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Title | Date added | Template | Original document | Paragraph text | Body | Document type | Thematics | Topic(s) | Person(s) affected | Year |
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State obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in the context of business activities 2017, para. 4 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | In certain jurisdictions, individuals enjoy direct recourse against business entities for violations of economic, social and cultural rights, whether in order to impose on such private entities (negative) duties to refrain from certain courses of conduct or to impose (positive) duties to adopt certain measures or to contribute to the fulfilment of such rights. There are also a large number of domestic laws designed to protect specific economic, social and cultural rights, that apply directly to business entities, such as in the areas of non-discrimination, health-care provision, education, the environment, employment relations and consumer safety. | Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights | General Comment / Recommendation |
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| 2017 | ||
State obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in the context of business activities 2017, para. 19 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | The obligation to protect sometimes necessitates direct regulation and intervention. States parties should consider measures such as restricting marketing and advertising of certain goods and services in order to protect public health, such as of tobacco products, in line with the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, and of breast-milk substitutes, in accordance with the 1981 International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes and subsequent resolutions of the World Health Assembly; combating gender role stereotyping and discrimination; exercising rent control in the private housing market as required for the protection of everyone’s right to adequate housing; establishing a minimum wage consistent with a living wage and a fair remuneration; regulating other business activities concerning the Covenant rights to education, employment and reproductive health, in order to combat gender discrimination effectively; and gradually eliminating informal or “non-standard” (i.e. precarious) forms of employment, which often result in denying the workers concerned the protection of labour laws and social security. | Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights | General Comment / Recommendation |
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| 2017 | ||
The right to just and favourable conditions of work (Art. 7) 2016, para. 65d | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | [States parties have a core obligation to ensure the satisfaction of, at the very least, minimum essential levels of the right to just and favourable conditions of work. Specifically, this requires States parties to:] Adopt and implement a comprehensive national policy on occupational safety and health; | Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights | General Comment / Recommendation |
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| 2016 | ||
The right to sexual and reproductive health (Art. 12) 2016, para. 5 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | The right to sexual and reproductive health entails a set of freedoms and entitlements. The freedoms include the right to make free and responsible decisions and choices, free of violence, coercion and discrimination, regarding matters concerning one's body and sexual and reproductive health. The entitlements include unhindered access to a whole range of health facilities, goods, services and information, which ensure all people full enjoyment of the right to sexual and reproductive health under article 12 of the Covenant. | Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights | General Comment / Recommendation |
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| 2016 | ||
The right to sexual and reproductive health (Art. 12) 2016, para. 6 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | Sexual health and reproductive health are distinct from, but closely linked, to each other. Sexual health, as defined by the World Health Organization (WHO), is "a state of physical, emotional, mental and social well-being in relation to sexuality". Reproductive health, as described in the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development, concerns the capability to reproduce and the freedom to make informed, free and responsible decisions. It also includes access to a range of reproductive health information, goods, facilities and services to enable individuals to make informed, free and responsible decisions about their reproductive behaviour. | Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights | General Comment / Recommendation |
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| 2016 | ||
The right to sexual and reproductive health (Art. 12) 2016, para. 38 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | Retrogressive measures should be avoided and, if such measures are applied, the State party has the burden of proving their necessity. This applies equally in the context of sexual and reproductive health. Examples of retrogressive measures include the removal of sexual and reproductive health medications from national drug registries; laws or policies revoking public health funding for sexual and reproductive health services; imposition of barriers to information, goods and services relating to sexual and reproductive health; enacting laws criminalizing certain sexual and reproductive health conduct and decisions; and legal and policy changes that reduce oversight by States of the obligation of private actors to respect the right of individuals to access sexual and reproductive health services. In the extreme circumstances under which retrogressive measures may be inevitable, States must ensure that such measures are only temporary, do not disproportionately affect disadvantaged and marginalized individuals and groups, and are not applied in an otherwise discriminatory manner. | Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights | General Comment / Recommendation |
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| 2016 | ||
The right to sexual and reproductive health (Art. 12) 2016, para. 43 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | States must prohibit and prevent private actors from imposing practical or procedural barriers to health services, such as physical obstruction of facilities, dissemination of misinformation, informal fees and third-party authorization requirements. Where health care providers are allowed to invoke conscientious objection, States must appropriately regulate this practice to ensure that it does not inhibit anyone's access to sexual and reproductive health care, including by requiring referrals to an accessible provider capable of and willing to provide the services being sought, and that it does not inhibit the performance of services in urgent or emergency situations. | Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights | General Comment / Recommendation |
