CEE Bulletin on Sexual and Reproductive Rights
No 12 (91) 2010
Table of contents:
burning issue
Zero new HIV infections. Zero discrimination. Zero AIDS-related deaths is the message sent by UNAIDS along with the newest issue of UNAIDS Report on the global AIDS epidemic 2010 launched on 23 November 2010. Based on the latest data from 182 countries, new UNAIDS report shows AIDS epidemic has been halted and world beginning to reverse the spread of HIV. New HIV infections have fallen by nearly 20% in the last 10 years, AIDS-related deaths are down by nearly 20% in the last five years, and the total number of people living with HIV is stabilizing. According to the report, in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, the number of people living with HIV almost tripled between 2000 and 2009. An estimated 1.4 million [1.3 million–1.6 million] people were living with HIV in 2009 compared to 530 000 [470 000–620 000] in 2000. AIDS-related deaths continue to rise in our region: an estimated 76 000 [60 000–95 000] people died from AIDS-related causes in 2009 compared to 18 000 [14 000–23 000] in 2001, a four-fold increase. The Russian Federation and Ukraine together account for nearly 90% of newly reported HIV infections. Ukraine has the highest adult HIV prevalence in all of Europe and Central Asia, at 1.1% [1.0%–1.3%]. Annual HIV diagnoses in Ukraine have more than doubled since 2001. Between 2000 and 2009, the HIV incidence rate increased by more than 25% in five countries in the region: Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.
More: UNAIDS
regional updates
Catholic bishops in Poland slam in vitro fertilization.The IVF procedure is currently legal in Poland but not regulated and current debate on draft bills in the Parliament seeks to establish legal framework for the procedure. Polish parliamentarians reassumed debating laws regulating in vitro fertilization in October despite constant criticism from bishops who threatened to excommunicate lawmakers who supported state funding for the procedure. Roman Catholic bishops keep threatening both citizens and lawmakers with excommunication calling the procedure 'the younger sister of eugenics.' In their letter addressed to the president, prime minister and member of parliament, Catholic bishops condemned IVF as "incompatible with both objective scientific arguments about the beginning of the biological life of man and with the clear moral guidance of the Ten Commandments and the Gospel." The letter signed by the President of the Polish Episcopal Conference, Archbishop Jozef Michalik and Chairman of the Episcopate's expert group on bioethical issues, Archbishop Henryk Hoser stated that: "Every time, at different stages of this medical procedure (IVF), death awaits many human beings. Even more are subject to hibernation.” According to them, IVF is "dangerous to children conceived with it," because they are particularly exposed to increased risk of genetic disease. Polish bishops who in previous statements have called IVF "a sort of refined abortion" and accused its supporters of "moral schizophrenia”, seem to have adopted even more radical stance. The 27 of November was declared “the day for praying for life”, the intensive campaign lasting three days was initiated. The first day of the campaign was dedicated to praying for “children dead before the birth”, the second was focused on the “sin of in-vitro”, while the concluding day was “a thanksgiving for the gift of life”. The celebration coincided with a 'Virgil for All Nascent Human Life' observed at St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican.
More: Federation for Women and Family Planning
New Hungarian constitution to protect fetus from the conception and to declare marriage just for men and women. The constitution which is now being drafted in Hungary by the ruling Fidesz-Christian alliance introduces the protection of fetus from the moment of conception. According to the expert the introduction of such protection will lead to legal restrictions in access to abortion. The controversial proposal declares marriage suitable only for men and women and outlaw gay marriage that have been legally recognized by Hungary in 2009. Further, the draft states that "the family is the alliance of the generations," and a sentence in support of bringing up children and work will also figure in the document. The proposal is objected by the Socialist party and green formation Politics Can Be Different (LMP), holding respectively 59/386 and 14/ 386 seats in the Parliament.
