Bringing Rights to Bear: Female Genital Mutilation and Other Harmful Practices

The Center has completed updating one of its signature publications, Bringing Rights to Bear. Initially published in 2002, Bringing Rights to Bear takes a long, hard look at the thousands of comments, statements, and recommendations produced by UN treaty-monitoring bodies, analyzing their potential for advancing reproductive rights. Our 2008 update, produced as a series of standalone briefing papers on specific issues, reflects the growing recognition among these UN bodies that reproductive rights are firmly grounded in international human rights treaties. The redesigned layout allows audiences with more tailored thematic interests to receive only the information they need. On November 5, we formally launched the publication in Geneva with presentations to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and the UN Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights.