AWD Report 2020
3. SEXUAL AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH RIGHTS, MATERNAL MORTALITY AND HIV/AIDS The Maputo Protocol enshrines women’s sexual and reproductive health (SRH) as a human right.
3.1. Issue Analysis The past 10 years have seen modest gains with regard to women’s health on the African continent, with overall life expectancy among women increasing from 62.8 years in 2010 to 67.8 years in 2019. However, many facets of women’s health remain insufficiently addressed. Cardiovascular diseases, for example, are now the leading cause of death among women in Africa. The continent still has the highest rates of maternal mortality in the world and African women account for more than 75% of new female HIV/AIDS cases worldwide.1023 The Maputo Protocol enshrines women’s sexual and reproductive health (SRH) as a human right.1024 Article 14 guarantees “the right to health of women, including sexual and reproductive health” and, along with its corresponding General Comment No. 2, calls on States to recognise women’s rights to control their fertility; decide whether to have children, the number of children and the spacing of children; choose any method of contraception; self-protection and to be protected against sexually transmitted infections, including HIV/ AIDS; be informed on their health status and the health status of their partner, particularly if affected with sexually transmitted infections, including HIV/AIDS, in accordance with internationally recognised standards and best practices; and have family planning education. Furthermore, under Article 14(2) of the Maputo Protocol, States Parties are committed to take appropriate measures to, among others, provide adequate, affordable and accessible health services to women, especially those in rural areas. They shall also protect the reproductive rights of women, authorising medical abortion in cases of sexual assault, rape and incest and where the pregnancy endangers the mothers’ mental and physical health or the life of the mother or foetus.
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