Center For Reproductive Rights Opens Geneva Office
(PRESS RELEASE) With the United Nations and human rights bodies being called upon frequently to protect women’s reproductive rights, the Center for Reproductive Rights is expanding its presence at the United Nations with the opening of a new office in Geneva, Switzerland.
For over 20 years, the Center for Reproductive Rights has used the power of the law to advance and defend reproductive rights as fundamental human rights, working with the U.N. bodies to define women’s human rights. With a Geneva office, the Center will further engage with the United Nations and local-based NGOs to amplify the voices and experiences of women seeking reproductive health care across the globe.
Said Nancy Northup, president and CEO at the Center for Reproductive Rights:
“Geneva is where global human rights standards are set and where critical litigation and advocacy over the years has enshrined reproductive rights as fundamental human rights.
“For more than 20 years, the Center for Reproductive Rights has stood at the forefront of this effort to shine a bright light on the injustices women face worldwide, bringing their cases to international courts, human rights bodies and the United Nations.
“With this expanded presence in Geneva and at the United Nations, we are deepening our commitment to work with civil society and U.N. missions to ensure reproductive rights are realized for every woman worldwide.”
The Center has played a part in some of the most important advances in reproductive rights worldwide. At the U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, the Center secured historic financial reparations for the family of a young Brazilian woman who died from preventable pregnancy complications—the first time an international human rights decision named maternal health a human rights. And at the European Court of Human Rights, the Center called upon Poland to ensure adolescents’ reproductive rights after access to a legal abortion for a rape survivor was repeatedly obstructed.
In its first few years, the Center’s Geneva office will deepen its work promoting a rights-based approach to the full range of reproductive health care—including contraception, maternal health, and safe abortion—through advocacy initiatives within U.N. committees and working with local NGOs with international presence.
“The United Nations has repeatedly recognized that reproductive rights are human rights and that to deny women these rights—from criminalizing abortion to discrimination, coercion, and violence in health care settings—is unacceptable,” said Rebecca Brown, director of global advocacy at the Center for Reproductive Rights. “We hope to build on this strong foundation through our work here in Geneva.”