More: Federation for Women and Family Planning
Hungarian midwife’s prison detention extended by 60 days.The Hungarian Court Authorities ruled on the 8th of November that the internationally recognized Hungarian midwife Dr. Agnes Gereb, should remain imprisoned for a further 60 days. They referred to the same two conditions for her continued imprisonment as cited when she was originally imprisoned 30 days ago on the 8th of October. The two conditions are: the risk that she will repeat "the crime" again and, the risk that she will destroy evidence and/or attempt to influence potential case witnesses.Dr. Agnes Gereb was dramatically taken into police custody in the evening of Tuesday, 5 October just minutes after attending to a pregnant woman who had unexpectedly gone into labour at her homebirth centre in Budapest. After 3 days Gereb was taken before a closed criminal court and charged with ”reckless endangerment committed in the line of duty” and remanded in custody without bail for 30 days. It is quite common in Hungary to spend more than a year in prison, awaiting trial. If found guilty, she could face imprisonment from one to five years. The circumstances of Dr. Gereb's arrest and imprisonment has attracted huge interest from abroad in respect to the blatant infringements of Dr. Gereb's human rights around her arrest and imprisonment; to the criminalization of independent midwives assisting at homebirths and in regard to the deprivation of the Constitutional right of Hungarian women to chose where they wish to have their babies. It has also fired up strong debate within Hungary, where the homebirth is illegal, about the respective merits of homebirths and hospital births, about the right to choice for Hungarian women.
Source: Free Gereb!
Lithuania pondering choices of in vitro fertilization law.The Lithuanian Health ministry has produced a draft of an in vitro fertilization (IVF) law with two options in it. The conservative option of the law includes donating germ cells only among partners or married people. In such case, the storage and refrigeration of the embryos would be impossible and the implanting them to the patient would be limited to three times. Another suggested alternative, a more liberal one, allows the free choice of donors and refrigeration and storage of germ cells. The number of implanted embryos would be unlimited. The health deputy minister pointed out that the conservative option might be dangerous for the health of mothers due to extra-large doses of hormones. The drafts are being currently debated by the Lithuanian Parliament (Seymas), the Parliament Speaker Irene Degutiene asserted that in vitro should be subsidized by the state in order to make the procedure more accessible.
Source:Lithuania Tribune
European Socialists take the lead on fight against extreme right.The Socialists and Social Democrats Group of the European Parliament signed the 'Budapest Declaration'. The Declaration takes a strong stance against the extreme right parties, calling for a strong response in confronting the rise of the far Right. The declaration follows on from the Party of European Socialists (PES) 'Confronting the Extreme Right' declaration and recognizes that there was a huge trend across Europe that needs to be tackled.
Source:PES
Church and Sexual Education in Schools in Malta.One of the participants of sexuality education conference held recently in Malta, Bishop Mario Grech stated that the education system may be abusing students if it teaches them about contraception instead of teaching students how to control their sexual urges. In fact according to the bishop teaching students about contraception encourages them to give in to the “culture of pleasure”. Currently sex education includes information on contraception as well as other themes such STIs, self-respect, and other themes on sexuality which may not necessarily be directly reflecting the theme of sexual intercourse. Accusing teachers of abuse shows a lack of understanding of the positive educational experience in schools around Malta and warns about the potential attempts to restrict access to sexuality education in Malta.
Source:ADZ Malta
Anti-abortion groups in Spain fight back over new law.Four months after a new more liberal abortion law took effect in Spain, 'pro-life' groups are fighting back, demanding aid for women who feel they have no choice other than to end their pregnancies. Abortion clinics and so-called 'pro-choice' advocates report constant attacks from the side of anti-choice activists. Last month, hundreds of people shouting "murderers" demonstrated at the site of an international conference of abortion rights proponents in the southern Spanish city of Seville. Pope Benedict XVI also launched an implicit attack on the reforms brought in by the Socialist government when he visited Spain in November. The new legislation, which came into effect in July, allows abortion on demand up to the 14th week of pregnancy and up to the 22nd week if there is a risk to the mother's health or if the fetus has serious problems. It replaced a 1985 law which only allowed abortion in cases of rape, fetal malformation and when a woman's mental or physical health was deemed to be at risk if the pregnancy went to term. Spain's conservative opposition Popular Party and the Roman Catholic Church have vigorously opposed the reforms. Activism against them has not weakened in the overwhelmingly Catholic country since a series of mass demonstrations last year as the new legislation was being prepared.
