The Spotlight on Human Rights in Pregnancy and Childbirth

Human rights instruments have always provided the means to protect the full spectrum of reproductive rights available to women, pregnant or otherwise. Despite that, there remains substantial confusion and disagreement about the scope and unfettered application of those rights amongst healthcare providers, government administrators and even amongst advocates of reproductive rights.  This is having a profound effect on mothers and babies.
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“Human rights are women’s rights and women’s rights are human rights, once and for all”
Hillary Rodham Clinton, 4th World Conference on Women, Beijing 1995

Twenty three years ago, when Hillary Clinton first uttered these words, they gained a popularity that can only be described as the modern day equivalent of a social media post “going viral”.

In fact, Mrs Clinton knew these words were neither novel nor new even as she spoke them.  In 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights described “all human beings” – men and women – as being born free and equal in dignity and rights.

In 1979, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) was adopted by the UN General Assembly, which defines discrimination as:

“… any distinction, exclusion or restriction made on the basis of sex which has the effect or purpose of impairing or nullifying the recognition, enjoyment or exercise by women, irrespective of their marital status, on a basis of equality of men and women, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural, civil or any other field.”

Mrs Clinton was simply restating a forgotten fact.  Seventy years after receiving that first written mandate for equality and equity, women are still restating that forgotten fact.  In no other category of women’s human rights is that fact as overlooked, or as conveniently forgotten, as the reproductive rights of women.

The reproductive rights of women and girls remain as contentious, as bitterly disputed and as vulnerable to the failings and foibles of male-dominated religious and political institutions today, as they were before the United Nations was brought into being.

The ability to conceive and bear children is unique to women.  Yet, in countries rich and poor, every stage of a girl’s or woman’s reproductive life cycle is vulnerable to illegal trade, inappropriate sexualisation, violence, abuse, coercion, manipulation and control, in violation of her fundamental human rights.

To restrict or fetter a woman’s reproductive rights and freedoms not only affects her human rights in that field, it also impacts on the freedoms and rights that she enjoys in other fields, such as the right to work or the right to an education. It is a discrimination that does not affect men.  In some cases, it will amount to a criminal offence. This is the case regardless of whether a woman is asserting control over her own fertility, seeking a termination of pregnancy, requesting healthcare to support her pregnancy and birth, or choosing the circumstances of her birth.

Human rights instruments have always provided the means to protect the full spectrum of reproductive rights available to women, pregnant or otherwise. Despite that, there remains substantial confusion and disagreement about the scope and unfettered application of those rights amongst healthcare providers, government administrators and even amongst advocates of reproductive rights.  This is having a profound effect on mothers and babies.

HRiC is working to stem this confusion – by providing clarity on the rights of pregnant and birthing women, and by convening multi-stakeholder engagements between midwives, doctors, lawyers, legal administrators and consumers.

• Imagine…a maternity care facility structured around the needs of pregnant women and their families, as opposed to the needs of administrators or care providers?
• Imagine…midwives who work within communities to provide ante-, intra- and post-partum care for mothers and infants?  Who advocate on behalf of families seeking medical services? Where bullying, coercion and disrespect are not acceptable?  Where women don’t react with frustration, fear, suspicion or resistance?
• Imagine working in a facility in which the women under your care not only survived but thrived?  Where you would not have to mislead, deceive or force a distressed woman into doing what you think is best?  Where you are not afraid to find solutions that support her, without losing your job or facing censure from your colleagues?

In the short term, these aspirations could be easily achieved, with very little added costs, by simply honouring and observing the basic human rights of all women in pregnancy and birth.  All that is required is a change in perception and, consequently, a change in attitude. In the long term, these aspirations could contribute to a reduction in maternal and infant mortality and morbidity, enhance the health and wellbeing of families and communities, and reduce the burden on public health systems left to manage the impact that a pregnant woman’s pain and suffering has on everyone around her.

In the pages that follow, you will have the opportunity to review and learn about some of the rights of pregnant and birthing women, the source of those rights and how to assert them for yourself or.  If nothing else, it will leave you with a clear and unequivocal realization that a woman does not relinquish her human rights by carrying a pregnancy to term. We hope that it will also inspire you to join us in protecting the full spectrum of reproductive rights that should be enjoyed by all women around the world.
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Bashi Kumar
HRiC Board Member and Lawyer
Bashi Kumar Hazard is a lawyer whose focus in law expanded soon after she had her first child. From her own experiences, Bashi became aware of the widespread impact of current obstetric models of care on the emotional health and wellbeing of mothers. That awareness took her back to working with fundamental ethical principles and human rights law, and forming networks with human rights lawyers in the USA, Netherlands, UK and Europe, with whom she now works closely to develop a legal discourse about the human rights of women in pregnancy and childbirth. Since then, Bashi has presented papers and keynote speeches at many significant conferences on the topic of human rights in childbirth.