Women Deliver at the 56th Human Rights Council: Advancing Bodily Autonomy
From June 18 to July 12, Women Deliver participated for the first time at the 56th regular session of the Human Rights Council (HRC56). Our mission: to promote and defend comprehensive, universal, and inalienable sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) amidst increasing opposition from well-funded and coordinated anti-rights groups targeting girls, women, and gender-diverse individuals.
Enhancing Access and Meaningful Participation Within Global Spaces
Women Deliver is proud to have supported three Women Deliver Young Leader Alumni in attending HRC56 in person: Mar Márquez Guardo, 23, from Colombia; Alejandra Teleguario, 23, from Guatemala; and Damilola Babatunde, 25, from Nigeria. Mar delivered an oral statement at the Annual Full-Day of Discussion on the Human Rights of Women, stressing the need for sustainable financing to ensure an equitable, rights-based care economy prioritizing the needs of adolescent girls and women.
Women Deliver had hoped to support two additional Young Leader Alumni: Darshana Rijal, 19, from Nepal; and Dagmawit Workagegnehu Shewandegif, 27, from Ethiopia. Unfortunately, both were denied visas to attend the UN-mandated forum in person. These visa denials highlight ongoing inequities and the lack of democratic and meaningful participation afforded to traditionally ignored and marginalized voices at crucial global spaces where international law and norms are decided. The UN’s Human Rights Council should not be reserved for those with the power and privilege needed to overcome entry barriers. The practice of denying visas raises serious questions for the UN and host-country nations about racism, decolonization, and the values these institutions claim to uphold and defend.
Supporting Collective Action to Advance SRHR
For the first time ever, a global delegation of sex workers participated in HRC to advocate for their rights. Women Deliver supported their call for the full decriminalization of sex work, recognizing that sex work is work and is distinct from human trafficking and sexual exploitation. Women Deliver secured space for Sabrina Sanchez, a Mexican trans sex worker, to deliver a powerful oral statement during the Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women and Girls, calling for the full decriminalization of sex work. Substantial evidence, including from UNAIDS, WHO, and the UN Working Group on Discrimination Against Women and Girls, demonstrates that only the full decriminalization of sex work can uphold the dignity and agency of sex workers themselves, and leads to reduced stigmatization, improved health outcomes including in relation to HIV, access to justice for victims of sexual violence, and the identification of real human trafficking and sexual exploitation cases.
Women Deliver also co-sponsored a side event titled “Decriminalization of Sex Work: A Human Rights Imperative” organised by the Sexual Rights Initiative (SRI) and the Global Network of Sex Work Projects (NWSP).
HRC Resolutions: Progress and Challenges
Women Deliver, alongside our civil society partners and allies, engaged on six HRC resolutions to secure progressive language on SRHR and gender equality and to prevent the adoption of regressive language on girls and women’s rights. Notable successes included:
- The adoption of the first HRC resolution on “Accelerating progress towards preventing adolescent girls’ pregnancy” by consensus, though it fell short in fully recognizing the importance of access to contraception and evidence-based and age-responsive comprehensive sexuality education (CSE). This procedural resolution requests OHCHR to produce a report on effective means of preventing adolescent pregnancy.
- The resolution on “Human rights in the context of HIV and AIDS” formally adopted language on sexual and reproductive health and rights by consensus, despite opposition. This marks the first time that language on SRHR in its full formulation, recognising sexual rights, has been adopted at the UN in a negotiated document.
- The resolution on the “Elimination of all forms of discrimination against women and girls,” focused on the intersection of gender-based discrimination and poverty, and included language recognizing menstrual poverty and the importance of SRHR, including information, education, and services, in ending poverty. The resolution also reaffirmed the need to ensure universal access to evidence-based comprehensive sexuality education, and expressed concern that women and girls, including adolescent girls, face an increased risk of unwanted pregnancy and unsafe abortion because of a lack of sexual and reproductive health services.
- The “Menstrual hygiene management, human rights and gender equality” resolution, focusing on rural and remote communities, was adopted by consensus.
- Another new resolution on “Technology-facilitated gender-based violence (GBV)” was also adopted by consensus, requesting that the Human Rights Council Advisory Committee prepare a report and give recommendations on addressing the issue.“Technology-facilitated GBV” is a term used to describe instances where technology is used as a tool in facilitating or amplifying gender-based violence, including acts such as cyberstalking, image-based abuse, and sextortion.
Opposing Forces
Russia, the Holy See, and several other countries, including Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Egypt, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar continued to oppose comprehensive SRHR and broader gender equality language. The Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a known hate group, also sought to regress human rights language, norms, and standards on SRHR and sexual orientation, gender identity, and expression (SOGIE) rights.
ADF hosted a side event alongside The Gambia opposing trans inclusion in women’s sports. The Holy See, alongside ADF, hosted an event advocating for the abolition of surrogacy, aiming to ban all forms of surrogacy by framing it as child exploitation and exploitation of women’s bodies. The event failed to consider the links between surrogacy with assisted reproductive technologies such as in vitro fertilization (IVF), and deliberately conflated different legal models around surrogacy, including those that prohibit financial compensation or “commercial” surrogacy.
Women Deliver’s participation in HRC56 showcased the importance of collective action. We’re dedicated to making global spaces more accessible and inclusive and to shifting power to those closest to and living the challenges faced by girls and women worldwide. Young activists and traditionally ignored voices, including sex workers, must be heard in all spaces where decisions about their bodies and lives are made.
Despite increasing opposition from well-funded anti-rights groups, we believe that as a feminist movement, we can unite and push forward. Together, we can create a world where bodily autonomy and the human rights of girls and women are no longer up for debate.
