In this AO on the situation of persons deprived of their liberty, the Court establishes a specific section on "The need to adopt special measures to give effect to the rights of pregnant, postpartum and breastfeeding women or primary caregivers deprived of their freedom", and there it recognizes and defines obstetric violence.
The chapter on LGTBI rights focuses on the condemnation of violence motivated by sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and sexual characteristics, urges States to take measures and establishes lines of action for OAS bodies.
The XV RWC held its meeting under the theme "Towards caring societies", and adopted the Buenos Aires Commitment, a robust and comprehensive document that represents a roadmap for the States. Under this framework, commitments and agreements were made regarding SRHR, the rights of persons with disabilities, among others.
The Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of El Salvador ruled that the Constitution prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender identity and gave the legislature one year to develop a mechanism by which anyone can change their name to be compatible with their gender identity.
The Supreme Court invalidated a provision of the Civil Code of Puebla that required a person to be 18 years old in order to request a new birth certificate, for violating the right to gender identity of trans children and adolescents.
In this decision the Court recognizes the category of "non-binarie" for the registration of persons.
On March 26, 2021, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights issued a judgment declaring that the State of Honduras was responsible for the violation of the right to life and personal integrity (Articles 4 and 5 of the American Convention), to the detriment of Vicky Hernández, a transgender woman, sex worker and defender of the rights of transgender women. The responsibility of the State was established since there are several indications of the participation of State agents in the events that led to her death, which occurred in San Pedro Sula on June 28, 2009. Upon finding that the violence against Vicky Hernandez was due to her gender expression or identity, the Court concluded that the State was responsible for violating the rights to recognition as a person before the law, to personal liberty, to privacy, to freedom of expression, and to a name (Articles 3, 7, 11, 13, and 18 of the American Convention), and that it failed to comply with the obligation established in Article 7.a of the Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment and Eradication of Violence against Women to the detriment of Vicky Hernandez.
The chapter on LGTBI rights focuses on the condemnation of violence motivated by sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and sexual characteristics, urges States to take measures and establishes lines of action for OAS bodies.
This law amends several legal bodies to regulate, on equal terms, marriage between persons of the same sex. It includes the concepts of sexual orientation and gender identity.
In this thematic report, the IACHR addresses, among other issues, the right to recognition of gender identity, as well as the human rights violations trans and gender-diverse persons suffer, among other reasons, as a result of the failure to guarantee and protect this right.
On March 12, 2020, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights issued a sentence in which it declared the Republic of Peru internationally responsible for the violation of the rights to personal liberty, to personal integrity, to privacy, to freedom from torture, to judicial guarantees and to judicial protection of Azul Rojas Marín, in relation to the obligations to respect and guarantee said rights without discrimination and to adopt provisions of domestic law. The Court also declared the State responsible for the violation of the right to humane treatment of Azul Rojas Marín's mother, Mrs. Juan Rosa Tanta Marín.
The chapter on LGTBI rights focuses on the condemnation of violence motivated by sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and sexual characteristics, it also urges States to take measures and establishes lines of action for OAS bodies.
In this sentence the Federal Supreme Court states that people have the subjective right to change the name and gender classification in the birth certificate, without the need for surgical procedure reassignment surgery. It establishes this decision on the Principles of human dignity, personality, privacy, "isonomy", health and happiness.
In this GC the Committee refers to discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
In this GC the Committee refers to discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
The chapter on LGTBI rights focuses on the condemnation of violence motivated by sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and sexual characteristics; and urges States to take measures and establishes lines of action for OAS bodies.
The Constitution of the Republic recognizes sexual orientation and gender identity.
In this document, the States of the region decide to reaffirm "the Montevideo Consensus on Population and Development as the basis for a comprehensive and strategic roadmap for national and regional action on population and development, which provides specific orientations and guidelines for the region in this area beyond 2014".
