Human rights organizations in Latin America issued a joint statement on Friday, expressing deep concern about the systematic non-compliance of several Latin American states with international human rights, sexual rights and reproductive rights (SRHR) obligations.

SRHR are fundamental rights protected by a range of international and regional human rights treaties and in national laws and constitutions such as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), and the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT). Although the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) has clearly indicated that women’s right to health includes their sexual and reproductive health, legal and socioeconomic barriers in Latin America are currently undermining the ability to exercise self-determination and bodily autonomy free from discrimination, coercion and violence. The statement underlined several overriding issues, including the criminalization of abortion, the lack of access to comprehensive and quality sexual and reproductive health services, institutional gynaecological and obstetric violence, the misuse of conscientious objection, and a lack of implementation of decisions from international and regional human rights institutions.

States have obligations and duties under international law to respect, protect and fulfill SRHR. In 1994, states at the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) reached a consensus that it is necessary to empower women and people’s needs for education and health, including reproductive health. Through the ratification of international and regional human rights treaties, states may be obliged to take domestic measures that align with SRHR obligations. Against this backdrop, the statement calls on states of the region to ensure universal access to safe, accessible, and quality sexual and reproductive health services, as well as decriminalize abortion in compliance with the WHO Abortion Care Guidelines and other international documents of UN treaty bodies.

Additionally, human rights organizations stressed the significance of abiding by rulings of international bodies on SRHR, especially the legal and free access to safe abortion. According to OHCHR, unsafe abortion is one of the largest causes of maternal mortality and morbidity globally. In Camila v. Peru, the Committee for the Rights of the Child (CRC) called on states to eliminate the criminalization of abortion in all cases for girls and adolescents. Similarly, in a series of cases, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR) found the states responsible for obstetric violence and emphasized that comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) is part of the human right to education to promote women’s reproductive health.

The statement urged swift cooperation between the international community, multilateral organizations, and the international justice system to ensure states of the region comply with international standards on SRHR, stating that “sexual and reproductive rights are non-negotiable. Guaranteeing them is essential to eradicate inequalities and build a more just future for all people, regardless of their origin, identity, or condition.”