Sexual and Reproductive Rights are a series of rights that relate to your sexuality and reproduction and therefore include your right to privacy, health, freedom of thought and expression, to live free of violence and to have education and information.

Sexual and reproductive rights: why and what for

This set of rights is also part of human rights and is closely related to health. According to the WHO, sexual and reproductive rights imply that everyone (without any kind of discrimination) can achieve the highest level of health in relation to sexuality .

Exercising these rights helps you to take responsibility for your life and your actions, as long as you recognize that just as you have the right to live your sexuality in a healthy and responsible way, you also have duties and responsibilities towards others.

What is sexuality?

When we talk about sexuality, we refer to the capacity that every person has to feel pleasure (both with his body and with his mind) and to involve the physical, sentimental and emotional realm . This means that sexuality is closely linked to your personality, your way of being, thinking, feeling, understanding life, acting and relating to other people and to yourself.

Sexual rights

These are some of the sexual rights:

  • To decide whether or not to be sexually active or engaged ; to decide how, when and with whom to have affective and sexual relations within the framework of mutual respect and consent.
  • Deciding whether or not to have a partner; consenting to marriage .
  • To be able to express our emotions and sexuality .
  • Seek a pleasant, safe and satisfying sex life .
  • To enjoy our body , to receive respect for its integrity and not to be subjected to any kind of physical, psychological or sexual violence.
  • Right to sexual privacy and decide what we want to do with our body, without harming ourselves or affecting the sexual rights of others.
  • Not to be discriminated against because of our sex , gender, sexual orientation or any other cause.
  • To be able to access quality health services in which privacy and confidentiality are guaranteed These services should include counselling on biological, psychological and social aspects of sexuality.
  • To be able to seek, receive and impart information in relation to sexuality.
  • Receiving sex education .

Reproductive rights

Understand your freedom and autonomy to decide responsibly if you want to have children or not, how many, at what time and with whom.

These are some of the main reproductive rights:

  • Decide whether or not to have children , when, their number and the time between them.
  • Not to be discriminated against or receive unequal treatment on the grounds of pregnancy or motherhood (at school, work, within the family, etc.). Pregnant adolescents have the right to continue attending the school where they were studying before the pregnancy.
  • Access to health and medical care services that guarantee safe motherhood, free from risk during management, childbirth and breastfeeding, and that ensure the well-being of mother and child. To receive timely and quality care when a woman’s life is in danger due to pregnancy.
  • To receive information and education to guarantee reproductive autonomy and family planning, guaranteeing confidentiality and privacy, especially for adolescents.
  • Access to safe, acceptable and effective methods of contraception .
  • To enjoy the highest possible level of reproductive health , free of disease and disability due to causes such as: deficient care, malnutrition, exposure to chemical elements or forms of violence.
  • Access to fertilization methods or procedures in case you need help to achieve the desired pregnancy.
  • To be protected from forced pregnancy , sterilization or abortion by imposition, obligation, pressure or coercion; or against any degrading treatment and violence in relation to reproduction.

In conclusion

Sexual and reproductive rights are part of human rights, which means that everyone, regardless of age, sex, origin or social status, has the right to attain and maintain a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being throughout life.