In this Resolution, the OAS condemns discrimination and acts of violence based on sexual orientation and gender identity or expression. In addition, one of its objectives is to expand, improve and ensure access to health services for persons with disabilities, including sexual and reproductive health services,
The purpose of this Law is to ensure the right of trans persons to a life free of discrimination and stigmatization, for which it establishes mechanisms, measures and comprehensive policies for prevention, care, protection, advocacy and redress. It recognizes the right of every person to the free development of his or her personality in accordance with his or her gender identity and establishes that every trans person has the right to comprehensive care in order to adapt his or her body to his or her gender identity.
Recognizes and protects the right to gender identity.
In this decision, the Mexican Supreme Court granted the amparo to CLM and ordered the Civil Registry to process her request, in order to allow her to go through a formal and administrative procedure to obtain the adjustment of her gender identity. The Court noted that gender identity is a constitutive and constituent element of a person's identity.
The Court emphasized that gender identity is a constitutive and constituent element of the identity of persons, and therefore its recognition by the State is of vital importance to guarantee the full enjoyment of the human rights of transgender persons. Thus, the Court established that, although the right to recognition of gender identity is not explicitly enshrined in the American Convention on Human Rights, it is necessarily derived from a harmonious interpretation of the articles that guarantee the human rights of transgender persons.harmonious interpretation of the articles that guarantee the recognition of juridical personality, the free development of personality, the right to privacy and the right to a name.
In this ruling, the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice admitted an action brought by several citizens who, based on the right to the free development of their personality provided for in Article 20 of the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, request the recognition of their rights to change their names and gender.
In this ruling the Court establishes the constitutionality of Law 807, although it declares as unconstitutional the paragraph II of Article 11 in its sentence ""...will allow the person to exercise all fundamental, political, labor, civil, economic and social rights..."".
The Montevideo Strategy comprises 74 measures for the ten axes for implementation that are agreed upon at the regional level by the governments of Latin America and the Caribbean, and which are subsequently adapted to the priorities and needs of the countries and inserted into the sustainable development plans, although they are applicable at different levels (national, subnational, local, regional and international). In this strategic document, the States Parties agree to define that ""The Regional Gender Agenda identifies agreements for gender equality and women's autonomy in relation to multiple issues that can be grouped into critical dimensions linked to human rights, and which, therefore, recognize women as subjects of rights and the States as guarantors of these rights, while ratifying their universal, indivisible, inalienable and interdependent nature: ii) Sexual and reproductive rights in relation to: information and comprehensive sexual education; safe and quality abortion services, in cases where abortion is legal or decriminalized in national legislation; contraception; integrated social health services; maternal mortality; sexual orientation and gender identity; universal and accessible services; disability and old age; eradication of pregnancy in girls, prevention of pregnancy and teenage motherhood; sexually transmitted infections and HIV/AIDS; health emergencies; healthy motherhood; technological development; different types of families.
In this GC, the Committee elaborates on the scope of the Convention regarding the rights of adolescents, establishes standards for access to services and consent, and urges States to guarantee access to safe abortion and post-abortion care, and to decriminalize the practice.
The Law establishes the procedure for the change of name and sex data of transsexual and transgender persons, allowing them to exercise their right to gender identity.
This law recognizes gender identity and regulates the change of the field "sex" to "gender" in the Identity Card.
This ruling of the Constitutional Court represents a departure from previous constitutional doctrine in relation to the right to gender identity. The departure from this jurisprudential doctrine will allow judicial bodies to protect the right to identity and legal personality of transsexual persons, since there will be no impediment, either legal or jurisprudential, to guarantee these rights.
The Montevideo Consensus is a milestone in the sexual and reproductive rights agenda at the regional and global level because it establishes the first definition of sexual and reproductive rights agreed upon at the intergovernmental level, and indicates a concrete regional agenda, a true roadmap with clear lines of action in addition to 130 points that recognize the need to establish accountability and follow-up mechanisms, as well as definitions based on the international human rights obligations of States.
This law, which creates the statute of youth citizenship, states that there shall be no discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity, in addition to establishing that young people have the right to the full enjoyment of their sexual and reproductive health, for which reason the State shall create prevention, training and information policies with a differential and responsible approach.
