Empowering women: promoting access to contraception in Europe
Addendum to the report
| Doc. 15084 Add.
| 11 June 2020
- Committee
- Committee on Equality and Non-Discrimination
- Rapporteur :
- Ms Petra BAYR,
Austria, SOC
- Origin
- Adopted unanimously
by the Committee on 5 June 2020. 2020 - June Standing Committee
1 Introduction
1. On 4 December 2019, the Committee
on Equality and Non-Discrimination approved the report that I had prepared
on “Empowering women: promoting access to contraception in Europe”
and unanimously adopted the relevant draft resolution.
2. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic crisis has had an impact, among
other things, on the calendar of activities of the Parliamentary
Assembly, with the cancellation of several meetings. The report
and the draft resolution, therefore, have not yet been discussed
by the Assembly. This makes it possible, and necessary, to present
an addendum to the report, which aims to take stock of the latest
developments in the area of sexual and reproductive rights in Europe.
Once again, these developments are a consequence of a pandemic that,
as rightly stated by various observers, is first and foremost a
health crisis but which has serious repercussions on democracy,
human rights and the rule of law.
3. I will therefore endeavour to present the challenges originating
in the COVID-19 crisis in the area of sexual and reproductive health
and rights, as well as some positive developments, particularly
in terms of measures adopted to facilitate access to contraception.
As lockdown procedures are eased and our societies are gradually
trying to return to normal functioning, some of these measures should
be maintained.
2 The impact of
the COVID-19 crisis on sexual and reproductive health and rights
4. The COVID-19 pandemic has had
a severe impact on European societies. In medical and human terms, over
1.5 million cases and 150.000 deaths were recorded as of mid-May
2020. The spread of the virus has burdened, and often overwhelmed,
public health services across Europe and throughout the world. This situation
of extreme emergency has pushed other types of healthcare down in
the scale of priorities. Sexual and reproductive healthcare have
been among the first services to be negatively impacted. In addition,
the lockdown situation and other limitations of freedom of movement
adopted in most member States to contain the virus have hindered
women’s access to such services, aggravated in certain cases by
inexistent or insufficient information about their availability.
5. As shown by the report “Sexual and Reproductive Health and
Rights during the COVID-19 pandemic”,
Note published
jointly by the European Parliamentary Forum for Sexual and Reproductive
Rights and the International Planned Parenthood Federation European
Network (IPPF EN) in April 2020, in a number of member States women
have often been left without access to essential medical services
such as contraception, testing for HIV and sexually transmitted
infections (including anonymous testing, often crucial for young
people living with their parents), and reproductive cancer screenings.
Challenges were also reported as regards the availability and provision
of essential services for pregnant women and new-borns.
6. On the other hand, the crisis has obliged governments and
service providers to come up with innovative solutions to tackle
the crisis. Positive developments included measures adopted to facilitate
access to sexual and reproductive healthcare, such as telemedicine
(telephone and online consultation) and access to contraception,
including emergency contraception without prescription. In the Netherlands,
Rutgers, an international non-governmental organisation has provided
sexuality education programmes that are meant for home-schooling.
Note
7. Furthermore, in its March 2020 technical brief “COVID-19:
A Gender Lens – Protecting sexual and reproductive health and rights
and promoting gender equality”, the United Nations Population Fund
(UNFPA) highlighted a risk that the crisis may have an impact on
the supply chain of means of contraception.
Note UNFPA’s COVID-19
update of 30 March then confirmed that some of the supplies were
affected by the lockdown in countries where the production of the
testing facilities were located.
Note
8. In her statement of 7 May 2020,
Note the Council of Europe
Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatović, drew attention to
the fact that the pandemic has tended to deepen existing gender
inequalities but also reported some positive developments, such
as the possibility in France to buy contraception pills in pharmacies
on the basis of a previous prescription without having to renew
it.
9. Some member States have used the emergency situation to try
to curtail women’s rights. Attempts to restrict access to sexual
and reproductive healthcare, ban sexual education or use the situation
to push – and in one member State, succeed – to end legal gender
recognition for transgender people call for vigilance and continuous
monitoring of the situation.
10. The severity of the challenges faced in the area of sexual
and reproductive health and rights in connection with the pandemic
has raised awareness of the need of a gender-based response among
policy makers globally.
11. On 6 May 2020, at the initiative of the Swedish government,
a statement on “Protecting Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights
and Promoting Gender-responsiveness in the COVID-19 crisis”
Note was
released jointly on behalf of the people and governments of 59 countries
in Europe and beyond. This statement is another successful example
of Sweden’s leadership in promoting and practicing a feminist diplomacy.
12. The statement highlights that “the pandemic makes existing
inequalities for women and girls […] worse and risks impeding the
realization of human rights for women and girls”. It adds that “[the]
participation, protection and potential of all women and girls must
be at the center of response efforts. These efforts must be gender-responsive
and consider different impacts surrounding detection, diagnosis
and access to treatment for all women and men”.
