Country: Poland
Collaborators: SRI, Federation for Women and Family Planning
Key Words: Abortion; Criminalization; Access to Contraception; Sexuality Education; Conscientious Objection
Country: India
Collaborators: SRI, Sampada Gramin Mahila Sanstha (SANGRAM), VAMP
Key Words: Sexual orientation, gender equality, discrimination, violence, sexuality education, public policy, Bolivian legislation, hate crimes
This submission argues that the concept of trafficking should be debunked to give way to policies that ensure migrant rights and address migrant labour. In doing this, it deals with the definition of trafficking in the Convention and its consequent impact on women and girls, especially in the context of migration. The CEDAW Committee now has an opportunity to reframe the understanding of state obligations and standards on the issue of trafficking from a gender perspective, so that it is grounded in human rights and upholds bodily autonomy of women and girls.
The Sexual Rights Initiative (SRI) was created in 2006. Its aim is to create a political space for advocacy on sexual rights by bringing together feminist, LGBTI, southern and northern perspectives and incorporating diverse views without privileging particular experiences. The collaborating partners are Action Canada for Population and Development (ACPD), Creating Resources for Empowerment in Action (CREA), AKAHATA (Latin America), Coalition of African Lesbians (South Africa),the Polish Federation for Women and Family Planning, and the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights.
Many practices and norms that discriminate against women and other groups of people that have historically suffered discrimination and persecution are justified by reference to tradition, such as so-called honour killings, dowry-related violence and homophobic violence. Several States have taken actions to dismantle such traditional values, norms and practices, such as laws and programmes to end domestic violence and female genital mutilation, decriminalization of consensual sexual activity and media campaigns to counter homophobia.
The Human Rights Council initiative on ‘protection of the family’ is flawed in that it takes an unrepresentative view that elevates ‘the family’, while neglecting that families can be the site for human rights violations. For example, resolution 29/22 asserts that the family “is a strong force for social cohesion and integration, intergenerational solidarity and social development” (OP6). At the same time, there is no recognition that many families uphold power structures that oppress women, the elderly, children, persons with disabilities, queer and transgender youth, among others.