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| 2016 | ||
The right to sexual and reproductive health (Art. 12) 2016, para. 45 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | The obligation to fulfil requires States to adopt appropriate legislative, administrative, budgetary, judicial, promotional and other measures to ensure the full realization of the right to sexual and reproductive health. States should aim to ensure universal access without discrimination for all individuals, including those from disadvantaged and marginalized groups, to a full range of quality sexual and reproductive health care, including maternal health care; contraceptive information and services; safe abortion care; and prevention, diagnosis and treatment of infertility, reproductive cancers, sexually transmitted infections and HIV/AIDS, including with generic medicines. States must guarantee physical and mental health care for survivors of sexual and domestic violence in all situations, including access to post-exposure prevention, emergency contraception and safe abortion services. | Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights | General Comment / Recommendation |
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| 2016 | ||
The right to sexual and reproductive health (Art. 12) 2016, para. 46 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | The obligation to fulfil also requires States to take measures to eradicate practical barriers to the full realization of the right to sexual and reproductive health, such as disproportionate costs and lack of physical or geographical access to sexual and reproductive health care. States must ensure that health care providers are adequately trained on the provision of quality and respectful sexual and reproductive health services and ensure that such providers are equitably distributed throughout the State. | Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights | General Comment / Recommendation |
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| 2016 | ||
The right to just and favourable conditions of work (Art. 7) 2016, para. 39 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | All workers must enjoy weekly rest periods, in principle amounting to at least 24 consecutive hours every period of seven days, although two consecutive days of rest for workers is preferable as a general rule to ensure their health and safety. Days of rest should correspond to the customs and traditions of the country and the workers in question and apply simultaneously to all staff in the enterprise or workplace. | Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights | General Comment / Recommendation |
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| 2016 | ||
The right to sexual and reproductive health (Art. 12) 2016, para. 22 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | Article 2 (2) of the Covenant provides that all individuals and groups shall not be discriminated against and shall enjoy equal rights. All individuals and groups should be able to enjoy equal access to the same range, quality and standard of sexual and reproductive health facilities, information, goods and services, and to exercise their rights to sexual and reproductive health without experiencing any discrimination. | Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights | General Comment / Recommendation |
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| 2016 | ||
The right to just and favourable conditions of work (Art. 7) 2016, para. 28 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | In particular, the policy should indicate specific actions required of employers in areas such as prevention and response to accidents and disease, as well as recording and providing notification about relevant data, given the fundamental responsibility of the employer to protect the health and safety of workers. It should also include a mechanism, which might be a central body, for coordination of policy implementation and support programmes and with the authority to undertake periodic reviews. To assist with the review, the policy should promote the collection and dissemination of reliable and valid data on the fullest possible range of occupational accidents and disease, including accidents involving workers while commuting to and from work. Data collection should respect human rights principles, including confidentiality of personal and medical data, as well as the need for disaggregation of data by sex and other relevant grounds. | Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights | General Comment / Recommendation |
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| 2016 | ||
The right to just and favourable conditions of work (Art. 7) 2016, para. 29 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | The policy should incorporate appropriate monitoring and enforcement provisions, including effective investigations, and provide adequate penalties in case of violations, including the right of enforcement authorities to suspend the operation of unsafe enterprises. Workers affected by a preventable occupational accident or disease should have the right to a remedy, including access to appropriate grievance mechanisms, such as courts, to resolve disputes. In particular, States parties should ensure that workers suffering from an accident or disease and, where relevant, the dependants of those workers, receive adequate compensation, including for costs of treatment, loss of earnings and other costs, as well as access to rehabilitation services. | Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights | General Comment / Recommendation |
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| 2016 | ||
The right to sexual and reproductive health (Art. 12) 2016, para. 64 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | States must ensure that all individuals have access to justice and to meaningful and effective remedy in instances in which the right to sexual and reproductive health is violated. Remedies include, but are not limited to, adequate, effective and prompt reparation in the form of restitution, compensation, rehabilitation, satisfaction and guarantees of non-repetition, as appropriate. The effective exercise of the right to remedy requires funding access to justice and information about the existence of these remedies. It is also important that the right to sexual and reproductive health be enshrined in laws and policies and be fully justiciable at the national level, and that judges, prosecutors and lawyers be made aware of that such a right can be enforced. When third parties contravene the right to sexual and reproductive health, States must ensure that such violations are investigated and prosecuted, and that the perpetrators are held accountable, while the victims of such violations are provided with remedies. | Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights | General Comment / Recommendation |
