The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) published a paper on "health and reproductive and sexual rights" (SRHR) in the private sector. The paper stresses that employers are required to supply workers with access to wellness services, including services related to "sexual and reproductive health". The Fund recommends that companies supply staff with "comprehensive abortion care" to the degree that abortion is legal in a given country. According to UNFPA, compliance with “reproductive rights” is intended to increase the profits of companies...
What is the Population Fund?
The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) is simply a UN agency liable for population issues, "reproductive and sexual health" and sex equality. The organization was founded in 1969 and since then, as she claims, has been working to improve the wellness and well-being of people worldwide.
The declared objectives of UNFPA are:
1. Ensuring universal access to "reproductive and sexual health"
The organisation is working to guarantee that all woman, man and youth have access to appropriate "health services", including contraception, prenatal and postnatal care, and sexual education.
2. Prevention of gender-based violence
UNFPA acts to destruct all forms of force against women and girls, including home violence, human trafficking and female genital mutilation.
3. Promoting sex equality
The organisation shall support sex equality initiatives, including equal pay, access to education and professional opportunities for women and girls.
In addition, UNFPA is expected to play a key function in achieving the Sustainable improvement Goals, in peculiar the 3 (good wellness and quality of life) and 5 (sex equality).
Reproductive rights at work
The Fund’s paper gives the following definition: “Sex and reproductive wellness refers to physical, emotional, intellectual and social well-being in all aspects of sexuality and reproduction. It goes beyond reducing illness and dysfunction, highlighting a affirmative and respectful approach to sexual experience and reproduction."
UNFPA aims to emphasise the importance of protecting and promoting "reproductive rights and sexual health" at work. In particular, UNFPA draws attention to the function of the private sector in providing workers with “appropriate conditions” in this respect. The text stresses the request to educate workers on their "reproductive rights and sexual health", and suggests introducing training programmes that supply workers with cognition on this subject, as well as promoting information campaigns at work that "increase awareness of reproductive and sexual health".
The authors point out that investing in women's alleged reproductive wellness can affect more than 190 million women working in global supply chains. The paper introduces a scoreboard of indicators and metrics for the private sector to track advancement on key social issues at work, including maternity leave, fertility treatment and sexual harassment protocols. UNFPA argues that erstwhile companies effort to make an environment conducive to "the inclusion of women" and have a affirmative impact on their supply chains, they can benefit from increased productivity in the workplace, reduced absenteeism and reduced staff turnover.
Legal basis and global standards
The text is based on the global standards of human rights set by the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination of Women (CEDAW), which obliges States to take all appropriate measures to destruct discrimination against women, including alleged sexual and reproductive health. The paper besides refers to the global Pact on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). Article 12 of this pact obliges States to recognise the right of all man to the highest attainable standard of physical and intellectual health.
Obligations of employers
The paper states that employers are required to supply workers with access to wellness services, including “sexual and reproductive health”.
Employers are to implement anti-discrimination policies that defend workers from discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation, pregnancy or the condition of "reproductive health". another recommendations include:
– the creation and enforcement of company policies that defend "sexual and reproductive rights", and advance "sexual and reproductive health" and well-being of workers,
– prenatal, postnatal and family-friendly care: supporting workers in fulfilling their professional and household aspirations, in various options of parenting and household structures,
– the detection, prevention and treatment of reproductive neoplasms: supporting workers with reproductive malignancies specified as ovarian, cervical, testicular and prostate cancer,
– advice and services on reproductive, menstrual and menopauseal wellness of women: may include support for women during menstruation, menopause and reproductive disorders (e.g. endometriosis, polycystic ovarian syndrome – PCOS) and the provision of "comprehensive abortion care" in the field of law.
At this point, it is worth noting that, at the outset of the guide, the authors point out that "in accordance with paragraph 8.25 of the ICPD, UNFPA does not consider or advance abortion as a method of household planning", and "recognise alternatively the highest precedence of voluntary household planning to prevent unintended pregnancies" and "respect the sovereign right of countries to decide the degree to which abortion is legal".
This should be emphasised due to the fact that the concept of "health and sexual and reproductive rights" is frequently interpreted by supporters of legal abortion, including in European Parliament resolutions, as something that would automatically entail the right to abortion, including abortion on request.
Workers' rights
Workers have the right to privacy, including in wellness matters. The UNFPA besides states that employers must guarantee that all information concerning "sexual and reproductive health" of workers is treated as confidential and protected from unauthorised disclosure. However, there is no discussion on what mechanisms can be utilized to safe these data.
