Are Sexual and Reproductive Rights Only for the Rich?

Differentials in the exercise of rights to sexual and reproductive health based income and residence are among the most pronounced of any regularly measured health-related development indicators. Poor and rural populations are least likely to give birth under safe conditions, to translate their preferences to delay or avoid pregnancies into safe and effective action, more likely to give birth at very early and late ages when risks are higher, and more susceptible to sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted or transactional sex. Failure to redress the conditions that contribute to these disparities amounts to a violation of rights obligations and international consensus commitments. Development (2005) 48, 99–105. doi:10.1057/palgrave.development.1100185

Reproductive Rights Advocacy: Concentration of effort, dilution of intention

Pascale Allotey and Daniel D. Reidpath discuss the issue of female genital cutting and obstetric fistulae within the context of reproductive rights advocacy. They use these examples to discuss the potential effects on the broader reproductive rights agenda of interventions that focus narrowly on what is often a symptom of unaddressed structural violence. They argue for a broader rights approach rather than simply focusing on ameliorating the specific harm, in order to focus on the more fundamental goal, that is, the promotion of the positive freedoms. Development (2005) 48, 69–74. doi:10.1057/palgrave.development.1100181