Skip to content
Center for Reproductive Rights
Center for Reproductive Rights

Primary Menu

  • About
    • Overview
    • #TheForwardFight
    • Center Leadership & Staff
    • Pro Bono Program
    • Creative Council
    • Annual Reports
    • Contact Us
    • Careers
    • Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
  • Work
    • Overview
    • Litigation
    • Legal Policy and Advocacy
    • Resources & Research
    • Recent Case Highlights
    • Landmark Cases
    • Cases Archive
    • World’s Abortion Laws Map
    • After Roe Fell: Abortion Laws by State
  • Issues
    • Overview
    • Abortion
    • Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights
    • Assisted Reproduction
    • Contraception
    • Humanitarian Settings
    • Maternal Health
    • COVID-19
  • Regions
    • Overview
    • Africa
    • Asia
    • Europe
    • Latin America and the Caribbean
    • United States
    • Global Advocacy
  • News
    • Latest News
    • Center in the Spotlight
    • Events
    • Press Releases
    • Press Room
    • Newsletters
  • Resources
    • Resources & Research
    • World Abortion Laws Map
    • After Roe Fell: Abortion Laws by State
  • Act
    • Overview
    • Give
    • Act
    • Learn
  • Donate
    • Make a Gift Now
    • Be a Champion
    • Join the Advocates Council
    • Become a Major Donor
    • Give Through Your Donor-Advised Fund
    • Make a Gift In Honor
    • Attend an Event
    • Leave a Legacy
    • More Ways to Give
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • LinkedIn
Donate
icon-hamburger icon-magnifying-glass Donate
icon-magnifying-glass-teal

Contraceptive Access Case Filed In Supreme Court of Nepal

Center for Reproductive Rights - Center for Reproductive Rights - search logo
search Close Close icon
Center for Reproductive Rights -
Menu Close Menu Close icon
Donate

Primary Menu

  • About
    • Overview
    • #TheForwardFight
    • Center Leadership & Staff
    • Pro Bono Program
    • Creative Council
    • Annual Reports
    • Contact Us
    • Careers
    • Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
  • Work
    • Overview
    • Litigation
    • Legal Policy and Advocacy
    • Resources & Research
    • Recent Case Highlights
    • Landmark Cases
    • Cases Archive
    • World’s Abortion Laws Map
    • After Roe Fell: Abortion Laws by State
  • Issues
    • Overview
    • Abortion
    • Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights
    • Assisted Reproduction
    • Contraception
    • Humanitarian Settings
    • Maternal Health
    • COVID-19
  • Regions
    • Overview
    • Africa
    • Asia
    • Europe
    • Latin America and the Caribbean
    • United States
    • Global Advocacy
  • News
    • Latest News
    • Center in the Spotlight
    • Events
    • Press Releases
    • Press Room
    • Newsletters
  • Resources
    • Resources & Research
    • World Abortion Laws Map
    • After Roe Fell: Abortion Laws by State
  • Act
    • Overview
    • Give
    • Act
    • Learn
  • Donate
    • Make a Gift Now
    • Be a Champion
    • Join the Advocates Council
    • Become a Major Donor
    • Give Through Your Donor-Advised Fund
    • Make a Gift In Honor
    • Attend an Event
    • Leave a Legacy
    • More Ways to Give
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • LinkedIn

Related Content

Issues:

Other Barriers, Contraception

Regions:

Asia, Nepal

Work:

In the Courts

Type:

News, Story

Case Archive

For updates on Center cases, explore our case archive here.

Follow the Center

Donate Now

Join Now

10.09.2013

In the Courts Other Barriers Asia News

Contraceptive Access Case Filed In Supreme Court of Nepal

Justin Goldberg

Share this Story

  • facebook
  • Twitter
  • linkedin
  • Email id
Contraceptive Access Case Filed In Supreme Court of Nepal

Last month, the first case to be developed by the Center for Reproductive Rights’ South Asia Reproductive Justice and Accountability Initiative (SARJAI) was filed in the Supreme Court of Nepal. The public interest case, filed by SARJAI fellow and Nepali lawyer Sarmila Shrestha with support from the Center, demands that the Nepalese government take specific steps to protect women’s reproductive health and rights by prioritizing access to contraceptive information and services at all levels within the public health system, particularly for rural, poor, and marginalized women.



