UN Committee Urges Russia to Fulfill Women’s Rights

During its July session, the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW Committee) issued its Concluding Observations on the Russian Federation ‘s compliance with its obligations to respect, protect, and fulfill women’s rights.

The Center for Reproductive Rights, in collaboration with our partner, Russian Association on Population and Development, provided the Committee with the written information to highlight several areas of concern regarding the status of the reproductive health and rights of women in Russia with a focus on access to affordable contraception services and information. Taking into account this information, the Committee’s Concluding Observations expressed concern over the situation of women’s and adolescents’ sexual and reproductive rights in the Russian Federation and recommended the government to:

• Increase knowledge of and access to affordable contraception throughout the country,


• Ensure that women in rural areas do not face barriers and have full access to contraception information and services and,


• Promote widely comprehensive sexuality education for adolescents.

The Center welcomes the Committee’s Concluding Observations and strongly urges the government of the Russian Federation to implement these recommendations to improve the sexual and reproductive health and rights throughout the country.