13. The statement also indicates that “Sexual and reproductive
health needs, including psychosocial support services, and protection
from gender-based violence, must be prioritized to ensure continuity”
and highlights the commitment to supporting “the active participation
and leadership of women and girls at all levels of decision-making”.
Another crucial indication is that “funding sexual and reproductive
health and rights should remain a priority to avoid a rise in maternal
and new-born mortality, increased unmet need for contraception, and
an increased number of unsafe abortions and sexually transmitted
infections.”
14. We can only welcome the level of awareness shown by the signatories
and the language used in the joint statement; and recommend that
actions follow accordingly.
15. On 19 May 2020, I hosted a webinar on “COVID-19 and sexual
and reproductive health and rights: challenges and opportunities”,
aiming to discuss and raise awareness of the threats to sexual and
reproductive health and rights in the context of the pandemic, but
also to share good practices identified in tackling problems encountered.
Dunja Mijatović, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights;
Monica Ferro, Director of the Geneva office of the United Nations
Population Fund; Fourat Ben Chikha, General Rapporteur of the Assembly
on the Rights of LGBTI people; Caroline Hickson, Regional Director
of IPPF EN; Neil Datta, Secretary of the European Parliamentary
Forum; and Orla O’Connor, Director of the National Women’s Council of
Ireland, contributed to the discussions.
16. Participants in the event agreed that while the pandemic had
aggravated existing inequalities between women and men and hindered
access to sexual and reproductive healthcare, they underlined the
importance of political will in tackling challenges arising from
the pandemic crisis. Countries that put care for people first have
found solutions to guarantee such services throughout the pandemic
(such as telemedicine, as mentioned before).
17. The need to respond effectively to the unprecedented crisis
has created positive momentum as regards innovative solutions –
this must be used to strengthen and turn them into long term, sustainable
solutions. As the most acute phase of the pandemic ends and Europe
gradually goes back to normality, authorities must continue their
efforts to tackle barriers in access to sexual and reproductive
rights. This is not only a moral imperative but also, as highlighted
by Commissioner Mijatović, a legal obligation for Council of Europe
member States.
18. The General Rapporteur on the Rights of LGBTI people, Fourat
Ben Chikha drew attention to the fact that the health crisis had
specific repercussions on LGBTI people. Among other things, in a
situation in which healthcare other than emergency treatment for
COVID-19 isn’t considered a priority, access to hormone or gender-affirming
treatment, which may be crucial for the health of transgender or
intersex people, or to HIV-related care, has often become more difficult.
The General Rapporteur stressed the need for further efforts and more
work to reduce discriminatory attitudes to LGBTI people in the field
of health care and ensure access to their sexual and reproductive
health rights.
19. Several speakers at the online event underlined that reliable
information and data on the impact of the COVID-19 epidemics on
sexual and reproductive health and rights is not sufficient and
more should be done to collect data and conduct research to be able
to design evidence-based policies and enforce them correctly.
20. It is difficult to look on the bright side of a health crisis
that has taken such a heavy toll on our communities and is still
far from being solved. However, acting as a sort of magnifying lens,
the crisis has revealed existing inequalities and has made decision-makers
aware of them, offering an opportunity to take adequate countermeasures
and corrective action. The momentum created in this context should
be maintained, and this generation-defining crisis could, to a certain
extent, become an opportunity for positive change.
3 Proposed amendments
to the draft resolution
21. The COVID-19 related developments
should also be reflected in the draft resolution adopted by the committee
on 4 December 2019,
Doc. 15084. In this regard, I propose the following amendments:
Amendment A:
After paragraph 8, insert the following paragraph:
“The COVID-19 pandemic has affected women and men differently,
increased gender inequalities and made women and girls more vulnerable
to violations of their human rights in areas including gender-based
and domestic violence and sexual and reproductive health and rights.
Policies in response to the pandemic should consider the gendered
aspects of the crisis. Sexual and reproductive health and rights
should be prioritised, and adequate resources should be allocated.”
Amendment B:
After paragraph 9.4.1, insert the following paragraphs:
“9.5. as regards the response to the COVID-19 pandemic:
9.5.1. consider access to contraception, including emergency
contraception, and maternal healthcare before, during and after
childbirth, as essential health care services to be maintained during
the crisis and take all necessary accompanying measures to guarantee
the provision of and access to such services;
9.5.2. guarantee access without discrimination to sexual and
reproductive healthcare services and facilitate it, including by
authorising telephone and online consultations and access to contraception
without prescription, particularly in the case of the restriction
of people’s movement in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic; and maintain
in force such measures, in so far as possible, after the end of
the health crisis.”
