This article compares contemporary legal developments in Indian reproductive rights with that of Nepal, another South Asian country that has made significant recent progress in that area. The author begins by noting the similarities between both South Asian courts’ sensitivity to the socio-economic inequality that informs reproductive rights within their jurisdictions, arguing that recent Supreme Court decisions go further than the approach in Roe v. Wade to incorporate the notion of dignity in reaching meaningful equality for women. Next, they examine the incomplete and problematic features of criminal legislative frameworks that govern reproductive rights in each region, finding that further statutory reform is needed to combat problematic ideas of women’s autonomy that undermine their ability to have full control over their bodies. The article concludes by highlighting the role of the state to implement reproductive rights and remove barriers marginalised women face in obtaining such services. 

This article evaluates the impact of gendered stereotypes on abortion reform in Uruguay, determining whether the country’s relatively liberal abortion law further undermines international human rights efforts to suppress harmful stereotypes against women. The author first examines Uruguay’s widely praised legal regime regulating abortion access, situating it as the first of its kind in Latin America. In the following two sections, the author demonstrates Uruguay’s continuing legal obligation to resist damaging stereotypes and critically assesses the country’s parliamentary debates on decriminalization of abortion with relation to the portrayal of women seeking abortion. They argue that while Uruguayan abortion law seemingly upholds liberal values of women’s reproductive freedom, it rests firmly on patriarchal attitudes of the societal role of women.  

This article examines whether the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women’s (“CEDAW Committee”) General Recommendation No. 35 fundamentally contributes towards accountability for women’s human rights. Although the General Recommendation No. 35 reaffirms the global commitment towards eliminating gender-based violence, the author emphasizes that the CEDAW Committee lacks in providing a clear and in-depth analysis and in its ability to guide the States on their obligations and how to fulfill them. Nevertheless, General Recommendation No. 35 must be read with General Recommendation No. 19 and some of the other General Recommendations. Even with its flaws, the author concludes that General Recommendation No. 35 is likely to help reduce gender-based violence by directing States on the existing policies, legislation, and practical reforms necessary to support victims and prevent impunity.

This paper analyzes Colombia’s international human rights obligations concerning the immigration status and the right to reproductive health of pregnant Venezuelan women. These women flee to Colombia in search of reproductive health care and safety for their children and their own lives as a result of the serious denial of health care in Venezuela. However, pregnant Venezuelan women are not receiving adequate prenatal and postnatal care because of the insufficient health care system for immigrants in Colombia. The Colombian government only provides them with emergency health care because most Venezuelan pregnant women arrive with irregular immigration status. Thus, the authors emphasize that it is crucial for Colombia to formally recognize these women as refugees and provide them with accessible and sufficient reproductive health care.

This article focuses on the mistreatment of women during childbirth and identifies this area of international law as underdeveloped. The author conducts a comprehensive review of the human rights standards in international law pertaining to the mistreatment of women during childbirth. The main categories of mistreatment are physical, sexual, and verbal abuse; stigma and discrimination; care that falls short of professional standards; and poor rapport with providers. The author then identifies more specific forms of mistreatment within each category and the human rights that combat each. The author identifies this research as useful to health care providers and policymakers in identifying forms of mistreatment in order to monitor violations, further goals of accountability, and developing measures to prevent such violations using international legal framework. 

This article addresses a gap in the literature by exploring legal mobilization on abortion issues in an international human rights context. The authors explore what happens to social movement claims when they reach international human rights courts, and what ongoing repercussions for human rights might result. In order to do this, they use the landmark IVF case Gretel Artavia Murillo et al. v Costa Rica tried at the inter-American Court of Human Rights. Through the case analysis, the authors show how legal mobilization before international human rights courts can moderate social movement claims within the legal arena. In Gretel Artavia, conservative and feminist rivals must respond to each other’s submissions and argue within the frame of the courts’ norms and language. The authors demonstrate that such contentious engagement ultimately served to legitimate the inter-American system by forcing opposing movements to engage with and address each other’s arguments to a far greater extent than ever before.

This article examines the role of CEDAW and its potential power as a treaty monitoring body in increasing access to modern contraception. The author points out that while modern contraception has been widely recognized as a reproductive right under international human rights law, unmet needs for it remain high, particularly in developing countries. The author draws on empirical research, the example of CEDAW’s influence on abortion rights, and the domestic politics theory of treaty compliance to centre CEDAW as a potential changemaker. The author argues that in certain conditions, CEDAW can pressure member states to reduce unmet needs by mobilizing domestic actors to influence national policies, laws, and investments aimed at increasing access to contraception. Finally, the author highlights specific CEDAW enforcement mechanisms that are especially effective and argues that the body should focus its attention on Sierra Leone and Haiti in particular due to their high unmet needs for contraception and high maternal mortality rate.

This article explores impact litigation, an increasingly important tool for bringing about positive change for human rights, in a reproductive rights context. The author seeks to address a gap in the literature by proposing a mechanism through which human rights lawyers and other actors can measure the effectiveness of impact litigation at the individual, government, and general population levels. In order to do this, the author first provides background on the history and increasing role of impact litigation through U.N. mechanisms. She then uses a reproductive health decision by a U.N. treaty monitoring body, L.C. v Peru, as a case study through which to propose a set of criteria for measuring the effect of the case on L.C., the individual rights holder, the Peruvian government, and on the larger international community. The author ends by recognizing that impact litigation is only one part of a multifaceted strategy to ensuring that the actual outcome of a decision progresses women’s reproductive rights.

This article examines the impact of bride price on the sexual and reproductive health rights (SRH) of women in South Africa and Nigeria. By outlining the legal framework of both countries, the author argues that flawed interpretations of bride price directly inhibit SRH rights, which are entrenched in both international instruments (e.g., CEDAW) and domestic laws. By reducing women to the status of legal chattel, bride price may infringe on the right to bodily integrity and self-determination, encouraging early/forced marriage. However, the notion that payment connotes buying the bride is argued to be a misconception of the legal purpose of bride price in African cultures. Rather, bride price indicates a mere token of gratitude and confirmation of consent. Shifting societal norms to reflect this contemporary discourse requires educational initiatives that express bride price as a cultural observation without any ulterior motive to subordinate or commodify women. 

This article discusses alternative legal possibilities for women’s access to authorized abortions in Latin America, and highlights the importance of women’s rights advocates in raising awareness and driving legal change. The author first examines how international and regional jurisprudence have provided a preliminary platform for recognizing a legal abortion right. The analysis focuses on two landmark decisions against the Peruvian State, in which the CEDAW Committee successfully argued for guaranteed access to therapeutic abortion. This jurisprudence has influenced a more progressive national legislation on termination policies, such that most Latin American countries have authorized abortion  in the following circumstances: the woman’s life or health is in danger, the pregnancy is a result of  sexual assault or the fetus is incompatible with life. The author argues that further collaboration between the medical and legal community is required to unpack complicated laws and increase access to new legal vehicles for lawful abortion in Latin America.