Search Tips
sorted by
30 shown of 88 entities
Gender-based violence against women, updating general recommendation No. 19 2017, para. 18
- Paragraph text
- Violations of women’s sexual and reproductive health and rights, such as forced sterilization, forced abortion, forced pregnancy, criminalization of abortion, denial or delay of safe abortion and/or post-abortion care, forced continuation of pregnancy, and abuse and mistreatment of women and girls seeking sexual and reproductive health information, goods and services, are forms of gender-based violence that, depending on the circumstances, may amount to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Harmful Practices
- Health
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
State obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in the context of business activities 2017, para. 21
- Paragraph text
- The increased role and impact of private actors in traditionally public sectors, such as the health or education sector, pose new challenges for States parties in complying with their obligations under the Covenant. Privatization is not per se prohibited by the Covenant, even in areas such as the provision of water or electricity, education or health care where the role of the public sector has traditionally been strong. Private providers should, however, be subject to strict regulations that impose on them so-called “public service obligations”: in the provision of water or electricity, this may include requirements concerning universality of coverage and continuity of service, pricing policies, quality requirements, and user participation. Similarly, private health-care providers should be prohibited from denying access to affordable and adequate services, treatments or information. For instance, where health practitioners are allowed to invoke conscientious objection to refuse to provide certain sexual and reproductive health services, including abortion, they should refer the women or girls seeking such services to another practitioner within reasonable geographical reach who is willing to provide such services.
- Body
- Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Rights of rural women 2016, para. 39f
- Paragraph text
- [States parties should safeguard the right of rural women and girls to adequate health care, and ensure:] That health-care information is widely disseminated in local languages and dialects through various media, including in writing, through illustrations and orally, and that it includes information on, inter alia: hygiene; preventing communicable, non-communicable and sexually transmitted diseases; healthy lifestyles and nutrition; family planning and the benefits of delayed childbearing; health during pregnancy; breastfeeding and its impact on child and maternal health; and the need to eliminate violence against women, including sexual and domestic violence and harmful practices;
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Rights of rural women 2016, para. 84
- Paragraph text
- Rural women's access to electricity and other forms of energy is often limited. The responsibility for biomass collection and use for energy production, and the associated health and safety risks, falls primarily on women and girls. They are traditionally responsible for meeting household energy requirements and, as the principal consumers of energy at the household level, are also likely to be more directly affected by cost increases or resource scarcity. While a specific reference to electricity is made in article 14, paragraph 2 (h), it is important to recognize that rural women may also have other energy needs, for example for cooking, heating, cooling and transportation.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Women and girls with disabilities 2016, para. 2
- Paragraph text
- There is strong evidence to show that women and girls with disabilities face barriers in most areas of life. These barriers create situations of multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination against women and girls with disabilities, particularly, with regard to equal access to education, access to economic opportunities, access to social interaction, access to justice and equal recognition before the law , the ability to participate politically, and the ability to exercise control over their own lives across a range of contexts, for example: with regard to healthcare, including sexual and reproductive health; and where and with whom they wish to live.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Women and girls with disabilities 2016, para. 48
- Paragraph text
- The lack of consideration of gender and/or disability aspects in policies relating to the physical environment, to transportation, to information and communications, including information and communications technologies and systems, and to other facilities and services open or provided to the public, both in urban and in rural areas, prevents women with disabilities from living independently and participating fully in all areas of life on an equal basis with others. This is specially relevant in their access to safe houses, support services and procedures in order to provide effective and meaningful protection from violence, abuse and exploitation or when providing health care, particularly reproductive health care.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Women and girls with disabilities 2016, para. 45
- Paragraph text
