Abstract Book of the 3rd World Conference on Gender Equality
Year: 2025
[PDF]
Abortion Rights as Human Rights: Implementing a Global Reproductive Justice Framework
Dr. Tanya Saroj Bakhru
ABSTRACT:
Reproductive Justice is an intersectional, human rights-based framework that “makes the link between the individual and community, addresses government and corporate responsibility, fights all forms of population control (eugenics), commits to individual/community leadership development that results in power shifts, and puts marginalized communities at the center of the analysis.” The idea of Reproductive Justice grows in tandem with an international women’s health movement committed to empowering women to control their own fertility and sexuality. Through three case studies, this paper demonstrates the value of employing a human rights-based framework in order to address the complexities, range, and nuance of abortion issues in a global context. It will highlight the need to move beyond neoliberal notions of choice as and the necessity to facilitate coalition building and collaborative work between social movements. The first case study will focus on the Repeal the 8th Campaign in Ireland in 2018. The second case study looks at the work of the feminist coalition Korean Women’s Associations United and their efforts to transform dominant cultural norms of son preference and devaluation of girls that resulted in sex selective abortion of female fetuses and a skewed sex ratio in the population. The last case study features the work of the Marea Verde movement as it works to transform abortion law and policy across Latin America using a human rights framework. True control over one’s reproductive destiny is essential for the well-being of the individual, family, and the community. The case studies highlighted in this paper illustrate the success and social transformation that results from centering bodily integrity vis a vis a reproductive justice framework.
Keywords: Abortion, Human Rights, Reproductive Justice, Sexual Rights, Women’s Health Movements