WUNRN
CEDAW Committee Report: http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/Treaties/CEDAW/Shared%20Documents/PHL/CEDAW_C_OP-8_PHL_1_7679_E.pdf
UN CEDAW Committee Finds Women in The
Philippines Face Reproductive Rights Violations and Discrimination
The Committee
on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women Calls on the Filipino
Government to Guarantee Universal Access to Modern Contraceptives and
Decriminalize Abortion
05.01.15 - (PRESS
RELEASE) The Filipino government has violated women’s human rights by denying
the full range of reproductive health services for thousands of women—including
universal and affordable modern contraceptives—according to a report released this week from the United
Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (U.N.
CEDAW).
The U.N. CEDAW report holds the Philippines government
accountable for failing to ensure women’s access to contraceptive information
and services and putting their health and lives at risk. The Committee
specifically criticizes the government for failing to prioritize women’s human
rights over religious ideology and cultural stereotypes, which has led to
widespread discrimination against women and hindered access to sexual and
reproductive health information and services. It expressed concern
about current funding restrictions on modern contraceptives in Manila City and
called for the decriminalization of abortion in cases of rape, incest, when the
health or life of the woman is at risk, and in cases of severe fetal
impairments.
Said Nancy Northup, president and CEO of the Center for
Reproductive Rights:
“Religious ideology and gender stereotypes should play no
role in whether a woman can get the reproductive health care and information
she needs.
“For decades, the Filipino government has denied millions
of women the ability to control their fertility, health, and lives, and this
report makes clear that this is a gross violation of women’s fundamental human
rights.
“The Filipino government must immediately work to enforce
policies that guarantee women’s access to reproductive health services and
recognize their right to safe and legal abortion.”
Despite passing the Reproductive Health Law in 2012, the Filipino
government’s long-standing hostility towards modern contraception contributed
to an estimated 610,000 illegal abortions in 2012, according to the Guttmacher
Institute. In November 2012, designated members from U.N. CEDAW traveled to the
Philippines to conduct the inquiry after the Center for Reproductive Rights and
other NGOs raised concerns over the human rights violations women in the
country were facing mainly due to Executive Order 003, which effectively banned
women’s access to modern contraceptives in Manila City.
In 2007, the Center for Reproductive Rights released Imposing Misery, a report documenting the human
rights violations associated with Executive Order 003. This report was the
basis for the Center’s request for a U.N. CEDAW Special Inquiry—the first one
for the Asia region and on contraceptive access.
The U.N. CEDAW report recognizes the far reaching
consequences of denial of access to contraception, stating that Executive Order
003 and a subsequent order banning funding for contraceptives resulted in
unplanned pregnancies, unsafe abortions and unnecessary and preventable
maternal deaths, as well as particularly harmed economically disadvantaged
women, adolescent girls, and women in abusive relationships. The report calls
on the Filipino government to enact measures to guarantee universal access to
modern contraceptives including related information and services and revoke the
executive orders that have denied women such access for over a decade.
And although post abortion care is legal in the Philippines, U.N. CEDAW notes
the government must prevent the abuse of women seeking post-abortion care and
establish effective reporting procedures to handle complaints.
Furthermore, the committee strongly recommends the
decriminalization of abortion.
“Women in the Philippines deserve to live with dignity
and this can only be achieved by ensuring their sexual and reproductive rights,
which includes the right to contraceptive information and services, said Melissa Upreti, regional director for Asia at the
Center for Reproductive Rights. “President Aquino has shown political will
towards ensuring women’s reproductive rights. We hope that the findings of the
U.N. CEDAW report will hasten the implementation of the Reproductive Health Law
and influence the current penal law reform process to amend the criminal ban on
abortion.”
U.N. CEDAW provided a broad and robust set of
recommendations to the Philippines that includes:
·
Addressing
the unmet need for contraception, and ensuring universal and affordable access
to the full range of sexual and reproductive health services, commodities and
related information, including by legalizing access to emergency contraception
·
Establishing
health care protocols and procedures by both local and state governments
to prevent abuse and discrimination against women seeking reproductive health
services
·
Ensuring
that local governments set effective legal remedies for women seeking redress
for violations of their right to access sexual and reproductive health
services—removing barriers that women are facing in accessing justice
·
Prioritizing
the protection of women’s health rights, including the development of
strategizes to “sensitize members of parliament, government officials,
political parties, as well as local government’s executive and legislative…to
eliminate all ideological barriers limiting women’s access to sexual and
reproductive health services, commodities and information.”
The Center has worked on reproductive health issues
throughout Asia, with major initiatives addressing issues ranging from maternal
mortality in India to access to modern contraception in the Philippines.
Residents of Manila City filed a case against the government in 2008
challenging the constitutionality of Executive Order 003 and demanding its
revocation. It was quietly dismissed in 2014 after a judge determined that the
case is “a moot point,” given the passage of the 2012 Reproductive Health Law.
To date, women in Manila City do not have access to a full range of modern
contraceptives and related information and services.