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| 2016 | ||
The right to sexual and reproductive health (Art. 12) 2016, para. 55 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | Violations through acts of omission include the failure to take appropriate steps towards the full realization of everyone's right to sexual and reproductive health and the failure to enact and enforce relevant laws. Failure to ensure formal and substantive equality in the enjoyment of the right to sexual and reproductive health constitutes a violation of this right. The elimination of de jure as well as de facto discrimination is required for the equal enjoyment of the right to sexual and reproductive health. | Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights | General Comment / Recommendation |
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| 2016 | ||
The right to sexual and reproductive health (Art. 12) 2016, para. 39 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | States parties have an obligation to respect, protect and fulfil the right of everyone to sexual and reproductive health. | Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights | General Comment / Recommendation |
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| 2016 | ||
The right to sexual and reproductive health (Art. 12) 2016, para. 8 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | Further, the right to sexual and reproductive health is also deeply affected by "social determinants of health", as defined by WHO. In all countries, patterns of sexual and reproductive health generally reflect social inequalities in society and unequal distribution of power based on gender, ethnic origin, age, disability and other factors. Poverty, income inequality, systemic discrimination and marginalization based on grounds identified by the Committee are all social determinants of sexual and reproductive health, which also have an impact on the enjoyment of an array of other rights as well. The nature of these social determinants, which are often expressed in laws and policies, limits the choices that individuals can exercise with respect to their sexual and reproductive health. Therefore, to realize the right to sexual and reproductive health, States parties must address the social determinants as manifested in laws, institutional arrangements and social practices that prevent individuals from effectively enjoying in practice their sexual and reproductive health. | Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights | General Comment / Recommendation |
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| 2016 | ||
The right to sexual and reproductive health (Art. 12) 2016, para. 13 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | Ensuring the availability of trained medical and professional personnel and skilled providers who are trained to perform the full range of sexual and reproductive health care services is a critical component of ensuring availability. Essential medicines should also be available, including a wide range of contraceptive methods, such as condoms and emergency contraception, medicines for abortion and for post-abortion care, and medicines, including generic medicines, for the prevention and treatment of sexually transmitted infections and HIV. | Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights | General Comment / Recommendation |
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| 2016 | ||
The right to sexual and reproductive health (Art. 12) 2016, para. 21 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | Facilities, goods, information and services related to sexual and reproductive health must be of good quality, meaning that they are evidence-based and scientifically and medically appropriate and up-to-date. This requires trained and skilled health care personnel and scientifically approved and unexpired drugs and equipment. The failure or refusal to incorporate technological advances and innovations in the provision of sexual and reproductive health services, such as medication for abortion, assisted reproductive technologies and advances in the treatment of HIV and AIDS, jeopardizes the quality of care. | Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights | General Comment / Recommendation |
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| 2016 | ||
The right to sexual and reproductive health (Art. 12) 2016, para. 63 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | In addition, violations of the obligation to fulfil occur when States fail to take affirmative measures to eradicate legal, procedural, practical and social barriers to the enjoyment of the right to sexual and reproductive health and to ensure that health care providers treat all individuals seeking sexual and reproductive health care in a respectful and non-discriminatory manner. Violation of the obligation to fulfil also occur when States fail to take measures to ensure that up-to-date, accurate information on sexual and reproductive health is publicly available and accessible to all individuals, in appropriate languages and formats, and to ensure that all educational institutions incorporate unbiased, scientifically accurate, evidence-based, age-appropriate and comprehensive sexuality education into their required curricula. | Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights | General Comment / Recommendation |
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| 2016 | ||
The right to sexual and reproductive health (Art. 12) 2016, para. 12 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | An adequate number of functioning health care facilities, services, goods and programmes should be available to provide the population with the fullest possible range of sexual and reproductive health care. This includes ensuring the availability of facilities, goods and services for the guarantee of the underlying determinants of the realization of the right to sexual and reproductive health, such as safe and potable drinking water and adequate sanitation facilities, hospitals and clinics. | Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights | General Comment / Recommendation |
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| 2016 | ||