- Forced contraception and sterilization can also result in sexual violence without the consequence of pregnancy, especially for women with psychosocial or intellectual disabilities and those in psychiatric or other institutions or custody. Therefore, it is particularly important to reaffirm that the legal capacity of women with disabilities should be recognised on an equal basis with others, that women with disabilities have the right to found a family and be provided with appropriate assistance to raise their children.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Rights of rural women 2016, para. 39e
- Paragraph text
- [States parties should safeguard the right of rural women and girls to adequate health care, and ensure:] That rural health-care facilities have adequate water and sanitation services;
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Rights of rural women 2016, para. 39h
- Paragraph text
- [States parties should safeguard the right of rural women and girls to adequate health care, and ensure:] The gender-responsive and culturally responsive training of community health workers and traditional birth attendants, the provision of mobile clinics providing affordable health services in remote rural areas, and enhanced health education for rural communities, including education on the sexual and reproductive health and rights of both women and men;
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Women and girls with disabilities 2016, para. 51
- Paragraph text
- Women with disabilities, more often than men with disabilities and than the broader population of women, are denied their right to legal capacity. Their rights to maintain control over their reproductive health, including on the basis of free and informed consent , the right to found a family, the right to choose where and with whom to live, the right to physical and mental integrity, the right to own and inherit properties, to control their own financial affairs and to have equal access to bank loans, mortgages and other forms of financial credit are often violated through patriarchal systems of substituted decision-making.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Women and girls with disabilities 2016, para. 54
- Paragraph text
- Women with disabilities are more likely to be subjected to forced interventions than other women in general and men with disabilities, and are 'wrongfully justified by theories of incapacity and therapeutic necessity (and) are legitimized under national laws, and may enjoy wide public support as being in the alleged "best interest" of the person concerned' . Forced interventions violate a number of articles of the Convention, namely: the right to equal recognition before the law; freedom from exploitation, violence and abuse; the right to found a family; protecting the integrity of the person; sexual and reproductive health and rights; and freedom from torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment .
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Rights of rural women 2016, para. 39d
- Paragraph text
- [States parties should safeguard the right of rural women and girls to adequate health care, and ensure:] The systematic and regular monitoring of the health and nutritional status of pregnant women and new mothers, especially adolescent mothers, and their infants. In case of malnutrition or lack of access to clean water, extra food rations and drinking water should be provided systematically throughout pregnancy and lactation;
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Girls
- Infants
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Rights of rural women 2016, para. 38
- Paragraph text
- Maternal mortality and morbidity are disproportionately high in many rural areas. Child marriage exposes rural girls to early pregnancy and significantly contributes to maternal mortality, in particular in developing countries. Globally, the presence of skilled birth attendants and medical personnel is lower in rural than urban areas and leads to poor prenatal, perinatal and postnatal care. There is a greater unmet need for family planning services and contraception owing to poverty, the lack of information and the limited availability and accessibility of services. Rural women are more likely to resort to unsafe abortion than their urban counterparts, a situation that puts their lives at risk and compromises their health. Even in countries in which abortion is legal, restrictive conditions, including unreasonable waiting periods, often impede access for rural women. When abortion is illegal, the health impact is even greater.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
The right to sexual and reproductive health (Art. 12) 2016, para. 30
- Paragraph text
- Individuals belonging to particular groups may be disproportionately affected by intersectional discrimination in the context of sexual and reproductive health. As identified by the Committee, groups such as, but not limited to, poor women, persons with disabilities, migrants, indigenous or other ethnic minorities, adolescents, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons, and people living with HIV/AIDS are more likely to experience multiple discrimination. Trafficked and sexually exploited women, girls and boys are subject to violence, coercion and discrimination in their everyday lives, with their sexual and reproductive health at great risk. Also, women and girls living in conflict situations are disproportionately exposed to a high risk of violation of their rights, including through systematic rape, sexual slavery, forced pregnancy and forced sterilization. Measures to guarantee non-discrimination and substantive equality should be cognizant of and seek to overcome the often exacerbated impact that intersectional discrimination has on the realization of the right to sexual and reproductive health.
