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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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Workplan and Future Activities of the Special Rapporteur 2015, para. 124f | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | [Member States should:] Pay particular attention to the most exposed groups: those who work for economic, social and cultural rights or minority rights; environmental defenders; defenders of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex rights; women defenders and those who work for women's rights; defenders who work in the area of business and human rights; those who work in an area exposed to internal conflict or a natural disaster; defenders living in isolated regions; and defenders working on past abuses, such as the families of victims of enforced disappearance; | Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2015 | ||
Workplan and Future Activities of the Special Rapporteur 2015, para. 54 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | During his first consultations in Geneva and Brussels and the bilateral discussions that he held with representatives of regional networks of human rights defenders, the Special Rapporteur was struck by the repeated statements drawing his attention to the groups that were most exposed: those working on economic, social and cultural rights and minority rights; environmental defenders; defenders of LGBTI rights; women defenders and those who work for women's rights; defenders who work in the area of business and human rights; those who work in an area exposed to internal conflict or a national disaster; defenders living in isolated regions; and those working on past abuses, such as the families of victims of enforced disappearance. | Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2015 | ||
Work of the mandate and priorities of the SR 2015, para. 43 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | For example, such a retrogressive tendency has been observed in the area of sexual and reproductive health and rights, and with regard to discrimination against groups in vulnerable situations, including children, documented and undocumented migrants, persons with disabilities and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons. In his reports and through his other activities, the Special Rapporteur will highlight the need and importance of applying the principle of the interdependence and indivisibility of human rights, and will underline how essential this is for the full realization of the right to health. | Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2015 | ||
Work of the mandate and priorities of the SR 2015, para. 26 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | Previous mandate holders have also looked into the negative impact of the criminalization of consensual same-sex conduct, of sexual orientation and gender identity, of sex work and of HIV transmission (see A/HRC/14/20). Such work has shown that punitive policies and criminalization are not effective and act as a barrier to access health services, fuel social stigma and exclusion and lead to poor health outcomes. | Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2015 | ||
Work in progress, challenges and the way forward 2017, para. 26 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | Another particularly at-risk group is defenders of the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons. Discrimination and attacks against them are increasing at an alarming rate, partly as a result of the rise of religious fundamentalism around the world. In this regard, the Special Rapporteur welcomes the appointment of an Independent Expert on sexual orientation and gender identity and hopes to be able to collaborate with him to better protect persons working to defend the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons. | Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2017 | ||
Women’s access to justice 2015, para. 49 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | Women are also disproportionately criminalized owing to their situation or status, such as being involved in prostitution, being a migrant, having been accused of adultery, identity as a lesbian, bisexual or transgender woman or intersex person, having undergone an abortion or belonging to other groups that face discrimination. | Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women | General Comment / Recommendation |
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| 2015 | ||
Women’s access to justice 2015, para. 8 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | Discrimination against women, based on gender stereotypes, stigma, harmful and patriarchal cultural norms and gender-based violence, which affects women in particular, has an adverse impact on the ability of women to gain access to justice on an equal basis with men. In addition, discrimination against women is compounded by intersecting factors that affect some women to degrees or in ways that differ from those affecting men or other women. Grounds for intersecting or compounded discrimination may include ethnicity/race, indigenous or minority status, colour, socioeconomic status and/or caste, language, religion or belief, political opinion, national origin, marital and/or maternal status, age, urban/rural location, health status, disability, property ownership and identity as a lesbian, bisexual or transgender woman or intersex person. These intersecting factors make it more difficult for women from those groups to gain access to justice. | Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women | General Comment / Recommendation |
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| 2015 | ||
Women human rights defenders and those working on women’s rights or gender issues 2011, para. 87 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | In 2005, the mandate sent a communication regarding the systematic use of sexual and other forms of violence against women defenders in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Aside from this, two other cases of threatened and attempted rape were reported from the DRC, along with one attempted rape of a women defender's daughter in the Central African Republic, and the threatened rape of an LGBT activist in Kenya. Sexual assaults, including instances of gang rape in detention of LGBT activists, were also reported in Ecuador, Honduras, Mexico, India, and Nepal. The alleged perpetrators of these acts were mostly unknown/ unidentified but also included members of the police, military, armed groups, or local members of the community. | Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2011 | ||