Source:Agence France Presse
Latvian Gender Equality Award in good hands!The Chairperson of the Human Rights and Public Affairs Commission of the Latvian Parliament Ingrida Circene have been awarded national Gender Equality Award. Ingrida Circene is better know to the international public as a chairwoman of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) Committee on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men. During the last session of the Parliamentary Assembly session in October, Ms. Circene was a vocal backer of the original draft resolution "Women's Access to Lawful Medical Care: The Problem of Unregulated Use of Conscientious Objection" with its emphasis on not denying doctors the right to object to performing abortions or other procedures they object to.
Source:KARAT
GLOBAL UPDATES
FIAPAC criticizes the recent Council of Europe resolution on “The right to conscientious objection in lawful medical care”. On 22-23 October, the International Federation of Professional Abortion and Contraception Associates (FIAPAC) held its 9th Conference in Seville, Spain. The Conference was attended by some 601 health professionals working in abortion and family planning coming from 53 countries. The Conference passed a resolution, denouncing the recent Council of Europe resolution on “The right to conscientious objection in lawful medical care”.
The resolution can be found at:FIAPAC
UNFPA Welcomes New Executive Director. UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, welcomed the United Nations Secretary-General's announcement naming Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin as Executive Director of UNFPA, to succeed Thoraya Ahmed Obaid once her tenure ends on 31 December. Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin, a Nigerian, is currently Professor of Medicine at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, and the African Spokesperson for the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health. Prior to this, he served as Minister of Health of Nigeria and was also Director-General of the country’s National Agency for the Control of HIV and AIDS. In addition, he was a Visiting Fellow at the Harvard Centre for Population and Development Studies. Dr. Osotimehin, who will assume office on 1 January, will become the fourth Executive Director of UNFPA since it became operational in 1969.
More:UNFPA
European Commission’s online development consultations provide important opportunity for SRH advocates raise awareness of MDG 5. The European Commission has launched an online consultation, closing on the 17 January 2011 entitled, ‘EU development policy in support of inclusive growth and sustainable development – Increasing the impact of EU development policy.’ This consultation process, open to all, is an important opportunity for SRH advocates around the world to emphasize the significance of future EU investments in reproductive health and family planning and safeguard existing commitments in the future EU development agenda. Relevant sections include title 2.2, ‘Human Development’, which emphasizes the importance of a healthy population, and 3.1, ‘Partners for Inclusive Growth’, which is linked to the achievement of the MDGs. In addition, a parallel online consultation on the future of EU Budget Support is also open for contributions and closes on the 31 December.
More:EC
EU Member States and European Parliament fail to reach agreement on EU budget 2011. After weeks of negotiations, the EU Member States and the European Parliament have officially announced that no agreement could be reached on the draft 2011 EU budget. Main points of contempt were the reluctance of certain Member States to increase the EU budget in times of austerity measures in their national capitals as well as profound disagreement over new powers granted to Members of the EP under the EU’s new Lisbon Treaty. The European Commission will now have to initiate a whole new budget procedure by drafting a new draft proposal for the budget 2011, which will be followed by a new round of negotiations between the two arms of the budgetary authority, namely the Member States and the EP. The fate of the Parliament’s proposed increase of 2 Million EUR for maternal health in developing countries remains very uncertain under this new procedure.
For more information, please see:EP
European Commissioner for Development underlines central importance of MDG 5 in the allocation of the EU’s 1 billion EUR initiative on the MDGs. European Commissioner for Development Andris Piebalgs was invited to the European Parliaments’ Committee on Development’s (DEVE) for an exchange of views regarding the Commission’s priorities in the field of development. The Commissioner reasserted commitment to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), and added that in his personal opinion food security (MDG 1) and maternal health (MDG 5) should be prioritized in the allocation of the 1 billion EUR under the EU’s MDG initiative. Financed from reserves of the 10th European Development Fund (EDF), resources under this initiative are in principle open to all 79 countries of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group (ACP), and bilateral negotiations between the EU and its ACP partners have recently started.
