SPW Newsletter N.12 – October, 2012
SPW Newsletter No.12 aims to analyze how sexuality matters are debated in international human rights bodies, specifically within the recently reformed Inter-American Human Rights System and the United Nations Human Rights Council (UN HRC). In the case of UN HRC, this issue of the SPW Newsletter looks closely at the second round of Universal Periodical Review (UPR) of India and Brazil, held in May 2012. Our main goal was to explore how two of the so-called emerging powers have responded to the UPR process, if sexual and reproductive rights issues have or have not been addressed in these reviews, and how the Indian and Brazilian states have or have not reacted to recommendations made in relation to these topics. These brief analytical exercises provide interesting insights on the merits and limits of the UPR processes, as well the challenges implied in engaging with and monitoring these reviews.
The Inter-American Human Rights System is under threat: Implications for the Sexuality and Human Rights Agenda
Read “The Inter-American Human Rights System is under threat: Implications for the Sexuality and Human Rights Agenda”, written by Marcelo Ferreyra, Latin America and Caribbean Coordinator at Global Initiative for Sexuality and Human Rights – Heartland Alliance for Human Needs & Human Rights, for the SPW Newsletter N. 12.
The abortion front lines
2.8 The abortion front lines In the struggle for legal abortion, as well, good news is often accompanied by bad news. As we were finalizing
Nicaragua abortion law puts pregnant cancer victim at risk
Nicaragua: On 2 February, 2010 a 27-year-old woman was admitted to a hospital in Leon, the second largest city in Nicaragua. She was diagnosed with an advanced case of cancer, which had metastasised and may have spread to her breasts, brain and lungs. She was told she couldn’t be prescribed an aggressive chemotherapy or radiotherapy treatment because she was pregnant and, under Nicaraguan law, any medical procedure to save the life of a mother is banned if it jeopardises the life of the foetus.