This is the first case to be filed in the region seeking to hold a government accountable for its obligation to ensure women’s access to contraceptive methods, information, and services.  Immediately after the filing, the Supreme Court issued a show cause notice to the government, and the case has now been taken up as priority litigation.  



Nepal formally recognized women’s reproductive rights as constitutionally protected fundamental rights in 2007. Yet, the status of women’s reproductive health remains dismal. Over a third of pregnancies are unplanned in the country, almost 50% of married women have an unmet need for contraceptives, notable disparities in maternal mortality persist, the incidence of uterine prolapse is unusually high, and women continue to die from unsafe abortions. 



Furthermore, child marriage is widespread resulting in significant numbers of young girls and women experiencing high-risk early and frequent pregnancies.  According to the 2011 National Demographic Health Survey, the current contraceptive prevalence rate for Nepal for any modern method is only 49.7%.



Sarmila’s public interest case is based primarily on the findings of field research that she conducted, with support from the Center. This research identifies barriers faced by Nepali women in accessing contraceptive information and services. 



SARJAI is an initiative established by the Center to build a robust body of law that will secure safe and accessible reproductive healthcare—specifically, contraceptive and safe abortion services—for women in South Asia. It aims to promote legal accountability to ensure that governments in the region adopt and fully implement appropriate reproductive health laws and policies and protect women’s access to essential reproductive healthcare services in line with their national and international legal obligations.



About the Petition



Sarmila’s case claims violations of the Nepal Interim Constitution which guarantees women’s reproductive rights as fundamental rights and guarantees other fundamental rights including the right to health, the right to freedom from gender-based violence and the right to privacy. It frames the issue of lack of access to contraceptive methods, information and services as discrimination against women, as envisioned in the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and applies the “Availability, Accessibility, Acceptability, and Quality” framework as developed under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.



Building upon previous Supreme Court’s decisions including Lakshmi &, Others v. Nepal Government, in which the Court has recognized women’s right to self-determination in relation to their reproductive functions, the petition argues that the contraceptive services fall within the scope of constitutional rights guaranteed by the 2007 Interim Constitution.



Some of the specific issues and barriers raised in the case include: 




  • Lack of universal access to a full range of modern contraceptive methods resulting in very limited options, 

  • Lack of information and counseling on modern contraceptive methods resulting in the prevalence of misconceptions about contraceptives and fear of side effects, 

  • Disparities in access to modern contraceptive information and services based on factors such as income, geographic location and age, resulting from the government’s failure to address specific barriers faced by rural, poor and remotely located women and young girls, and

  • Lack of trained health providers in the health system and limited hours of service provision and absenteeism which altogether negatively affect the availability of information and services.



Remedies demanded by the petition:




  • Universal access to a full range of contraceptives, including emergency contraceptives at all levels of health care,

  • Examination of the existing legal and policy framework and appropriate actions necessary, including infrastructural development and policy reform, to ensure the availability of trained health professionals, information dissemination and availability of counseling services,

  • Guarantees that health care centers provide modern contraceptive information and services at all times during the government’s official working day,

  • Introduction of specific interventions for adolescents and women belonging to marginalized groups who face additional barriers, and

  • Adequate funding for contraceptive methods, information, and services.



About the Petitioners



There are 11 co-petitioners in this case, including two women from a village where research was conducted by Sarmila on barriers to contraceptive access. The other co-petitioners include  representatives from several leading public interest organizations in Nepal: Forum for Women, Law and Development (FWLD), ProPublic, Public Interest Law Advocacy and Litigation  in Nepal (PILAL), Justice and Rights Institute-Nepal (JuRI-Nepal), Centre for Agro-Ecology and Development (CAED), Environment and Development Organization (ENDO), and Legal Aid Center, a law firm based in Kathmandu. Sarmila is both a co-petitioner and the lead lawyer on the case.


Related Posts

Ensuring Reproductive Rights: Reform to Address Women’s and Girls’ Need for Abortion After 20 Weeks in India

In May 2017, the Supreme Court of India denied a medical termination of pregnancy (MTP) to Z., a 35-year old...

