The IPPF Sex Work Policy makes clear the position and commitments of the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) with regards to sex work. This is the first time IPPF has taken a position on sex work, and presents human rights-based values and principles which apply broadly to all contexts, without being prescriptive about approaches or actions. It aims to provide a framework to guide IPPF’s programming, service delivery and advocacy, and is based on sex workers’ lived experiences in all their diversity. It is rooted in positions taken by sex worker-led organizations and networks across the world, and in documents that IPPF has discussed and published in the last few years, particularly Sexual Rights: An IPPF declaration Member Associations (MAs) of IPPF are encouraged to use the policy as guidance to be integrated into their commitment to respect, protect and advance the rights of sex workers throughout their activities, advocacy and policies, as relevant to their strategic goals and national contexts. 

A comprehensive approach to sexual and reproductive health and rights is critical to ensuring sexual and reproductive well-being and bodily autonomy. The full continuum of care must be accessible across a life cycle. Sexual and reproductive health includes not only prevention and treatment of disease, but promotion of healthy and satisfying sexuality and reproduction. This means going beyond contraception, abortion, and treatment of sexually transmitted infections including HIV, to inclusion of sexual health, assisted reproductive care, and recognition of the range of gender expression. These Client-Centred Clinical Guidelines equip healthcare staff with recommendations for clinical management, including treatment and prevention, based on sound scientific evidence. Download the guidelines below in English, French, Arabic and Spanish.

The HPV Vaccine - Fact or Fiction?Test your knowledge on the HPV vaccineOnly women can get HPV. The HPV vaccine can help prevent cervical cancer. Getting the HPV vaccine is more effective in later adult life.I had the HPV vaccine, so I don’t need to get the pap/smear test, AKA cervical cancer screenings. There are many types of HPV vaccines which protect you against different HPV types. The HPV vaccine is safe.The HPV vaccine causes adolescents to become sexually active sooner than if they had not had the HPV vaccine.You will need to have an HPV booster later in life.The HPV vaccine protects against other types of sexually transmitted infections (STIs)

For 70 years IPPF has championed and delivered quality services, comprehensive information and advocated for just laws so that more people in more places under more circumstances may realize their sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). Started with an act of international solidarity between activists from just a handful of countries, IPPF has since grown into a broad and diverse community of services providers and advocates that stretches around the Earth. Our very existence manifests just how the demand for dignity in sexual and reproductive health and rights is universal to people the world over. But that world is changing rapidly. Tough challenges must be confronted – the toxic legacies of longstanding racism, sexism and homophobia, for example; the deepening impacts of the climate crisis, violence, and inequalities; the escalating consequences of new technologies, population displacements, and habitat destruction. Wherever such dynamics impact people’s lives, IPPF knows enjoyment of SRHR is impacted too. Whenever people confront humanitarian crises, we know their SRHR are thrust into crisis too. Whoever is subject to prejudice, bigotry, or exclusion, has their access to SRHR also eroded. We know that the worst consequences of those injustices are borne by young people in the poorest of communities, in the toughest of places, facing the fewest opportunities. To be impactful in a world of change, IPPF must change too. That is what Strategy 2028 is all about: changing IPPF so it is well equipped to uphold SRHR for those who are left out, locked out or left behind. Our Strategy 2028 sets out a familiar path but in a new direction over far tougher terrain to that clear destination. We will walk that path shoulder to shoulder with young people, and with individuals and communities bearing the full brunt of stigma and prejudice. At each step, we will defend, protect, and celebrate safety, pleasure and wellbeing in sex and reproduction. At every turn, we will denounce powers and authorities who, through policy, practice, and law, undermine dignity and human rights in those intimate realms. And, as IPPF, we will be accountable for who we are, what we do and how we do it. That is our Strategy 2028. It is with immense pride that the IPPF Board of Trustees shares this strategic itinerary with you. We very much hope you will travel this road with us – in your own realities, communities, and contexts. Let’s do that together. Let’s come together, for sexual and reproductive dignity for all - for each and every one of us, to the exclusion of none of us, in the interests of all of us. Kate Gilmore, Chair, BoT, IPPF

Communicating about sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) is extremely sensitive, challenging and can put survivors at risk. IPPF abides by the ‘do no harm’ principle, and our top priorities when communicating SGBV internally, with donors and with the wider public are to protect the safety and dignity of survivors. Poor practice around SGBV storytelling and inappropriate messaging, particularly during a humanitarian response, can jeopardize IPPF and the MA’s trusted position in the community, reinforce harmful stereotypes and limit our ability to help survivors. Yet, it’s important that IPPF share powerful survivor stories when appropriate and in a safe and ethical way. Each testimony adds to a wider campaign to end SGBV. We must engage with the public to stop SGBV and contribute to a public discourse that is supportive of survivors by accurately and appropriately explaining what it is and how to help end or address it. Thus, the better IPPF and its MAs can communicate with the public about SGBV in line with core principles, the more effective our work will be. Download our SGBV Communications Guidance Note to learn more. 

For 70 years IPPF has championed and delivered quality services, comprehensive information and advocated for just laws so that more people in more places under more circumstances may realize their sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). Started with an act of international solidarity between activists from just a handful of countries, IPPF has since grown into a broad and diverse community of services providers and advocates that stretches around the Earth. Our very existence manifests just how the demand for dignity in sexual and reproductive health and rights is universal to people the world over. But that world is changing rapidly. Tough challenges must be confronted – the toxic legacies of longstanding racism, sexism and homophobia, for example; the deepening impacts of the climate crisis, violence, and inequalities; the escalating consequences of new technologies, population displacements, and habitat destruction. Wherever such dynamics impact people’s lives, IPPF knows enjoyment of SRHR is impacted too. Whenever people confront humanitarian crises, we know their SRHR are thrust into crisis too. Whoever is subject to prejudice, bigotry, or exclusion, has their access to SRHR also eroded. We know that the worst consequences of those injustices are borne by young people in the poorest of communities, in the toughest of places, facing the fewest opportunities. To be impactful in a world of change, IPPF must change too. That is what Strategy 2028 is all about: changing IPPF so it is well equipped to uphold SRHR for those who are left out, locked out or left behind. Our Strategy 2028 sets out a familiar path but in a new direction over far tougher terrain to that clear destination. We will walk that path shoulder to shoulder with young people, and with individuals and communities bearing the full brunt of stigma and prejudice. At each step, we will defend, protect, and celebrate safety, pleasure and wellbeing in sex and reproduction. At every turn, we will denounce powers and authorities who, through policy, practice, and law, undermine dignity and human rights in those intimate realms. And, as IPPF, we will be accountable for who we are, what we do and how we do it. That is our Strategy 2028. It is with immense pride that the IPPF Board of Trustees shares this strategic itinerary with you. We very much hope you will travel this road with us – in your own realities, communities, and contexts. Let’s do that together. Let’s come together, for sexual and reproductive dignity for all - for each and every one of us, to the exclusion of none of us, in the interests of all of us. Kate Gilmore, Chair, BoT, IPPF