For more information, please see:EC
UN Elects Executive Board of New UN Women. UN Member States took the next step in enabling the newly- created United Nations agency on gender equality and women´s empowerment to begin its work by electing countries to serve on its Executive Board. The elections, held in the 54-member Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), will enable the new Board to come together prior to the official establishment on 1 January 2011 of the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women). The 41 board members were selected on the following basis: 10 from Africa, 10 from Asia, 4 from Eastern Europe, 6 from Latin America and the Caribbean, 5 from Western Europe and 6 from contributing countries. Estonia, Hungary, Russia and Ukraine were elected from among the Eastern European States. The 35 members elected from the regional groups will serve two-year and three-years, beginning today, as determined by the drawing of lots.
For more information, go to:UN News Centre
publications
Activist's Guide to the Yogyakarta Principles. New Toolkit to advance Equality on Grounds of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity. The Yogyakarta Principles are a set of principles on the application of international human rights law in relation to sexual orientation and gender identity, developed in response to well-documented patterns of abuse directed toward persons because of their actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity. One initiative profiled in the Activist’s Guide is a project by the Polish organization KPH (Campaign Against Homophobia) called “From Berlin to Yogyakarta”: these travelling billboards trace the struggle for LGBTI rights from persecution under the Nazis to the affirmation of equality embodied in the Yogyakarta Principles.
Copies of the Activist's Guide may be ordered or downloaded, in English and Spanish, from :Yogyakarta Principles Action
New publication of Macedonian Women’s Rights Center – Shelter Centre: "Analysis of international standards and best practices and existing national laws, policies and plans of the anti-discrimination legislation" prepared as a part of the project "Macedonia without Discrimination" funded by the EU, where MWRC-Shelter Centre is a partner organization. The analysis looks at the experiences of several European countries and the mechanisms that they use in fighting discrimination. The previous experiences and current trends in anti-discrimination policy are summarized, in order to offer a material that will contribute to the development of antidiscrimination legislation in Macedonia.
More:MWRC
Feminists on the Frontline: Case Studies of Resisting and Challenging Fundamentalisms. This collection of case studies is a testament to the women and men around the world who have stood up to reject the imposition of norms and values in the name of religion as well as to expose and challenge the privileged position given to religion in public policies. In 2008 AWID launched a call for proposals to document the strategies of women's rights activists confronting religious fundamentalisms. The final 18 case studies presented here are drawn from a wide range of religious and geographical contexts, and cover various fields of activism.
Link:AWID
H.E.R.A. releases movie that demystifies the use of modern contraceptives. Health Education and Research Association (H.E.R.A.) of the Republic of Macedonia has recently released a short movie entitled "Decision" as part of an IPPF initiative 'Girls Decide: Stand up for choice on sex and pregnancy . This youth-led movie unveils in a very witty and attractive way the persistent myths associated with the use of the birth control pill and will be used in peer education programmes to offer high school students credible information on modern means of contraception.
More :IPPFEN
upcoming events
Public hearing: "Preventing undocumented women and children from accessing healthcare: Fostering Health Inequalities in Europe". The hearing, hosted by Socialists and Democrats (S&D), Greens, GUE/NGL political groups and carried out in partnership with the European Women’s Lobby (EWL), Médecins du Monde, Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants (PICUM), and the European Anti-Poverty Network (EAPN), will bring together experts from EU institutions and civil society to discuss the main barriers faced by undocumented migrants to accessing health care in Europe, with a special focus on undocumented women and children. This hearing aims to feed into the debate about health inequalities the situation faced by particularly vulnerable groups, and to explore the potential of EU policies in the fields of public health, social inclusion and children’s rights to tackle the situation faced by undocumented migrants. European Parliament, 8 December 2010, 16.00-18.00.Participation is subject to prior registration: benoit.blondel@medecinsdumonde.be.
2nd European Conference ‘From Daddy Quotas to Care Parity: For Equality, Equal Leave Rights’. The Spanish Platform for Equal and Non - Transferable Parental Leave organizing the 2nd European Conference, where all organizations and individuals interested in supporting progress towards gender equality can converge: from feminists, to egalitarian men groups, as well as youth groups, trade unions, civil society organizations, members of the Spanish Parliament, public administration and the academic community. The first meeting of the European Network ‘PLENT (Platform for Equal & Non-Transferable Parental Leave) will be held on 10th of December, with participants from different countries representing social organizations working together to support this claim, as an emblem of the fight for total equality.
More information and the program of the event is available at:Platforma Paternidad
action alert
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