We cannot promote family life by restricting women's rights
SHOBHA SHUKLA - CNS
Human rights are indivisible and we cannot cherry pick SDG goals and targets
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An anti-rights movement that is surreptitiously spreading its tentacles under the garb of 'protecting family values' is threatening gender equality, even as human rights activists call upon ending gender-based violence and protecting sexual and reproductive health and rights of all girls and women and other gender diverse communities.
One example of this is the regressive Geneva Consensus Declaration that was initiated in October 2020 by the Trump administration and adopted by 34 countries back then (the current number is 39) in a virtual online signing ceremony. Under the false pretext of 'promoting women's health and strengthening the family,' the declaration seeks to undermine and restrict the rights of women, girls, and gender-diverse people to make decisions related to their sexual and reproductive health - particularly access to safe abortion care services.
The Geneva Consensus Declaration represents an effort of the global anti-rights movement to misrepresent internationally agreed commitments that protect sexual and reproductive health and rights. By distorting the countries' obligations to the health and well-being of women, the agreement tries to contravene international women's rights standards on health.
Interestingly, this so-called 'consensus' has not arisen out of any negotiations or discussions at any United Nations forums. It is a document without legitimacy that does not reflect any global agreement and represents the views of its signatories only.
Not everything that is termed 'Geneva' advances human rights
"Not everything that is termed 'Geneva' advances human rights, and Geneva Consensus Declaration is one such example. It actually supports anti-rights movement in the garb of 'protection of family values' which a lot of us in Africa value so much. So, they have found perfect ways to advance their rhetoric under the pretext of protecting the family. Geneva Consensus Declaration does not recognise the international human right to safe abortion," says Stephanie Musho, a human rights lawyer from Kenya and Regional Coordinator, Catalysts Africa.
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