Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you for the honour of speaking to the committee.
I'm a researcher and consultant on political narratives and women's affairs. I have conducted national studies in my country about sexual harassment and international statements for the human rights systems, and I have worked at the local and national level as a woman rights defender for 10 years.
I represent the National Women's Civic Association, an organization that has almost 50 years of working for an integral development of women to promote their public participation in Mexico and internationally, and holds consultative status in the United Nations.
I will be speaking about three matters. First, I will talk about an analysis and evaluation of the framing at the edges of sexual health and reproductive rights. Second, I want to talk about what we are not talking about that was recently discovered about sexual violence and sexual and reproductive rights. Finally, I will provide some recommendations for this study based in our local and international experience.
The first point is the evolution of the framing at the edges of sexual and health reproductive rights. The sexual and health reproductive rights are based on the idea that sexuality is a fundamental aspect of human development. The framing supporting sexual health and reproductive rights relies on three keywords: access, decision and enjoyment. These three aspects are oriented towards gaining control, autonomy and a life without violence. But which are the indicators that we usually listen to in the local application of policies, programs and international statements?
First, we have indicators that focus on specific behaviours. Some examples include the use of a condom or contraception, access to abortion, and data about sexual life. This data is necessary but it has concerning limitations. As much as we need clarity in the policies and programs, we know that this conduct does not happen in isolation. Sexual health and reproductive rights place most of the measures in the genital aspect of sex. However, reality shows us that sexuality is much more than the use of genitals and includes aspects like affectivity, desire of transcendence, bonding and past experiences of trauma and abuse.
Furthermore, all this conduct happens in different stages of life, so we must not isolate conduct as if it doesn't matter when, how or why this conduct happens. In my experience in working with children and teenagers to prevent teenage pregnancy and listening to the framing of different countries and developing public policies, this focus placed solely in the sexual act overlooks the cultural expectations, emotional pressures and lack of education in recognizing healthy relationships, among other factors that hinder individuals' capacity to make choices that have a long-term effect on their well-being. For instance, neither the use of a condom nor the access to contraception prevents a woman from entering into a life of violence. This kind of autonomy that it puts forwards looks like indifference. It implies the message that we don't care who you are or what's happening to you, as long as you use a condom.
Second, about the framing, sexual health and reproductive rights focus on the internal factors: desire, consent, autonomy and identity. Without diminishing their importance, we must acknowledge that this is just at the surface. All of these factors must be seen through the glasses of cultural structures and dynamics of power, including customs, beliefs and stereotypes. We talk about control, autonomy and empowerment on a superficial level, without deepening our understanding of internal and external constraints to freedom. For example, a woman can give consent to her sexual exploitation in spite of doing that to her own detriment.
There is an extensive need for talking in the circle of reproductive rights about affectivity, healthy relationships and peaceful resolution of conflict. This is part of sexuality too, and these are the aspects of sexuality that help people make good decisions about sexuality.
Lastly, a focus on the result rather than the human process makes us not see which other unmet needs we need to face. For instance, there are the unmet needs of contraception, but what is the real need that is being overlooked? For example, if we dive into social media, we find thousands of testimonies from women using contraception who are disappointed. They are scared of how it changes their bodies and overall well-being, and they remain uneducated about the way their bodies work, as the study shows.
These reflections lead to the second point of this presentation.
What are we not talking about? We're not talking about trauma and fragmentation. Based on the history of survivors of sexual violence and sexual exploitation, we know that many women are born into already vulnerable conditions that can lead to a series of biased choices, which, in turn, ultimately lead to their sexual exploitation. Society fragments women. That is, it produces a separation between their bodies and minds, and then creates industries that exploit their brokenness. We have to include that in the sexual reproduction rights studies.
In summary, women don't have all the knowledge or tools. They are experiencing a lot of fragmentation, disassociation and trauma throughout their lives. We are saying they have sexual reproduction rights because they have a condom in their pocket. We need to face the fragmentation associated with their trauma and the circle of implication this generates, and link that to their vulnerability.
Do I have a little more time?