Amid attacks on abortion, experts call to protect women's sexual rights

Experts are urging global action to safeguard women's sexual and reproductive rights, citing grave concerns over declining international aid and the escalating influence of far-right movements. These trends, they warn, are directly contributing to a rise in maternal mortality and unintended pregnancies across the globe.

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Globally, the situation is very serious. (...) We have a responsibility to our younger generation to offer them a world in which they can prosper.

Diene Keita, Executive Director of the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), described the global situation as "very serious," emphasizing a responsibility to younger generations. She highlighted how the surge of far-right and religious ideologies, often promoting a "traditional family" model, is weaponizing sexual and reproductive rights. These groups, and states influenced by them, actively oppose the recognition and exercise of sexual diversity and reproductive autonomy.

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These groups not only express themselves through civil society or religious organizations of the far-right, but also by states that are led by these types of figures who do not agree with the recognition or exercise of sexual diversity, nor in terms of reproductive decisions.

Rebeca Ramos, director of the Mexican human rights organization GIRE, added that these rights are sometimes used as "bargaining chips" in commercial negotiations. She noted instances, particularly in Latin America, where progress on access to safe and legal abortion has been sidelined in favor of securing trade agreements with countries less supportive of reproductive health.

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They can also be used 'as a bargaining chip'. In trade negotiations, sexual and reproductive rights end up being sacrificed to obtain other types of agreements in different areas.

Despite these challenges, Keita and other organizations, including the Center for Reproductive Rights, maintain a message of resilience. They argue that the current setbacks are primarily ideological, aimed at intimidating populations into relinquishing their rights. "Scaring women into abandoning their bodily autonomy is difficult," Keita stated. Leah Hoctor, Europe director for the Center for Reproductive Rights, echoed this sentiment, asserting that allies for reproductive rights significantly outnumber opponents, suggesting that the opposition's perceived polarization is exaggerated.

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The retreat we are witnessing today is more ideological than real (...) what we see is an attempt to scare the population into giving them up, but scaring women into abandoning their bodily autonomy is difficult.