled to protection from violence, abuse and exploitation, as well as to consideration of their best interests, under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the nature of those protections and their application must reflect the emerging competencies acquired throughout adolescence.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Year
- 2016
- Date modified
- Feb 13, 2020
Paragraph
Report of the SR on the right to health and Agenda 2030 2016, para. 95
- Paragraph text
- A holistic approach to addressing violence is consistent with the aim of collectively implementing the Sustainable Development Goal targets on violence across the agenda. It is also consonant with the indivisible and interrelated nature of human rights. From a human rights and public health perspective, violence must be addressed comprehensively, including obligations to eliminate violence within health-care settings, to address how structural factors, such as laws and policies, institutionalize violence and to eliminate violence against women and children. The right to health also includes an entitlement to safe access to health care and to a safe environment. Importantly, children and adolescents have a right to be free from violence and to healthy development.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Health
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date modified
- Feb 13, 2020
Paragraph
Right to health of adolescents 2016, para. 14
- Paragraph text
- Although opportunities for adolescents in many parts of the world have improved in recent years, the second decade of life is associated with exposure to increasing risks to the right to health, including violence, abuse, sexual or economic exploitation, trafficking, harmful traditional practices, migration, radicalization, recruitment into gangs or militias, self-harm, substance use and dependence and obesity. Gender inequalities become more significant as, for example, girls become exposed to child marriage, sexual violence and lower levels of enrolment in secondary education. The world in which adolescents live poses profound challenges, including poverty and inequality, climate change and environmental degradation, urbanization and migration, radical changes in employment potential, aging societies, rising health-care costs and escalating humanitarian and security crises.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Gender
- Health
- Humanitarian
- Movement
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Children
- Girls
- Year
- 2016
- Date modified
- Feb 13, 2020
Paragraph
Right to health of adolescents 2016, para. 19
- Paragraph text
- Adolescents are actors for social change, and are able to bring dynamism, flexibility, creativity and energy towards the realization of their own and others' rights to health. States should adopt a human rights framework for adolescent health guided by the recognition of their strengths, capacities and contributions, while also addressing the impact of social determinants of health. Respecting and engaging with adolescents and treating them as a resource contributes to building foundations for emotional security, health, education and the skills needed for the full and effective realization of the right to health.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Year
- 2016
- Date modified
- Feb 13, 2020
Paragraph
Right to health of adolescents 2016, para. 17
- Paragraph text
- Rapid globalization and associated social and cultural changes, reinforced by the digital world, mean that many adolescents inhabit a world very different from that of the adults around them in relation to information, the speed of change, social norms, risks, aspirations and opportunities. While these rapidly changing environments offer important opportunities for adolescents, they can also pose significant challenges to their rights, for example to privacy, informed consent and freedom from exploitation, with significant implications, in particular for their mental health and well-being. Furthermore, the speed of change can inhibit intergenerational understanding, challenging the capacity of parents and other caregivers to provide the guidance necessary to protect and promote adolescents' right to health.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Families
- Year
- 2016
- Date modified
- Feb 13, 2020
Paragraph
Right to health of adolescents 2016, para. 7
- Paragraph text
- While there are many health issues of concern during adolescence, in the present report the Special Rapporteur focuses on mental health, substance use and drug control, and the rights to sexual and reproductive health, in view of the particular challenges they pose in balancing adolescents' emerging autonomy with their right to protection. Using the right-to-health framework, the Special Rapporteur underlines the importance of valuing adolescents' strengths and engaging with them as partners in informing and shaping the measures needed to realize the right to health and the optimum development of adolescents.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Year
- 2016
- Date modified
- Feb 13, 2020
Paragraph
Right to health of adolescents 2016, para. 12
- Paragraph text
- The transition towards adulthood is characterized by the changing nature of relationships. Across cultures, adolescents begin to attach far greater significance to and are increasingly influenced by their peer group and less by family and caregivers. Adolescents also begin to explore their sexuality, sexual orientation and gender identity. There is considerable diversity in combinations of gender identities, expression and sexual orientation, irrespective of whether such diversity is culturally accepted. It is increasingly clear that sexual orientation and gender identity derive from a complex interplay of biological, genetic and social factors and that individuals have little or no choice in its determination.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Year
