Skip to content
Center for Reproductive Rights
Center for Reproductive Rights

Primary Menu

  • About
    • Overview
    • 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
    • World’s Abortion Laws Map
    • What if Roe Fell? U.S. Abortion Laws Map
  • 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
    • What if Roe Fell? U.S. Abortion Laws Map
    • Take Action Toolkit
  • 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
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
    • 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
    • World’s Abortion Laws Map
    • What if Roe Fell? U.S. Abortion Laws Map
  • 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
    • What if Roe Fell? U.S. Abortion Laws Map
    • Take Action Toolkit
  • 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:

Contraception

Regions:

Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America & Caribbean, Accountability Bodies

Work:

Engaging Policymakers, Around the World

Follow the Center

Donate Now

Join Now

  • Hidden

06.20.2012

Engaging Policymakers Contraception Africa

Global Advocates: Family Planning Summit Must Put Women’s Human Rights First

Justin Goldberg

Share this Story

  • facebook
  • Twitter
  • linkedin
  • Email id
Global Advocates: Family Planning Summit Must Put Women’s Human Rights First
Five international organizations urge world leaders to prioritize women’s human rights and comprehensive health care for all women at July summit

(PRESS RELEASE) International human rights groups are urging world leaders attending next month’s global Family Planning Summit to ensure that any effort to increase the use of contraceptives be a part of a broader strategy to improve comprehensive sexual and reproductive health care and uphold sexual and reproductive rights for all women.
 
While contraceptive information and services are an essential part of the health services that women need throughout their lives, efforts to increase family planning services can have negative consequences if women’s fundamental human rights and reproductive autonomy are not protected—according to the joint statement issued yesterday by the Center for Reproductive Rights, Amnesty International, the International Women’s Health Coalition, Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era (DAWN), and Realizing Sexual and Reproductive Justice (RESURJ).
 
Experts at these respected organizations have long found that severely negative consequences— including forced sterilization and coerced use of contraception—can result from family planning policies that condone or unintentionally lead to pressuring women to use contraceptives. Further, the summit’s primary focus on contraception must not divert attention from other reproductive health challenges that women face, including the denial of essential health care services to young, poor, and marginalized women.
 
Over 320 organizations, groups and individuals from more than 80 countries have endorsed the call for the Family Planning Summit and its organizers—the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the U.K. Department for International Development (DFID)—to pay greater attention to women’s human rights.
 
“It is long past time world leaders came together to find solutions for the millions of women across the globe without real options and education when it comes to reproductive health and contraceptives,” said Nancy Northup, president and CEO for the Center for Reproductive Rights. “This initiative is critical to that effort, but lasting solutions must improve the full range of sexual and reproductive health care services available to women, so they can make the best decisions possible about their health and their family’s health.”
 
“We welcome more funding for family planning services, but not if it comes with targets and incentives for doctors to pressure women to ‘accept’ contraceptives,” said Françoise Girard, President of the International Women’s Health Coalition. “That formula leads to coercion of women, plain and simple.”
 
The groups identified several critical steps summit organizers and attendees can take to protect women’s reproductive autonomy and human rights in family planning programs, including developing initiatives that do not have unnecessary contraceptive quotas that could lead to coercive measures.
 
“Women’s rights to health, to life, and to live free from discrimination must be at the center of any discussions regarding family planning—a failure to do so can have serious consequences,” Rajat Khosla, policy coordinator for health at Amnesty International.
 
Women, including young women, must have a clear role in the development and implementation of family planning programs. The groups stressed the importance of accountability and the ability to track and monitor family planning programs’ impact on women and their rights.
 
“Family planning cannot be a silo provided by itself, but must be integrated into overall sexual and reproductive health services and with the utmost protection and promotion of women’s human rights,” said Gita Sen, executive committee member of DAWN. “Civil society organizations cannot act alone as a watchdog for these critical issues, programme monitoring and evaluation need to include strong in-built mechanisms and indicators to ensure the highest standards of accountability.”
 
“Sexually-active adolescent girls and young unmarried women must have access to condoms and other contraceptives methods to protect their health and avoid unintended pregnancies. Services that are tailored to adolescent and young women’s needs must be front and center at the Family Planning Summit,” said Ximena Andion, member of the Coordination team at RESURJ.
 
The Family Planning Summit, which is scheduled to be held on July 11 in London, has a stated goal of giving an additional 120 million across the globe access to family planning information, services, and supplies by 2020.


Download the joint statement here &gt,


ABOUT THE GROUPS


The Center for Reproductive Rights is a global legal organization dedicated to advancing women’s reproductive health, self-determination and dignity as basic human rights.
 
The International Women’s Health Coalition (IWHC) promotes and protects the sexual and reproductive rights and health (SRRH) of all women and young people, particularly in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, by helping to develop effective health and population policies, programs, and funding.
 
Amnesty International is a Nobel Peace Prize-winning grassroots activist organization with more than three million supporters, activists and volunteers in more than 150 countries campaigning for human rights worldwide.
 
Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era (DAWN) is a network of feminist scholars, researchers and activists from the economic South working for economic and gender justice and sustainable and democratic development.
 
RESURJ is an international alliance of feminist activists seeking full implementation of international commitments to secure all women’s and young people’s sexual and reproductive rights and health by 2015.

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

U.S. State Department Letter Re: El Salvador’s Las 17

Download the document here.

Abortion, Contraception,Latin America & Caribbean, United States,Engaging Policymakers, Around the World, In the States (USA)

Open statement on Zika virus

Download the document here.

Abortion, Contraception,Latin America & Caribbean, United States,Engaging Policymakers, Around the World, In the States (USA)

Sign up for our newsletter.

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

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Footer Menu

  • Careers
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact Us

Center for Reproductive Rights
© (1992-2021)

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