A a group of feminist advocates for sexual, reproductive and gender justice from across the globe, met in New York on April 16-17 2016 to identify some shortcomings and challenges of penal policies in responding to sexual and reproductive rights violations. This brief statement summarizes the findings of two days of fruitful discussions, case study presentations and debates and aims to contribute to the conversation about criminalization.
States across different regions of the world often respond to issues of sexual and reproductive rights within the framework of the criminal justice system. This approach of criminalization as a solution is not only employed by states: the dominant approach within donor agencies and feminist movements has also been to support advocacy for redressing violations of rights using criminalization. Criminalization as a solution has been invested in for decades.
However, and despite all the effort exerted in adopting laws that criminalize sexual and reproductive rights violations, the structural problems that lead to these rights violations often remain unaddressed. From our various experiences across the globe in advocating for sexual and reproductive justice, it is clear that criminal law has not adequately addressed impunity nor has it sufficiently addressed/reduced sexual and reproductive rights violations.
Furthermore, the criminalization of people’s behaviors in the sexual and reproductive realms happen within the context of neoliberal economic structures such as the global care economy, the health- and prison-industrial complexes, militarization and structural violence, trafficking in persons, and states’ growing use of the criminal justice system as a response to economic and social problems. Criminalization is thus promoted under the guise of providing protection (presumably for the survivors of violations) and preserving morality (often of women). These dominant narratives gain momentum from religious, ethnic, and right-wing fundamentalisms and ideologies. They operate within systems of institutionalized patriarchy, racism, and oppression that maintain and reinforce diverse forms of inequalities, including those based on race, ethnicity, class, gender identity, sexuality, sexual orientation, geographic location, legal status, ability, health status, age, and religion, among others.
It is therefore critical to expand the debate around sexual and reproductive rights violations, in order to analyze, discuss and draw a comprehensive strategy that does not rely solely on criminalization in combatting sexual and reproductive rights violations and protecting gender justice.
1 A special thanks goes to Sonia Corrêa, Associate Researcher of the Brazilian Interdisciplinary AIDS Association (ABIA) and co-chair of Sexuality Policy Watch who was unable to attend the meeting in person but who nonetheless contributed over Skype during one of the sessions.
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