The right to just and favourable conditions of work (Art. 7) 2016, para. 74 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | While only States are parties to the Covenant, business enterprises, trade unions and all members of society have responsibilities to realize the right to just and favourable conditions of work. This is particularly important in the case of occupational safety and health, given that the employer's responsibility for the safety and health of workers is a basic principle of labour law, intrinsically related to the employment contract, but it also applies to other elements of the right to just and favourable conditions of work. | Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights | General Comment / Recommendation |
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| 2016 | ||
The right to sexual and reproductive health (Art. 12) 2016, para. 7 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | In its general comment No. 14, the Committee stated that the right to the highest attainable standard of health not only included the absence of disease and infirmity and the right to the provision of preventive, curative and palliative health care, but also extended to the underlying determinants of health. The same is applicable to the right to sexual and reproductive health. It extends beyond sexual and reproductive health care to the underlying determinants of sexual and reproductive health, including access to safe and potable water, adequate sanitation, adequate food and nutrition, adequate housing, safe and healthy working conditions and environment, health-related education and information, and effective protection from all forms of violence, torture and discrimination and other human rights violations that have a negative impact on the right to sexual and reproductive health. | Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights | General Comment / Recommendation |
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| 2016 | ||
The right to sexual and reproductive health (Art. 12) 2016, para. 49a | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | [States parties have a core obligation to ensure, at the very least, minimum essential levels of satisfaction of the right to sexual and reproductive health. In this regard, States parties should be guided by contemporary human rights instruments and jurisprudence, as well as the most current international guidelines and protocols established by United Nations agencies, in particular WHO and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). The core obligations include at least the following:] To repeal or eliminate laws, policies and practices that criminalize, obstruct or undermine access by individuals or a particular group to sexual and reproductive health facilities, services, goods and information; | Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights | General Comment / Recommendation |
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| 2016 | ||
The right to sexual and reproductive health (Art. 12) 2016, para. 56 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | Violations of the obligation to respect occur when the State, through laws, policies or actions, undermines the right to sexual and reproductive health. Such violations include State interference with an individual's freedom to control his or her own body and ability to make free, informed and responsible decisions in this regard. They also occur when the State removes or suspends laws and policies that are necessary for the enjoyment of the right to sexual and reproductive health. | Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights | General Comment / Recommendation |
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| 2016 | ||
The right to sexual and reproductive health (Art. 12) 2016, para. 61 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | Violations of the obligation to fulfil occur when States do not take all necessary steps to facilitate, promote and provide for the right to sexual and reproductive health within maximum available resources. Such violations arise when States fail to adopt and implement a holistic and inclusive national health policy that adequately and comprehensively includes sexual and reproductive health or when a policy fails to appropriately address the needs of disadvantaged and marginalized groups. | Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights | General Comment / Recommendation |
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| 2016 | ||
The right to sexual and reproductive health (Art. 12) 2016, para. 62 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | Violations of the obligation to fulfil also occur when States fail to progressively ensure that sexual and reproductive health facilities, goods and services are available, accessible, acceptable and of good quality. Examples of such violations include the failure to guarantee access to the full range of contraceptive options so that all individuals are able to utilize an appropriate method that suits their particular situation and needs. | Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights | General Comment / Recommendation |
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| 2016 | ||
The right to sexual and reproductive health (Art. 12) 2016, para. 14 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | Unavailability of goods and services due to ideologically based policies or practices, such as the refusal to provide services based on conscience, must not be a barrier to accessing services. An adequate number of health care providers willing and able to provide such services should be available at all times in both public and private facilities and within reasonable geographical reach. | Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights | General Comment / Recommendation |
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| 2016 | ||
The right to sexual and reproductive health (Art. 12) 2016, para. 15 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | Health facilities, goods, information and services related to sexual and reproductive health care should be accessible to all individuals and groups without discrimination and free from barriers. As elaborated in the Committee's general comment No. 14, accessibility includes physical accessibility, affordability and information accessibility. | Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights | General Comment / Recommendation |
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| 2016 | ||
The right to sexual and reproductive health (Art. 12) 2016, para. 32 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | States parties should take measures to fully protect persons working in the sex industry against all forms of violence, coercion and discrimination. They should ensure that such persons have access to the full range of sexual and reproductive health care services. | Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights | General Comment / Recommendation |
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| 2016 |