IWHC's Partners Across Latin America and the Caribbean

Campaña 28 de Septiembre para la Despenalización del Aborto en América Latina y el Caribe
(September 28th Campaign for the Decriminalization of Abortion in Latin America and the Caribbean)
In an effort to address the public health crisis of unsafe abortion in Latin America, the September 28th Campaign was formed in 1990 at the 5th Latin American and Caribbean Feminist Meeting, held in Argentina. Through advocacy targeting lawmakers, health professionals, activists, and the public, the campaign aims to liberalize punitive abortion laws across the region in the interests of public health, respect for human rights, and recognition of women's citizenship. Linking seven regional networks and over 100 organizations based in 21 countries across the region, the Campaign has its secretariat at Centro de la Mujer Peruana: Flora Tristán in Peru.  Before Flora Tristán, the campaign secretariat was located at Rede Feminista de Saúde, also a longtime IWHC colleague. Rede Feminista de Saúde, a network representing nearly 200 Brazilian feminist organizations, significantly expanded the reach of the September 28th Campaign, making it a member of the Inter-American Convention on Sexual and Reproductive Rights and cultivating support at the second and third World Social Forums to embrace safe, legal abortion as part of the broader agenda for social and economic justice. Rede Feminista de Saúde also drew worldwide media attention to the cause through the case of Rosa, a 9-year-old Nicaraguan girl who was raped in Costa Rica and denied a legal abortion for the resulting pregnancy, pressured instead to become a 9-year-old mother by the Nicaraguan and Costa Rican governments, the medical establishment, and the Catholic Church. Media attention for Rosa's case generated global political pressure, and in the end, Rosa was allowed to obtain a safe abortion. Her case put the issue of decriminalization firmly on the map. IWHC has supported the September 28th Campaign since its inception.

For more information, visit the September 28th Campaign's website.

CLADEM - Comité de América Latina y el Caribe para la Defensa de los Derechos de la Mujer
(Latin American and Caribbean Committee for the Defense of Women's Rights)
CLADEM is a network of individuals and institutions in Latin America committed to the common cause of protecting and advancing women's sexual and reproductive rights. Founded in 1987, CLADEM now has offices in 17 countries, has initiated several successful campaigns, and has conducted groundbreaking research on women's health needs and human rights at the country and regional levels. Recently, CLADEM's Argentina chapter investigated cases where women seeking emergency reproductive health care had been treated with extreme cruelty by hospital staff and physicians at several public hospitals in Rosario, Argentina, eventually presenting their findings at the United Nations' Commission on Torture in Geneva. Many of the women interviewed had gone to the hospitals seeking treatment for life-threatening complications of clandestine abortions (abortion is highly restricted but widely practiced in Argentina). IWHC has supported CLADEM since 2001. We are currently supporting its efforts to lay the groundwork for an Inter-American Convention on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights through building alliances with other social movements, engaging governments, and raising public awareness of women's and young people's health needs and human rights.

For more information, visit CLADEM's website.

Decidir - Coalición de Jóvenes por la Ciudadania Sexual 
(Decide - Youth Coalition for Sexual Citizenship)
Established in 2003, Decidir is a network of young Mexican activists (ages 24-34) committed to providing their peers with accurate, empowering information on sexual and reproductive health and rights. Decidir also seeks to ensure that public policies and movements for sexual and reproductive rights incorporate young people's perspectives, rights, and realities, and engage young people themselves as equal partners and stakeholders. With support from IWHC, Decidir is currently putting together a youth-friendly "tool box" of effective strategies and educational and training materials on the right to safe and legal abortion, designed to engage youth more fully in the abortion debate. Abortion is illegal under most circumstances in almost all Latin American and Caribbean countries, but despite heavy restrictions, nearly 4 million women across the region seek unsafe, clandestine abortions every year. Although it is considered a taboo subject, abortion is a major issue for youth, since two-thirds of the women who seek the services of unskilled, unlicensed providers are between the ages of 15 and 30, and approximately 10 to 21 percent of women hospitalized for complications from unsafe abortion are adolescent girls. IWHC has supported Decidir since 2005.

For more information, visit Decidir's website.

INSGENAR - Instituto de Genero, Derecho y Desarrollo
(Institute of Gender, Law and Development)
Founded in 1994 in Argentina, INSGENAR is dedicated to the defense of women's and children's human rights. In recent years, INSGENAR (in collaboration with CLADEM) has documented the cruel and inappropriate treatment of women in reproductive health services at public hospitals in Rosario, Argentina, and has advocated for change at the provincial and national levels, including through a watchdog website. Outcomes include high-level recommendations to the Santa Fe provincial government on protecting women seeking reproductive health care in public hospitals and clinics, and integration of human rights into the medical school curriculum of a national university. IWHC has supported INSGENAR since 2002.

For more information, visit INSGENAR's website.

MYSU - Mujer y Salud en Uruguay
(Women and Health in Uruguay)
Founded in 1995, MYSU coordinates a network of Uruguayan organizations dedicated to promoting women's and young people's sexual and reproductive health and rights in Uruguay. The network participates in national and regional campaigns, conducts advocacy and public outreach linking health, rights, and citizenship, and monitors the Uruguayan government's compliance with international agreements on sexual and reproductive health and rights. Most recently, MYSU lobbied for the passage of a bill that would have created a national reproductive health program in Uruguay, including contraceptive provision, comprehensive sexuality education, maternal care, and legal abortion in the first trimester. Thanks in part to MYSU's advocacy efforts—supported by a broad-based coalition of feminist, youth, professional, and religious organizations—the bill passed Uruguay's lower chamber of parliament in 2002, but subsequently failed to pass the Senate by a margin of four votes. Despite its eventual defeat, the bill represented tremendous progress for women's health and rights in Uruguay—supported by 63 percent of the public, it sparked discussion of reproductive health and rights as key elements of women's democratic citizenship. Recognizing the significance of MYSU's successes for the whole Latin American region, IWHC has supported the network since 2002.

For more information, visit MYSU's website.

REDLAC - Red Latinoamericana y Caribeña de Jóvenes por los Derechos Sexuales y Reproductivos 
(Latin American and Caribbean Youth Network for Sexual and Reproductive Rights)
Founded in 1999, REDLAC is a youth-led and youth-managed network dedicated to promoting and protecting adolescents' sexual and reproductive rights across Latin America and the Caribbean. Linking 15 organizations from 14 countries, REDLAC participates in regional campaigns and initiatives and has mobilized young people to represent youth concerns and add youth perspectives at a range of global and regional meetings. IWHC has supported REDLAC since its inception. We are currently supporting the network to strengthen its alliances with several Latin American campaigns and initiatives on sexual and reproductive rights, including the Latin American Consortium for Emergency Contraception (LACEC) the Campaign for an Inter-American Convention on Sexual and Reproductive Rights, and the September 28th Campaign to Decriminalize Abortion in Latin America and the Caribbean. REDLAC's involvement will ensure the inclusion of youth voices and perspectives in these regionwide efforts to promote sexual and reproductive rights.