Maternal Health: Work in Africa

The Constitution of Kenya enshrines the right to health under the Bill of Rights. Notably, before the promulgation of the Constitution of Kenya 2010, social and economic rights were not justiciable. Now, however, jurisprudence on [...]

This report by the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child was developed in partnership and with contributions from the African Child Policy Forum, Plan International, and the Center for Reproductive Rights.

Court issues sweeping decision in Center’s case of pregnant woman physically and verbally abused by hospital staff and left to deliver on a concrete floor.

Affirming the Right to Respectful Maternal Health Care in Kenya 

The Center is defending a 2018 judgment recognizing that the neglect and abuse of women seeking maternity health services are rights violations under the Kenyan Constitution and international law.

February 7, 2023 — The Center and its partners released this statement in response to recent instances of physical and emotional abuse and medical negligence involving maternal health care in Kenya.

The Center for Reproductive Rights secured a win in two landmark cases that sought to hold the government of Kenya accountable for the detention, disrespect and abuse of women seeking maternal health services in public health [...]

Each year in Kenya, more than 2,500 women and girls die from unsafe abortions—despite the fact that the government legalized abortion under specific circumstances a decade ago in its Constitution. Currently, unsafe abortions are a [...]

 This report outlines recommendations for effective implementation of Article 26(4) of the Kenyan constitution, including services for access to safe abortion care.

The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights has agreed to hear a maternal mortality complaint against Nigeria in a case brought by the Dullah Omar Institute of the University of the Western Cape, the [...]

(PRESS RELEASE) The family of a woman who was illegally detained for the inability to clear her medical bill and denied emergency services leading to her death, yesterday had their case dismissed by the Federal [...]

Kenya’s High Court Rules in Favor of Woman Physically Abused During Delivery (PRESS RELEASE) A pregnant woman who was unlawfully physically and verbally abused by hospital staff and deliberately left to deliver on the floor, [...]

Bungoma High Court Petition No. 5 of 2014

In the aftermath of the chaotic presidential election results in Kenya in early August and again in October, more than 50 accounts of rape and sexual violence have been identified throughout Kenya—including gang rape and beatings [...]

On September 17, 2015, the High Court of Kenya issued a groundbreaking judgment in the case of Millicent Awuor (Maimuna) & Margaret Anyoso Oliele v. Attorney General and others, Constitutional Petition No. 562 of 2012. [...]