- 2016
- Date modified
- Feb 13, 2020
Paragraph
Right to health of adolescents 2016, para. 16
- Paragraph text
- One-size-fits-all policies designed for children or youth often fail to address adolescents, particularly 10-14 year-olds. Lack of awareness or understanding of their unique health needs can render adolescents invisible. Adolescents face multiple barriers to health services, including the following: restrictive laws and policies; unavailability of contraception or safe abortions; inaccessible services owing to lack of information, distance or cost; failure to ensure privacy and confidentiality; parental consent or notification requirements; provision of services in a manner that is disrespectful, hostile, judgemental or lacking sympathy; and discrimination against particular groups of adolescents, including those with disabilities, those living and working on the streets or in the sex trade and those from historically marginalized groups. States have positive human rights obligations to guarantee adolescents' rights and meaningfully engage with them in identifying their needs and priorities.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Children
- Youth
- Year
- 2016
- Date modified
- Feb 13, 2020
Paragraph
Right to health of adolescents 2016, para. 63
- Paragraph text
- The commitment expressed in the Global Strategy on Women's, Children's and Adolescents' Health 2016-2030 to improve national and global accountability, including for adolescent health, is welcome, as is the broader commitment to accountability in the Sustainable Development Goals. In this connection, States should ensure the quality and timely collection of appropriately disaggregated data and that laws, policies and programmes concerning adolescent health are transparently and regularly reviewed. National assessments or public inquiries into adolescents' right to health are welcome and could be conducted by national institutions.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date modified
- Feb 13, 2020
Paragraph
Right to health of adolescents 2016, para. 28
- Paragraph text
- Rather than only setting up separate interventions and facilities for adolescents, efforts should be made to ensure that adolescents receive adequate attention in all policies, strategies and programmes that are relevant to them. Health systems should be designed and services should be delivered in a way that respects the right to health and other related rights of adolescents, in accordance with their evolving capacities. This can only be achieved by guaranteeing the right of adolescents to be heard and to contribute to the planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of services.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Year
- 2016
- Date modified
- Feb 13, 2020
Paragraph
Right to health of adolescents 2016, para. 72
- Paragraph text
- The nature of adolescents' mental health needs differs from that of adults and requires targeted services. However, a national health system of well-functioning, effective and adolescent-friendly services remains the exception rather than the rule. Less than one third of low- and middle-income countries have a designated youth mental health entity and most lack youth-focused mental health policies. Where they do exist, they often fail to meet quality standards and may even be harmful to the health and development of adolescents. Adolescents may be detained for a long time in overcrowded, in-patient facilities where little attempt is made at rehabilitation or social integration. These approaches violate adolescents' human rights and worsen, rather than ameliorate, mental health conditions.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Youth
- Year
- 2016
- Date modified
- Feb 13, 2020
Paragraph
Right to health of adolescents 2016, para. 79
- Paragraph text
- States should invest in programmes to challenge outdated beliefs and negative attitudes about mental conditions through the dissemination of information. Adolescents of different ages and representing different perspectives should be consulted in the design, development, implementation and monitoring of mental health services. Investments must be made to address gender discrimination in mental health and to reach out to marginalized communities, which are disproportionately vulnerable to mental health problems and experience greater barriers in accessing services.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Year
- 2016
- Date modified
- Feb 13, 2020
Paragraph
Right to health of adolescents 2016, para. 73
- Paragraph text
- Public and self-stigmatizing attitudes towards mental illness, concerns about confidentiality and lack of general understanding all serve as barriers to getting help, particularly among adolescents, a problem compounded by the lack of quality mental health services in low- and middle-income countries. For adolescents, the attitude of service providers is more important than their technical expertise. Adolescents who seek services often experience negative or hostile responses from health-care providers, leading to a further reluctance to access help. Same-sex attraction is still considered by doctors in many countries to be a mental disorder. Lesbian, gay and bisexual adolescents may be subjected to harmful therapeutic interventions intended to eliminate or suppress their sexual instincts. Such therapies have been deemed unethical, unscientific, ineffective and, in some instances, tantamount to torture.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- LGBTQI+
- Year
- 2016
- Date modified
- Feb 13, 2020
Paragraph
Right to health of adolescents 2016, para. 113b
- Paragraph text
