Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health Toolkit for - UNFPA

How are human rights and legal
considerations related to adolescent
sexual and reproductive health during
emergency situations?
The human rights of adolescents, including vulnerable
sub-groups, are protected under several declarations
and conventions in international law.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)
mentions the right to health under the right to the
highest attainable standard of living (UDHR Article
25). The Constitution of the World Health
Organization defines health as a state of complete
physical, mental and social well-being and not merely
the absence of disease or infirmity and declares that the
enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health
is one of the fundamental rights of every human being
without distinction of race, religion, political belief,
economic or social condition (WHO, 1946).
This was expanded during the 1994 Cairo
International Conference on Population and
Development, which defined reproductive
health and the right to reproductive health as:
a state of complete physical, mental and social
well-being and not merely the absence of disease
or infirmity, in all matters relating to the reproductive
system and to its functions and processes.
Reproductive health therefore implies that people
are able to have a satisfying and safe sex life and
that they have the capability to reproduce and the
freedom to decide if, when and how often to do so.
Implicit in this last condition are the right of men
and women to be informed and to have access to
safe, effective, affordable and acceptable methods
of family planning of their choice, as well as other
methods of their choice for regulation of fertility
which are not against the law, and the right of
access to appropriate health-care services that
will enable women to go safely through pregnancy
and childbirth and provide couples with the best
chance of having a healthy infant.
The right to reproductive health includes the
right to complete physical, mental and social
well-being and not merely the absence of
disease or infirmity, in all matters relating to
the reproductive system and to its functions
and processes.
ICPD, 1994
The 1995 Beijing Women’s Conference expanded the
definition of reproductive health to include sexuality:
The human rights of women include their right to
have control over and decide freely and responsibly
on matters related to their sexuality, including
sexual and reproductive health, free of coercion,
discrimination and violence.
The UN Convention on the Rights
of the Child:
Adolescents are entitled to rights under the
Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)
until age 18. These rights are listed below, with
examples of how they relate to ASRH:
• The right to the highest attainable standard
of health, Including the right to reproductive health.
• The right to impart and receive information and
the right to education, Including complete and
correct information about SRH.
• The right to confidentiality and privacy, Including
the right to obtain RH services without consent of a
parent, spouse or guardian. Conducting a virginity
(hymen) examination on an adolescent without her
consent would also be a violation of this right.
• The right to be free from harmful traditional
practices, Including female genital cutting and
forced early marriage.
Introduction
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