Chapter one
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Why do the SRI and IPPF want to help me get involved with the UPR? Sexual rights are often marginalized from human rights discourse including within the UN, National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs), human rights movements and even among civil society organizations. This marginalization can be attributed to the politicization of sexuality and gender equality, a narrow approach to human rights, religious opposition and the unwillingness of decision-makers to prioritize, financially and politically, sexual rights at the local, organizational, national and international level. In addition, many advocates, activists and service providers working to challenge gender inequalities, to provide support for victims of gender-based violence and to provide access to sexual and reproductive health information, education and services, have limited resources and often lack the support and capacity to articulate their concerns within a human rights framework. The SRI and IPPF want to work with non-governmental organizations, activists, human rights defenders, young people, teachers, academics, lawyers, trade unions, community groups, health care providers and anyone else committed to sexual rights to make sure that people’s lived experiences of human rights violations related to their sexuality are seen and heard in the places where decisions are made and norms are set. The UPR is one area in which to do this and through the development of this toolkit, we would like to encourage and assist as many organizations and individuals as possible to participate in this process.
The UPR in Action In advance of Thailand’s UPR in 2011, the SRI and the IPPF Member Association in Thailand, Planned Parenthood Association of Thailand (PPAT), worked together to prepare a UPR stakeholder submission and engage in advocacy at the national level and at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. Drawing on PPAT’s experience of delivering sexual and reproductive health care services to sex workers and the SRI’s experience in writing stakeholder reports and advocacy at the UN Human Rights Council, they successfully highlighted how the criminalization of sex work prevents sex workers from accessing health care services, denies sex workers protection from sexual and physical violence and contributes to the stigmatization of sex workers. As a result, Finland recommended that the Thai Government: 1. “Increase its efforts to address the human rights challenges faced by all sex workers” 2. “Apply a comprehensive sexual and reproductive health and rights approach to guarantee the access of all sex workers, as well as their clients and clients’ spouses and partners, to adequate health services and sexual education.” The Thai government agreed to implement the first recommendation and agreed to review the second recommendation before March 2012.
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