May 28, International Day of Action for Women’s Health

May 28, International Day of Action for Women’s Health
Our Health, Our Rights, Our Lives!
End Violence Against Women in ALL its Forms

On May 28 International Day of Action for Women’s Health, women’s rights activists and allies advocate worldwide for women ’s comprehensive health and well-being, particularly their unmet sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). This May 28, we call on governments worldwide to respect, protect, and fulfill women’s right to health, dignity and bodily integrity, and end violence against women in ALL its forms.Governments around the world are currently in the final stages of establishing the Post-2015 Development Agenda, which will include a set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that will guide international development policies, priorities, and funding over the next 15 years. Throughout this and other recent global review processes, violence against women has rightly received due attention from governments and UN institutions alike as “one of the most prevalent forms of human rights violations worldwide,”  constraining women’s empowerment and impeding sustainable development. Yet one form of violence, particularly experienced by women and girls if they are young, unmarried, poor, HIV affected, of diverse sexual orientations or gender identities, living with a disability, or in other vulnerable situations, remains rampant and unaddressed: namely, the institutional violence they experience when they are denied their right to health and are unable to access sexual and reproductive health services.

“Institutional violence,” or violence perpetrated by the State, has traditionally been understood as largely occurring within extreme circumstances of conflicts, disasters, and economic crises.  As defined by the 1993 UN Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women, however, violence against women includes “physical, sexual and psychological violence perpetrated or condoned by the State or its agents regardless of where it occurs.”  With this definition in mind, examples of violence and discrimination resulting from the violation of women’s right to sexual and reproductive health are far too common and widespread, such as:

•    The denial of the right to access safe and legal abortion services.

•    Forced or coerced sterilization.

•    Obstetric violence.

•    The denial of access to contraceptives including emergency contraception.

This May 28, we must remind governments worldwide that#WomensHealthMatters, hold leaders accountable, and ensure that commitments related to sexual and reproductive health and rights are retained if not strengthened in future development efforts.

http://wgnrr.org/join-the-may-28-international-day-of-action-for-womens-health-campaign/