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In 1995 the Fourth World Conference on Women (Beijing) Platform for Action put forward the groundbreaking concept that the right of women to control their sexuality—the basis for sexual rights—is an indivisible part of their human rights, and that without it, women cannot fully realize their other human rights. This notion has been reaffirmed at several subsequent international meetings, but in practice, few countries' laws and policies provide women with effective protection against coercion, discrimination, and violence, and fundamentalist states and movements all over the world consistently target women's sexual and reproductive autonomy.
Our resources on human rights and sexuality include articles on violence against women, as well as the human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities, sex workers, and other populations whose bodily autonomy is threatened by laws and policies that impact how they express their sexualities.
Browse our resources on human rights and sexuality below.
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Written By International Women's Health CoalitionWednesday, 19 May 1999
Summary: Presentation by Leyla Gülçür, Program Officer, Asia, to IWHC’s President’s Council Members, May 19, 1999.
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Written By International Women's Health CoalitionFriday, 01 January 1999
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Written By International Women's Health CoalitionThursday, 01 January 1998
>>Available in PDF / Available in Chinese, French, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish
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Written By International Women's Health CoalitionWednesday, 01 January 1997
>>Available in PDF
Summary: Published by the International Women's Health Coalition (New York: 1997). Proceedings of a symposium on "Human Security," i.e., the nonmilitary issues that affect people's well-being: human rights, economic development, environmental protection, population, and health (53 pages).
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Written By International Women's Health CoalitionMonday, 01 January 1996
Available from IWHC / Available in Spanish
Summary: Edited by Sondra Zeidenstein and Kirsten Moore (New York: Population Council and International Women's Health Coalition, 1996). Twenty-four essays by social and biomedical scientists, family planning and reproductive health providers, and activists from over a dozen countries on sexuality and gender as addressed by family planning and reproductive health programs. (A limited supply of free copies is available from IWHC. Larger quantities may be purchased from the Population Council.) (404 pages).
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Written By International Women's Health CoalitionFriday, 01 September 1995
>>Available in PDF at the links below
Summary: Set of 3 factsheets on reproductive health and rights, sexual health, and sexual rights, prepared for the Fourth World Conference on Women, 9 pages total.
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Written By International Women's Health CoalitionFriday, 01 September 1995
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Written By International Women's Health CoalitionSunday, 01 January 1995
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Written By International Women's Health CoalitionSunday, 01 January 1995
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Written By International Women's Health CoalitionSunday, 01 January 1995
>>Available from IWHC
Summary: Edited by Gita Sen, Adrienne Germain, and Lincoln Chen (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1995). In 17 chapters, scholars, social activists, and policy makers explore future directions for population policies centered on health, women's empowerment, and human rights (280 pages).
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Africa