Women human rights defenders and those working on women’s rights or gender issues 2011, para. 86 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | As both mandate holders have reiterated on various occasions, female human rights defenders are subject to particular risks to which their male counterparts are not so greatly exposed, foremost among these being the risk of rape, sexual abuse, and other forms of sexual violence and harassment. During the 2004-2009 period, the mandate sent 26 communications regarding cases of rape, threatened rape, or other forms of sexual violence and harassment against women defenders. However, of these, six communications concerned abuses of this kind against LGBT activists. | Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2011 | ||
Women human rights defenders and those working on women’s rights or gender issues 2011, para. 85 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | Aside from the "political" stigmatization to which both women defenders and their male counterparts are subjected in certain contexts, including accusations of being fronts for guerrilla movements, terrorists, political extremists, separatists, foreign countries or interests, women human rights defenders often face further stigmatization by virtue of their sex or the gender- or sexuality-based rights they advocate. As noted above, such work can be perceived as challenging established socio-cultural norms, tradition or perceptions about the role and status of women in society. As a result of this, women defenders often find themselves and their work subjected to stigmatization by both State and non-State actors. A common accusation directed in particular at those working on women's rights, gender issues, and LGBT rights, is the assertion that these defenders are somehow advocating or attempting to import "foreign" or "Western" values which contradict national or regional culture. State agents or representatives are often alleged to be responsible for such stigmatization. | Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2011 | ||
Women human rights defenders and those working on women’s rights or gender issues 2011, para. 58 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | The human rights activities carried out by those subjected to threats and death threats in the Americas region ranged very widely. Among the groups which appear to be most at risk are women defenders working to fight impunity for alleged human rights violations, particularly in Brazil, Colombia, Guatemala, Mexico, and Peru. Moreover, those working on indigenous rights also appear to be at risk, particularly in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, and Honduras; trade unionists, particularly in Colombia and Guatemala; and women's rights and/or LGBT defenders in the region. | Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2011 | ||
Women human rights defenders and those working on women’s rights or gender issues 2011, para. 43 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | During the period, the mandate sent 47 communications regarding defenders working on LGBT issues. Aside from the aforementioned alleged violations related to freedom of assembly and association, killings of LGBT human rights defenders were alleged in five communications, with rape and sexual violence, including against males, being reported in a further six. Various other communications detailed many instances of threats, death threats, physical attacks and violence, and stigmatization. Further, the criminalization of homosexuality has in some countries led to alleged arrests, torture and ill-treatment, including of a sexual nature, while in other countries it effectively prevented defenders from engaging in any advocacy for LGBT rights. | Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2011 | ||
Women human rights defenders and those working on women’s rights or gender issues 2011, para. 42 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | The 28 communications sent regarding defenders working on women's rights or gender issues in Europe and Central Asia predominantly concerned LGBT activists in East and Central European countries including Poland, Moldova, Serbia, and the Russian Federation, as well as women's rights activists operating in Uzbekistan and Belarus. Alleged violations against LGBT activists in this region generally related to freedom of assembly or association, such as denial of permits for peaceful rallies or refusal to register an organization. Other reported violations against women's rights defenders were again largely judicial by nature, including arrests, detentions, judicial harassment, and conviction. | Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2011 | ||
Women human rights defenders and those working on women’s rights or gender issues 2011, para. 40 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | A smaller number of communications regarding defenders working on these issues (33) were sent to countries in sub-Saharan Africa. The largest number of these concerned defenders in Zimbabwe. Alleged violations of a judicial nature were reported against defenders working on these issues in the Sudan and Uganda (particularly with regard to LGBT defenders). Communications were also sent to the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of the Congo where women's rights defenders faced risks such as attacks, raids, death threats, attempted rape, and sexual violence. | Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2011 | ||
Women human rights defenders and those working on women’s rights or gender issues 2011, para. 37 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | A large number of communications sent during the period (196) concerned alleged violations against defenders, including males, working on women's rights or gender issues, including lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual issues (LGBT). This group is thoroughly heterogeneous, including women and men carrying out a vast range of activities related to women's rights, including those working on issues related to sexual and reproductive rights; organizations dealing with violence against women, rehabilitation and impunity related to violence, rape and sexual violence, women's shelters caring for victims of the above; and journalists and bloggers writing on women's rights issues. | Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2011 | ||
Vision and Working Methods of the Mandate 2014, para. 48 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | In the course of the initial consultations held in Geneva and Brussels and the bilateral discussions which he has been able to have with representatives of regional networks of defenders, the Special Rapporteur has been struck, among other issues, by how frequently his attention has been drawn to the most exposed groups, such as those who are seeking to promote and protect economic, social and cultural rights or the rights of minorities; environmental defenders; defenders of the rights of lesbian, homosexual, bisexual, transsexual and intersex persons, female defenders and those who strive for the rights of women; defenders who work on issues of companies and human rights; those who work in an area exposed to an internal conflict or a natural disaster; defenders living in isolated regions; or those who work on past violations, who are especially targeted. | Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2014 | ||