Abortion, Legal Restrictions, Other Barriers, Contraception, Legal Restrictions, Maternal Health, Maternal Mortality,Asia, India,In the Courts, Engaging Policymakers, Around the World, Reporting on Rights
Ensuring Reproductive Rights: Reform to Address Women’s and Girls’ Need for Abortion After 20 Weeks in India

Concluding Observations from UN Reveal Grave Reproductive Rights Concerns in Indonesia

In July, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW Committee) held its review of Indonesia. The Concluding...

Abortion, Adolescent SRHR, Female Genital Mutilation, Sex Education, Contraception, Maternal Health, Access to Quality Care,Asia, Accountability Bodies, United Nations,In the Courts, At the United Nations

India: State must act on contraception

India: State must act on contraception (PRESS RELEASE) Today, Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul of the High Court of Punjab...

Contraception,Asia, India,In the Courts, Engaging Policymakers, Around the World
India: State must act on contraception

Sign up for email updates.

The most up-to-date news on reproductive rights, delivered straight to you.

Footer Menu

  • Careers
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact Us

Center for Reproductive Rights
© (1992-2023)

Use of this site signifies agreement with our disclaimer and privacy policy.

Center for Reproductive Rights
This site uses necessary, analytics and social media cookies to improve your experience and deliver targeted advertising. Click "Options" or click here to learn more and customize your cookie settings, otherwise please click "Accept" to proceed.
OPTIONSACCEPT
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Functional
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytics
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
CookieDurationDescription
_ga2 yearsThis cookie is installed by Google Analytics. The cookie is used to calculate visitor, session, campaign data and keep track of site usage for the site's analytics report. The cookies store information anonymously and assign a randomly generated number to identify unique visitors.
_gat_UA-6619340-11 minuteNo description
_gid1 dayThis cookie is installed by Google Analytics. The cookie is used to store information of how visitors use a website and helps in creating an analytics report of how the wbsite is doing. The data collected including the number visitors, the source where they have come from, and the pages viisted in an anonymous form.
_parsely_session30 minutesThis cookie is used to track the behavior of a user within the current session.
HotJar: _hjAbsoluteSessionInProgress30 minutesNo description
HotJar: _hjFirstSeen30 minutesNo description
HotJar: _hjid1 yearThis cookie is set by Hotjar. This cookie is set when the customer first lands on a page with the Hotjar script. It is used to persist the random user ID, unique to that site on the browser. This ensures that behavior in subsequent visits to the same site will be attributed to the same user ID.
HotJar: _hjIncludedInPageviewSample2 minutesNo description
HotJar: _hjIncludedInSessionSample2 minutesNo description
HotJar: _hjTLDTestsessionNo description
SSCVER1 year 24 daysThe domain of this cookie is owned by Nielsen. The cookie is used for online advertising by creating user profile based on their preferences.
Advertisement
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
CookieDurationDescription
_fbp3 monthsThis cookie is set by Facebook to deliver advertisement when they are on Facebook or a digital platform powered by Facebook advertising after visiting this website.
fr3 monthsThe cookie is set by Facebook to show relevant advertisments to the users and measure and improve the advertisements. The cookie also tracks the behavior of the user across the web on sites that have Facebook pixel or Facebook social plugin.
IDE1 year 24 daysUsed by Google DoubleClick and stores information about how the user uses the website and any other advertisement before visiting the website. This is used to present users with ads that are relevant to them according to the user profile.
IMRID1 year 24 daysThe domain of this cookie is owned by Nielsen. The cookie is used for storing the start and end of the user session for nielsen statistics. It helps in consumer profiling for online advertising.
personalization_id2 yearsThis cookie is set by twitter.com. It is used integrate the sharing features of this social media. It also stores information about how the user uses the website for tracking and targeting.
TDID1 yearThe cookie is set by CloudFare service to store a unique ID to identify a returning users device which then is used for targeted advertising.
test_cookie15 minutesThis cookie is set by doubleclick.net. The purpose of the cookie is to determine if the user's browser supports cookies.
Others
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
CookieDurationDescription
adEdition1 dayNo description
akaas_MSNBC10 daysNo description
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional1 yearThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others1 yearNo description
geoEdition1 dayNo description
next-i18next1 yearNo description
SAVE & ACCEPT
Powered by CookieYes Logo
Scroll Up