Human rights are women’s rights, because women are human too. The last century has seen a long struggle, around the world, for legal recognition of that basic fact. In some parts of the world, women’s movements have overcome significant opposition to secure basic political, economic, and reproductive rights, like the right to vote, to go to school, and to choose whether to conceive and bear children. In other parts of the world, even these basic rights are a work in progress. In recent years, there has been an emerging international recognition that human rights are at stake in maternity care. The human rights framework is a valuable tool for understanding the global problem of maternal mortality, morbidity, and perinatal mortality, and the obligations of governments to provide maternity care that is accessible and affordable to all citizens. It is also helpful to understand the dynamics that occur between birthing women and their healthcare providers, and problems with medical intervention and abuse including the skyrocketing cesarean section rate. The list, below, is an attempt to identify the human rights at stake around childbirth. We do not claim that it is exhaustive. And we do not claim that these rights are protected, by law, where you live. Even if these rights are recognized under your nation’s constitution, or treaties to which it is a signatory, they may be forgotten in maternity care. That’s why HRiC came into being: Because we believe that it is time for these rights to be recognized and implemented, in law and practice, for birthing women everywhere. For that to happen will require activism and advocacy. Work with the network in your own nation to figure out what these rights mean there, and to advocate for their more perfect realization, as necessary.