- [In connection to sexual and reproductive health rights, the Special Rapporteur recommends that Governments:] Decriminalize abortion and guarantee all adolescents access to confidential, adolescent-responsive and non-discriminatory sexual and reproductive health information, services and goods, including on family planning, counselling, pre-conception care, maternal care, sexually transmitted infections, diagnosis and treatment, as well as modern forms of contraception, including emergency contraception, and safe abortion and post-abortion services;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Year
- 2016
- Date modified
- Feb 13, 2020
Paragraph
Right to health of adolescents 2016, para. 84
- Paragraph text
- Many adolescents, in particular girls and those identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender, are deterred from approaching health professionals in anticipation of a judgemental attitude that results from social norms or laws that stigmatize or criminalize their sexual behaviour. Rights to sexual and reproductive health for many adolescents are further compromised by violence, including sexual and institutional violence, coercion into unwanted sex or marriage, and patriarchal and heteronormative practices and values. This reinforces harmful gender stereotypes and unequal power relations that make it difficult for many adolescent girls to refuse sex or insist on safe and responsible sex practices.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Girls
- LGBTQI+
- Year
- 2016
- Date modified
- Feb 13, 2020
Paragraph
Right to health of adolescents 2016, para. 67
- Paragraph text
- Globally, it is estimated that approximately 20 per cent of 14-24 year olds experience a mental health condition each year. The transition from childhood to adulthood is a period of heightened vulnerability (half of all lifetime mental disorders appear by the age of 14 years) caused to a significant extent by the physical, psychological and emotional changes arising during this period. Research indicates that depression is the primary cause of illness and disability among adolescents and suicide is the third leading cause of death.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Year
- 2016
- Date modified
- Feb 13, 2020
Paragraph
Right to health of adolescents 2016, para. 51
- Paragraph text
- Adolescence itself can be a basis for discrimination, with many adolescents treated as dangerous or hostile, incompetent to make decisions, incarcerated, exploited or exposed to violence as a direct consequence of their age. Health-care providers may perpetuate discrimination against adolescents when they deny them health services or contraceptive supplies or treat them poorly, which can make adolescents reluctant to seek the health-care they need. Adolescents belonging to marginalized groups or sectors, such as girls, racial or ethnic minorities, indigenous populations, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex adolescents, refugees and adolescents with disabilities, face a heightened risk of exclusion.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Girls
- LGBTQI+
- Year
- 2016
- Date modified
- Feb 13, 2020
Paragraph
Right to health of adolescents 2016, para. 35
- Paragraph text
- The right to health is not only a right to health care, but a right to underlying and social determinants of health. Social determinants are the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age that influence their health. The evidence overwhelmingly shows that the strongest determinants of adolescent health worldwide are structural factors such as national wealth, income inequality, gender systems and access to education. Additional determinants include social norms, laws and policies and the physical environment, as well as the online social media environment, which plays an increasingly influential role in adolescents' lives.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Year
- 2016
- Date modified
- Feb 13, 2020
Paragraph
Right to health of adolescents 2016, para. 60
- Paragraph text
- States are urged to consider the introduction of a legal presumption of competence that an adolescent seeking preventive or time-sensitive health goods and services, including for sexual and reproductive health, has the requisite capacity to access such goods and services. Where minimum ages of consent exist, as the Committee on the Rights of the Child has argued, any adolescent below that age and able to demonstrate sufficient understanding should be entitled to give or refuse consent. At a minimum, States should ensure a minimum age well below 18 years at which adolescents have the right to consent to or refuse services without mandatory authorization or notification of parent, guardian, spouse or intimate partner. The right to counselling and advice is distinct from the right to give medical consent and should not be subject to any age limit.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2016
- Date modified
- Feb 13, 2020
Paragraph
Right to health of adolescents 2016, para. 24
- Paragraph text
- The right to health of adolescents is closely related to other human rights included in these treaties, such as the rights of the child to healthy development, education, play and recreation, social security and privacy, and to being free from torture, all forms of violence and economic, sexual and other forms of exploitation. The right to health is also inextricably linked to non-discrimination and equality, participation and accountability. Adolescent health and development need to be promoted in the context of a holistic and comprehensive approach to the wider determinants affecting the opportunities, choices and consequent development of adolescents.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Children
- Year
- 2016
- Date modified
- Feb 13, 2020
Paragraph