Addressing the ongoing need for reproductive rights protection | Beijing+30 UNECE review
Lisa Philippo (CHOICE) warns of regional backsliding on sexual and reproductive rights amid growing anti-gender movements, stressing that gender equality and sustainable development require unimpeded SRR—including safe abortion, sexuality education, and protections for LGBTQI+ people and sex workers—and calls for rebuilding progress in the face of mounting pushback.
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Transcript: Across the region, we are seeing backsliding on sexual and reproductive rights (SRR) and increasing influence from anti-gender and anti-rights movements. Gender equality and sustainable development cannot happen without unimpeded access to SRR, self-determination and bodily autonomy. This includes safe medical abortion, comprehensive sexuality education and upholding the rights of LGBTQI+ individuals and sex workers.
After years of progress, much of the work that former ministers and advocates have built has been undermined and now we face the task of rebuilding it. We cannot ignore the pushback against gender equality, which threatens to undo the hard-won progress we have achieved.