April 22, 2010—The International Women’s Health Coalition (IWHC) today lauded the introduction of the Global Sexual and Reproductive Health Act of 2010 in the House of Representatives by Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke (NY-11).  

 

On its sixtieth anniversary, the Universal Declaration on Human Rights is still a distant dream for most of the world's girls and women. One in every three women in the world experiences violence in her lifetime just because she is a woman.

Summary: By Gillian Kane, former Assistant Program Officer, Latin America, IWHC.  Published in Gender and Development, July 2008. Uses the recent experiences of Colombia, Mexico City, and Nicaragua to highlight shared challenges, establish linkages with other countries in the region, and demonstrate that the many different strategies which have been adopted present an opportunity to expand access to safe, legal abortion throughout Latin America. 16 pages.

>>Available in PDF

Summary: By Kelly Castagnaro (Exchange on HIV/AIDS, sexuality and gender, No. 3, 1-3, 2007, The Netherlands: Royal Tropical Institute in collaboration with Southern Africa HIV and AIDS Information Dissemination Service). This editorial discusses the importance of comprehensive sexuality education in reducing risky sexual behavior among youth and curbing the spread of HIV/AIDS (3 pages).

>>Available in PDF

Summary: By Beth Fredrick (The Lancet, Vol. 370, No. 9595, October 13, 2007, 1295-1297). Discusses the actions that governments, donors, health practitioners, and civil society must take to reduce maternal mortality and morbidity related to unsafe abortion. 

By Juan Forero

The New York Times, December 3, 2005

PAMPLONA, Colombia – In this tradition-bound Roman Catholic town one day in April, two young women did what many here consider unthinkable: pregnant and scared, they took a cheap ulcer medication known to induce abortions. When the drug left them bleeding, they were treated at a local emergency room—then promptly arrested.