Violence against women with disabilities 2012, para. 27 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | Lesbians and other sexual minorities who identify as female and who have disabilities confront social barriers, isolation, exclusion and violence due to both sexual minority status and disability. Lesbians with psychosocial disabilities have been largely excluded or overlooked in research and treatment, despite their usage of mental health-care and other psychosocial services. They sometimes experience a "cultural contradiction" imposed by society since lesbianism is viewed as a sexual identity, while women with disabilities are often stereotyped as asexual. | Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2012 | ||
Violations committed against defenders by non-State actors 2010, para. 18 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | The Special Rapporteur has been made aware of cases in which newspapers have directly incited homophobia or portrayed defenders working on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights as homosexuals. In one particular case, such defenders had to go into hiding, fearing for their physical safety and psychological integrity following the publication of their names and pictures in newspapers. | Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2010 | ||
Violations committed against defenders by non-State actors 2010, para. 16 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | In addition, the information received indicates that community leaders and faith-based groups are increasingly resorting to the stigmatization of, and attacks against, defenders working on issues such as the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons (A/HRC/4/37/Add.2, para. 32), violence against women and domestic violence. In numerous instances, defenders have been threatened with ostracism or pressured to stop their work in defence of human rights. Furthermore, the information received shows that women human rights defenders working in the area of domestic violence and other types of violence against women are often pressured by the family members of victims or threatened by the perpetrators or their own family members to drop cases. | Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2010 | ||
Use of legislation to regulate activities of human rights defenders 2012, para. 35 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | The Special Rapporteur emphasizes that the Human Rights Committee has found adult consensual sexual activity in private to be part of a person's privacy, which is protected under article 17 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (CCPR/C/50/D/488/1992, para. 8.2). Laws criminalizing consensual homosexual acts conducted in private violate a person's rights to privacy and to freedom from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, in breach of applicable international human rights law (A/HRC/19/41, para. 41). Defenders working on these issues are advocating human rights standards that are internationally recognized. States should therefore ensure that defenders working to promote lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights can do so in a conducive and open environment without fear of persecution. Given that it is the right of human rights defenders to develop and discuss new human rights ideas and principles and to advocate their acceptance under article 7 of the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, it is the responsibility of the State to ensure that its legislation relating to public morals caters to this right and does not compromise the rights of defenders to freedom of expression, freedom of association and freedom of peaceful assembly. | Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2012 | ||
Use of legislation to regulate activities of human rights defenders 2012, para. 33 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | The right to freedom of peaceful assembly faces considerable limitations under the laws in question. In countries practising a regime of authorization for public assemblies, defenders seeking to organize public meetings, marches and demonstrations in favour of equal rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, or to hold pride marches and festivals, are routinely denied permission to hold such events. Reasons cited include the need to uphold public morals and the risk of counter-protests. Human rights defenders who have defied such bans on public assemblies have, in many cases, been arrested and, in some cases, convicted under the applicable legislation relating to preservation of public morals. The Special Rapporteur wishes to stress that, on the basis of the principle of non discrimination, these justifications are insufficient to prevent such assemblies from taking place. If security risks are involved, it is the duty of the State to provide protection to those exercising their right to assemble peacefully, pursuant to article 12 (2) of the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders. | Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2012 | ||
Use of legislation to regulate activities of human rights defenders 2012, para. 32 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | With regard to freedom of expression, these laws have an equally detrimental effect, given that publishing an article or expressing an opinion in favour of equal rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people may expose someone to criminal prosecution. This leads to self-censorship among defenders working on issues relating to sexual orientation and gender identity. | Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2012 | ||
Use of legislation to regulate activities of human rights defenders 2012, para. 31 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | Such legislation has a profound and deteriorating effect on the fundamental freedoms of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender human rights defenders, in addition to non-governmental organizations and health workers engaged in HIV prevention and providing care for HIV patients. The right to freedom of association is severely compromised by such legislation, forcing lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender associations to operate clandestinely or to cease operations altogether. | Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2012 | ||
Use of legislation to regulate activities of human rights defenders 2012, para. 30 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | The situation of defenders working on the promotion and protection of human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons continues to be volatile, given that same-sex relations between consenting adults are currently criminalized in more than 75 countries worldwide. In recent years, there have been legislative moves in several countries that have further curbed the activities of defenders working on these issues. Such laws typically make it a crime to operate associations working to defend lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights and often contain vaguely worded provisions criminalizing individuals who promote homosexuality or facilitate, condone or even simply witness same-sex relationships. Besides the purported justification of preserving public morals, some of these laws expressly forbid promotion of homosexuality among minors. Such measures link homosexuality to paedophilia, which are two completely unrelated phenomena. This stigmatizes lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and considerably discredits the work of defenders. | Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2012 | ||