- Body
- Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Ethnic minorities
- Girls
- LGBTQI+
- Persons on the move
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Women and girls with disabilities 2016, para. 25
- Paragraph text
- The obligation to respect requires States parties to refrain from interfering with the enjoyment of the rights of women with disabilities. As such, existing laws, regulations, customs and practices that constitute discrimination against women with disabilities must be abolished. Laws that do not allow women with disabilities to marry or choose the number and spacing of their children on an equal basis with others are frequent examples of such discrimination. Further, the duty to respect implies refraining from engaging in any act or practice that is inconsistent with article 6 and other substantive provisions, to ensure that public authorities and institutions act in conformity with it .
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Women and girls with disabilities 2016, para. 32
- Paragraph text
- Certain forms of violence, exploitation or abuse may be considered as cruel, inhuman, degrading treatment or punishment and breaches a number of international human rights treaties. Among these are forced, coerced and otherwise involuntary pregnancy or sterilisation ; as well as any other medical procedure or intervention performed without free and informed consent, including those related to contraception and abortion; the invasive and irreversible surgical practises including psychosurgery, female genital mutilation or surgery or treatment performed on intersex children without their informed consent; the administration of electroshocks, chemical, physical or mechanical restraints; isolation or seclusion.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Harmful Practices
- Health
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Women and girls with disabilities 2016, para. 57
- Paragraph text
- Women with disabilities face barriers to accessing health and rehabilitation services; these include but are not limited to: lack of education and information on sexual and reproductive health and rights; physical barriers to gynaecological, obstetric and oncology services; and attitudinal barriers to fertility and hormone treatments. In addition, physical and psychological rehabilitation service provision, including counselling for acts of gender-based violence, may not be accessible, inclusive, age or gender sensitive.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Women and girls with disabilities 2016, para. 17b
- Paragraph text
- Indirect discrimination means that law, policies or practices appear neutral at face value, but have a disproportionate negative impact on women with disabilities. For example, healthcare facilities may appear neutral, but do not include accessible examination beds for gynaecological screening.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
The right to sexual and reproductive health (Art. 12) 2016, para. 2
- Paragraph text
- Due to numerous legal, procedural, practical and social barriers, access to the full range of sexual and reproductive health facilities, services, goods and information is seriously restricted. In fact, the full enjoyment of the right to sexual and reproductive health remains a distant goal for millions of people, especially for women and girls, throughout the world. Certain individuals and population groups that experience multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination that exacerbate exclusion in both law and practice, such as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons and persons with disabilities, the full enjoyment of the right to sexual and reproductive health is further restricted.
- Body
- Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- LGBTQI+
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
The right to sexual and reproductive health (Art. 12) 2016, para. 48
- Paragraph text
- States must also take affirmative measures to eradicate social barriers in terms of norms or beliefs that inhibit individuals of different ages and genders, women, girls and adolescents from autonomously exercising their right to sexual and reproductive health. Social misconceptions, prejudices and taboos about menstruation, pregnancy, delivery, masturbation, wet dreams, vasectomy and fertility should be modified so that these do not obstruct an individual's enjoyment of the right to sexual and reproductive health.
- Body
- Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Women and girls with disabilities 2016, para. 28b
- Paragraph text
- [The cross-cutting nature of article 6 inextricably links it to all other substantive provisions of the Convention. In addition to the articles that have an explicit reference to sex and/or gender, the rights of women with disabilities under article 6 are particularly interrelated with the following provisions:] Sexual and reproductive health and rights, including respect for home and the family (art. 25 and 23);
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Women and girls with disabilities 2016, para. 42
- Paragraph text
- Healthcare facilities and equipment, including mammogram machines and gynaecological examination beds, are often physically inaccessible for women with disabilities . Safe transport for women with disabilities to attend healthcare facilities or screening programmes may be unavailable, unaffordable or inaccessible.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
The implementation of the rights of the child during adolescence 2016, para. 60
- Paragraph text
- There should be no barriers to commodities, information and counselling on sexual and reproductive health and rights, such as requirements for third-party consent or authorization. In addition, particular efforts need to be made to overcome barriers of stigma and fear experienced by, for example, adolescent girls, girls with disabilities and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex adolescents, in gaining access to such services. The Committee urges States to decriminalize abortion to ensure that girls have access to safe abortion and post-abortion services, review legislation with a view to guaranteeing the best interests of pregnant adolescents and ensure that their views are always heard and respected in abortion-related decisions.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Children
- Girls
- LGBTQI+
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Women and girls with disabilities 2016, para. 38
- Paragraph text
- Wrongful stereotyping related to disability and gender are a form of discrimination, which particularly impacts the enjoyment of sexual and reproductive health and rights, and the right to a found a family. Harmful stereotypes of women with disabilities include but are not limited to beliefs that they are: asexual, incapable, irrational, lacking control and/or hypersexual. Like all women, women with disabilities have the right to choose the number and spacing of their children, as well as the right to have control over and decide freely and responsibly on matters related to their sexuality, including sexual and reproductive health, free of coercion, discrimination and violence .
