25 years of progress in strengthening the rights of women to equitable access to health services are now under threat. At the UN High-Level Meeting on AIDS, held in New York last month, those determined to stop progress for women achieved notable victories. In a recent newsletter forwarded to members of Family Watch International, a network dedicated to conservative causes (such as fighting abortion), lobbyists proclaimed success in removing many harmful provisions and replacing these with stigmatising propaganda. What were the precise complaints about the draft language before Presidents and Prime Ministers in New York? The ideas that irked conservative campaigners embraced, among others, references to what they called fictitious reproductive rights, efforts to defeat homophobia, and education about sex and sexuality. They described programmes to improve awareness of sex and its relation to health as insidious. They warned that We should all be deeply concerned that some governments were trying to establish this kind of education for children as an international human right. Conservatives railed against the notion of changing gender and sexual norms to reduce the harm and stigma so often directed against women. They characterised educational initiatives as promoting promiscuity. And they largely succeeded in their mission. The UN buckled. Conservatives hailed their victory in removing all references to comprehensive sexuality education. Their success was such that in the literature they distributed after the UN meeting, they were able to stigmatise those living with AIDS as active agents in spreading the disease.
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Tags: Reproductive Rights, Rights