The paper besides makes a request that workers have the right to reliable information on the available wellness services and their "sexual and reproductive health" rights. Employers should supply this information in an accessible and understandable way, informing employees about their rights as “non-discriminatory”, including “sexual and reproductive health”. However, the issue of discussing the best practices in the education of workers about their rights, i.e. how education or training on labour rights should be undertaken, has been left out. The paper states that "including reproductive and sexual wellness rights to policies and benefits at work, companies can transform their employees' wellness and social and economical promotion, which in turn will increase productivity (...)", the authors say that "reproductive and sexual rights" will not only contribute to improving the well-being and well-being of workers but besides increase the profits of companies. However, there is no request to look for justification for the thesis that, for example, ensuring access to abortion would affect this.
Measures of progress
The authors emphasise that erstwhile companies start implementing policies, it is vital that they measurement and follow their advancement by adopting appropriate indicators and metrics. This is intended to enable them to realize the impact and effectiveness of their initiatives and to make continuous improvements.
The guide encourages companies to publically inform about their efforts in the field of SRHR as part of the yearly ESG reports, which is intended to show "the affirmative impact they have on their employees and business", but besides to item how focusing on these commitments on "sustainable social improvement and integration" will velocity up action and accountability in the area of "reproductive justice in the private sector".
However, while companies that supply friendly conditions for young mothers and let them to return to work under favourable conditions would definitely have something to boast about, ensuring access to abortion is hard to recognise as a affirmative and fair factor.
Health and sexual and reproductive rights (SRHR) and global law
At this point, attention should be paid to the location of alleged reproductive and sexual rights in the global human rights system. "reproductive and sexual rights" have no origins in universal global law, while attempts are being made to bring them out of a number of another recognised rights. This is served by the usage of an extension (or dynamic) explanation of the treaties. The origins of the origins of the concept of "reproductive and sexual" rights include events specified as the 1994 global Conference for Population and improvement in Cairo (when the word "reproductive health" first appears) and the 1995 4th planet Conference for Women in Beijing, resulting in the division of women's rights into sexual and reproductive rights. any global bodies search to bring "reproductive and sexual rights" out of global law, extending the provisions of the treaties to the right to privacy, the right to life or the right to health. This explanation is of a prominently legislative nature and demonstrates that these authorities have exceeded their powers, which are trying to impose obligations on countries they have never agreed to. It is clear that erstwhile the countries included treaties guaranteeing the right to privacy or the right to life, no 1 at the time thought that they were obliged to legalise abortion on request, introduce compulsory sex education or supply free contraception for all. In addition, these circumstantial categories of rights which belong to "reproductive and sexual" rights are at least morally controversial. Hence, different countries, with different axiological links at national level, may have problems interpreting these rights.
Actual protection of workers' rights
It is actual that employers should invest in education and training for workers about their rights. Training may include workshops, seminars and educational material, as well as the adoption of policies that will specifically address pregnant women or those on maternity leave. Facilitating their return to work and the favourable conditions they are offered is surely a good practice that can and should be promoted to workers and employers. Cooperation with non-governmental organisations or partnerships with local wellness organisations may be beneficial in this respect in order to organise preventive investigation and medical consultation on women's and men's health.
Regular review and update of corporate policies on non-discrimination are crucial to ensuring compliance with the applicable rules and are besides good practice. Employers should regularly monitor and measure the effectiveness of their policies and make the essential changes, especially in a situation where they receive signals from workers of specified a need. However, the text could discuss in more item what circumstantial tools and methods can be utilized to monitor and measure the effectiveness of wellness policies.
Legally, it is crucial to guarantee compliance with global and national standards, as well as to implement applicable solutions that defend workers' rights and advance their health, alternatively than based on recognised, controversial concepts. It should be agreed that employers should be aware of their responsibilities and act actively to make a working environment where everyone feels comfortable without exception. However, in order to full fulfil its role, a more detailed discussion of problems, adaptation of best practices and comparison of concrete examples from different countries, as well as the inclusion in the content of the paper that it wishes to make besides for men, is essential to avoid discrimination. Furthermore, it is crucial to note that there is no universal global agreement to recognise the concept of "reproductive and sexual rights".
Julia Książek – Analyst of the Ordo Iuris global Law Center
Source: ordoiuris.pl
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