Use of legislation to regulate activities of human rights defenders 2012, para. 29 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | Penal codes in many States contain articles whose declared objective is to preserve public morals and cohesion, with punishments ranging from fines to years of imprisonment and, in some cases, even the death penalty. In recent years, various pieces of legislation have been enacted to bring about further restrictions in the name of public morals, notably with regard to homosexuality, access to contraceptive methods, abortion, cross-dressing and gender reassignment surgery, and the provision of information regarding sexuality and sexual and reproductive health through formal or non-formal education. Such legislation has considerable implications for human rights defenders working to combat discrimination, on issues relating to sexual orientation and gender identity, and on sexual and reproductive rights. | Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2012 | ||
The World Bank and human rights 2015, para. 44 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | The President sought to make the case that serious institutional discrimination had economic costs that the Bank could legitimately take into account, but the same argument applies to equally problematic forms of discrimination against different groups in a large number of countries in which the Bank continues to operate, and in response to which no action has been taken. No convincing justification was put forward by the Bank as to why Uganda alone was singled out among the various countries that have laws that criminalize homosexuality. No explanation was given as to why discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex communities was the trigger for action, rather than often deeply entrenched official discrimination against various other groups. Nor was the action based on any policy document that had previously been elaborated. And finally, if the Bank itself had been directly implicated in the issue at hand, urgent remedial action would have been much more readily defensible, but it was not. | Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2015 | ||
The World Bank and human rights 2015, para. 43 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | An especially problematic, if well-intentioned, case was the decision in February 2014 to delay a $90 million health project loan to Uganda after the country adopted a draconian anti-homosexuality act. The Bank suggested that it had acted only to ensure that the health project would not be adversely affected by the act. However, the President of the Bank explained that he had acted because he was not convinced that the loan would not lead to discrimination or even endangerment of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. | Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2015 | ||
The Special Rapporteur's vision of the mandate 2017, para. 35 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | In his third report to the Human Rights Council (A/HRC/26/29), in which he assessed the threats against groups most at risk when exercising their rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association, the previous mandate holder focused on the challenges facing groups that were often relegated to the margins of society, both in their daily lives and in the exercise of those rights. In the report, he highlighted the link between the denial of those rights and the marginalization of such groups and how that marginalization exacerbated their inability to effectively exercise their rights. Some of the groups considered to be most at risk were persons with disabilities; youth, including children; women; lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people; members of minority groups; indigenous peoples; internally displaced persons; and non-nationals, including refugees, asylum seekers and migrant workers. For the purpose of the report, the groups most at risk also included groups and individuals who were targeted not because of their identity, but because they actively lobbied for the rights of those most at risk of discrimination and retribution. He noted that human rights defenders, including journalists, trade unionists and environmental activists, faced considerable opposition, harassment, stigmatization and even physical attacks from State and non-State actors in many countries. | Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2017 | ||
The right to sexual and reproductive health (Art. 12) 2016, para. 59 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | Violations of the obligation to protect occur when a State fails to take effective steps to prevent third parties from undermining the enjoyment of the right to sexual and reproductive health. This includes the failure to prohibit and take measures to prevent all forms of violence and coercion committed by private individuals and entities, including domestic violence, rape (including marital rape), sexual assault, abuse and harassment, including during conflict, post-conflict and transition situations; violence targeting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons or women seeking abortion or post-abortion care; harmful practices such as female genital mutilation, child and forced marriage, forced sterilization, forced abortion and forced pregnancy; and medically unnecessary, irreversible and involuntary surgery and treatment performed on intersex infants or children. | 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. 40 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | The obligation to respect requires States to refrain from directly or indirectly interfering with the exercise by individuals of the right to sexual and reproductive health. States must not limit or deny anyone access to sexual and reproductive health, including through laws criminalizing sexual and reproductive health services and information, while confidentiality of health data should be maintained. States must reform laws that impede the exercise of the right to sexual and reproductive health. Examples include laws criminalizing abortion, non-disclosure of HIV status, exposure to and transmission of HIV, consensual sexual activities between adults, and transgender identity or expression. | Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights | General Comment / Recommendation |
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| 2016 |