Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), ‘General Recommendation no. 24: Article 12 of the Convention (Women and Health)’, HRI/GEN/1/Rev.9 (Vol. II), 5 February 1999

Women’s right to health. Right not to be subject to forced and coercive sterilization.

Art. 12 CEDAW

1. States parties should also report on measures taken to ensure access to quality health-care services, for example, by making them acceptable to women. Acceptable services are those that are delivered in a way that ensures that a woman gives her fully informed consent, respects her dignity, guarantees her confidentiality and is sensitive to her needs and perspectives. States parties should not permit forms of coercion, such as non-consensual sterilization, mandatory testing for sexually transmitted diseases or mandatory pregnancy testing as a condition of employment that violate women’s rights to informed consent and dignity.

2. In their reports, States parties should state what measures they have taken to ensure timely access to the range of services that are related to family planning, in particular, and to sexual and reproductive health in general.