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Women and girls with disabilities 2016, para. 39
- Paragraph text
- Women with disabilities face multiple barriers to the enjoyment of sexual and reproductive health and rights, equal recognition before the law and access to justice, which are addressed below. In addition to barriers resulting from multiple discrimination on the grounds of gender and disability, some women with disabilities, such as refugees, migrants and asylum seekers, face additional barriers because they are denied access to healthcare. Likewise, women with disabilities may face harmful eugenic stereotypes when it is assumed that women with disabilities give birth to children with disabilities and are thus discouraged or prevented from realizing their right to motherhood .
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Women and girls with disabilities 2016, para. 40
- Paragraph text
- Women with disabilities may also be denied access to information and communication, including comprehensive sexuality education, based on harmful stereotypes which assume they are asexual and thus that they do not require such information. Information may also not be available in accessible formats. Sexual and reproductive health information includes, but is not limited to information, on the basis of equality with others, about "all aspects of sexual and reproductive health, including maternal health, contraceptives, family planning, sexually transmitted infections and HIV prevention, safe abortion and post abortion care, infertility and fertility options, and reproductive cancers" .
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Women and girls with disabilities 2016, para. 44
- Paragraph text
- In practice, the choices of women with disabilities, especially women with psychosocial or intellectual disabilities are often ignored, their decisions are often substituted by third parties, including legal representatives, service providers, guardians and family members, thus violating their rights under article 12 . All women with disabilities must be able to exercise their legal capacity by taking their own decisions, with support when desired with regard to medical and/or therapeutic treatment, including decisions on: retaining their fertility, reproductive autonomy, their right to choose the number and spacing of children, to consent and accept a statement of fatherhood, and the right to establish relationships. Restricting or removing legal capacity can facilitate forced interventions, such as: sterilisation, abortion, contraception, female genital mutilation, or surgery, or treatment performed on intersex children without their informed consent and forced detention in institutions .
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Harmful Practices
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
The implementation of the rights of the child during adolescence 2016, para. 62
- Paragraph text
- Adolescents are the only age group in which death due to AIDS is increasing. Adolescents may face challenges in gaining access to antiretroviral treatment and remaining in treatment; the need to gain the consent of guardians in order to access HIV-related services, disclosure and stigma are some barriers. Adolescent girls are disproportionately affected, representing two thirds of new infections. Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender adolescents, adolescents who exchange sex for money, goods or favours and adolescents who inject drugs are also at a higher risk of HIV infection.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Girls
- LGBTQI+
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Rights of rural women 2016, para. 39g
- Paragraph text
- [States parties should safeguard the right of rural women and girls to adequate health care, and ensure:] The effective regulation of the marketing of breast-milk substitutes and the implementation and monitoring of the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes;
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Rights of rural women 2016, para. 39i
- Paragraph text
- [States parties should safeguard the right of rural women and girls to adequate health care, and ensure:] Investment in community and microhealth insurance schemes to support rural women, including caregivers, in meeting their health needs.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph