IPPF recognizes and believes that all persons have the right not to be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and not to be subjected to medical or scientific treatment without free and informed consent and, therefore, commits itself to the following:1

12.1 All children* have the right to protection from all forms of exploitation and, in particular, sexual exploitation, child prostitution and all forms of sexual abuse, assault, and harassment,2 including coercion of a child to engage in any unlawful sexual activity, the exploitation or use of children in prostitution or other unlawful sexual practices and the exploitative use of children in pornographic performances and materials.3

12.2 No person should be subject to medical trials or experimentation related to sexuality or fertility regulation methods or techniques without their full, free and informed consent.

12.3 All women have the right to protection from traffic in women or exploitation of prostitution of them.4

12.4 All civilians – women and men – have the right to be protected from degrading treatment and violence in relation to their sexuality and reproduction, especially during times of armed conflict.

AND further commits itself to taking all steps to ensure the attainment of the following right:

12.5 All persons have the right to protection from rape, sexual assault, sexual abuse and sexual harassment. 

Notes
* A child, in International Law, means every human being below the age of 18 (Convention on the 25 Rights of the Child, Article 1).

1. International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 1966, Art. 7: “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. In particular, no one shall be subjected without his free consent to medical or scientific experimentation.” Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948, Art. 5: “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.”

2. See: Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989, Art.19: “States Parties shall take all appropriate legislative, administrative, social and educational measures to protect the child from all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, maltreatment or exploitation, including sexual abuse, while in the care of parent(s), legal guardian(s) or any other person who has the care of the child.”

3. Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989, Art. 34: “States Parties undertake to protect the child from all forms of sexual exploitation and sexual abuse. For these purposes, State Parties shall in particular take all appropriate national, bilateral and multilateral measures to prevent: (a) the inducement or coercion of a child to engage in any unlawful sexual activity; (b) the exploitative use of children in prostitution or other unlawful sexual practices; (c) the exploitative use of children in pornographic performances and materials.”

4. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, 1979, Art. 6: “States Parties shall take all appropriate measures, including legislation, to suppress all forms of traffic in women and exploitation of prostitution of women.”

The right can be used to address issues relating to:

• Protection of children from sexual exploitation, prostitution, trafficking, sexual abuse, coercion to engage in any unlawful sexual activity
• Protection of all persons from rape, sexual assault, sexual harassment, violence, including gender violence, medical trials or experimentation related to sexuality or fertility that are conducted without the full, free and informed consent of the persons involved

Facts & figures

• An estimated four million women and girls are bought and sold worldwide, either into marriage, prostitution or slavery.1
• In India, an estimated two in five sex workers are below age 18.2
• Research suggests that one in three girls are sexually abused before age 18 and one in six boys are sexually abused before age 16 in the United States.3
• Throughout the world, as many as 5,000 women and girls a year are murdered by members of their own families, many of them for the ‘dishonour’ of being raped, often by a member of their own family.1
• The International Tribunals on War Crimes in relation to Bosnia, and Burundi and Rwanda, recognized mass rape as a legitimate crime against humanity.4

1 UNFPA (2000) The State of World Population p29
2 UNFPA (2003) State of World Population p21
3 The National Center for Victims of Crime: Teen Victim Project http://www.ncvc.org/tvp/bulletins/childsexualabuse/
4 UNFPA (1999) Violence against Girls and Women: A Public Health Priority