International Legal Protections
International human rights norms ensure to women the right to receive information regarding sexuality and reproduction and to make decisions in these matters free from violence and sex discrimination. The constellation of applicable civil and political rights includes, among others, the rights to physical integrity, freedom of expression and association, nondiscrimination and equal protection of the law, and privacy.
The United Nations Human Rights Committee's General Comment 19 on the right to found a family stated that "When state parties adopt family planning policies, they should be compatible with the provisions of the Covenant [on Civil and Political Rights] and should, in particular, not be discriminatory or compulsory."9 Consistent with this comment, the 1994 United Nations-sponsored International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) recognized that reproductive rights are embodied in "certain human rights that are already recognized in national laws, international human rights documents and other relevant U.N. consensus documents."10 Drawing upon existing human rights norms, the ICPD condemned in particular the use of violence, coercion, and discrimination in family planning programs.
In addition to these violations singled out by the ICPD, states have also infringed upon women's right to privacy in the pursuit of demographic, eugenic or other state objectives that affect women's reproductive or sexual lives.11 While the right to privacy is not absolute, it does impose additional limitations on the ways in which states can regulate a range of issues, from contraceptive use to choice of sexual partner.12 In particular, governmentsmay not derogate from their duty to uphold individual privacy in an "arbitrary and unlawful" manner.13
Similar to many of the other abuses documented in this volume, those which occur in the context of women's reproductive and sexual lives often are not perpetrated by state agents, but rather by private individuals, including family members. Human rights law recognizes that "the family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State."14 Governments, however, must balance this duty with its obligation to uphold the competing rights of constitutive members of the family as individuals. States may not legitimize, condone or tolerate intra-familial activities that involve violence or threat of violence, regardless of whether they are motivated by notions of female sexuality and reproduction or any other consideration. The Nigerian government's acquiescence in forced marriages orchestrated by parents is an example where the state should be held accountable under international law for privately perpetrated abuse.15
9 United Nations, "Compilation of General Comments and General Recommendations Adopted by the Human Rights Treaty Bodies," U.N. Document HRI/GEN/1/Rev.1, July 29, 1994, pp. 29-30.
10 Report of the International Conference on Population and Development, Paragraph 7.3, U.N. Document A/Conf.171/13, 1994.
11 ICCPR, Article 17; American Convention on Human Rights, Article 11; European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, Article 8.
12 For example, the European Court of Human Rights in Strasborg has on three occasions upheld the rights of gays and lesbians against state regulation on the basis of a right to private life. See Dudgeon v. The United Kingdom (1981), Norris v. Ireland (1988), and Modina v. Cyprus (1993).
14 ICCPR, Article 23.1. Article 17 also prohibits "arbitrary and unlawful interference" with family.
15 This situation is discussed in a forthcoming report by Human Rights Watch/Africa and the Women's Rights Project.
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