In this Resolution the OAS General Assembly condemns acts of violence and related human rights violations perpetrated against individuals because of their sexual orientation and gender identity.
Law 18.620 establishes the right of every person to the free development of his or her personality in accordance with his or her own gender identity. At the same time, it enables the change of name and gender in the identification documents without the performance of surgeries, recognizing the right to be identified in a way that recognizes the gender identity.
In this Resolution the OAS General Assembly expresses concern about acts of violence and related human rights violations committed against individuals because of their sexual orientation and gender identity.
Recognizes sexual and reproductive rights and recognizes and protects the right to gender identity.
The constitution recognizes gender identity and sexual orientation as protected categories.
The Timeline of Legal Milestones on Sexual and Reproductive Rights in Latin America is a virtual tool that provides a chronological and organized overview of the normative development related to the enforcement of sexual and reproductive rights in the Latin American and Caribbean region at the international, regional, and national levels. This is achieved through the identification of legal milestones that have taken place from 1994, when the V World Conference on Population and Development introduced the first agreed definition of reproductive rights, to the present day. This timeline is a dynamic tool that we aim to keep updating as new legal frameworks emerge.
The timeline was created in August 2022, with the upcoming 10th anniversary of the Montevideo Consensus in mind. This consensus, which was reached at the First Regional Conference on Population and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean in 2013, is a significant milestone in the sexual and reproductive rights agenda at the regional and global level because it established the first definition of sexual and reproductive rights agreed upon at the intergovernmental level, and set out a concrete regional agenda with more than 130 clear guidelines for action. The consensus also recognized the need to establish accountability and monitoring mechanisms, and to base definitions on the international obligations of human rights states.
Progress in the recognition of sexual and reproductive rights has been reflected in various international agreements, treaties, protocols, declarations, and conventions, which compel states to implement public policies for effective attention to these rights. These regulations often engage in dialogue, reaffirm the validity of the objectives and goals set, support national legislative reforms and result in concrete plans and programs that allow for the effective exercise of rights. The timeline makes it possible to visualize how these international, regional, and national legal advances are interconnected. It also provides a repository of the full texts of the legal milestones included.
The initial design and creation phase of this Timeline took place between August 2022 and November of the same year, when the first Spanish version was released. In May 2023, we launched a new version of the Timeline, in which we included its English translation and added representative photographs, sourced from personal and public archives, institutions, and prominent photographers from the Region, illustrating the various legal milestones that make up this Timeline.
The authors of this work in Spanish were Edurne Cárdenas and Natalia Segura Diez, who were responsible for designing the methodology, as well as identifying, systematizing and categorizing the legal milestones that make up the content of this Timeline.
The authors were supported by the CLACAI’s Legal Network Coordination team (Agustina Ramón Michel and Dana Repka) and received the valuable review of Carmen Cecilia Martínez López (Centro de Derechos Reproductivos) and Mirta Moragas Mereles (Esar).
The programming and visualization design of the legal milestones were made possible thanks to the collaborative work of Sergio Arriscal and Alejandro Sanchez Menendez.
The search, selection, and curation of the photographs that were incorporated into the various legal milestones of the Timeline were overseen by a team of photographers and art curators, consisting of Anabella Museri, Julieta Escardó, and Andrea Weber.
The English translation of the Timeline and its methodological document was done by Angélica Sánchez.
The periodic update of the legal milestones of this line is now in the hands of Donatella Zalloco and Dana Repka.
To compile this information, a desk research was conducted using the official web pages of the aforementioned international organizations, as well as the resources listed in the Annex at the end of this document. In a second instance, national regulations were surveyed, using official bulletins and newspapers, as well as other resources available for the search of public information, through the use of key words in virtual search engines.
In each of the search engines, the keywords used were: "sexual rights", "reproductive rights", "reproduction", "contraception", "pregnancy", "obstetric", "abortion", "gender identity", and "childbirth".
The collected information was compiled in a database whose fields made it possible to classify and systematize the information that feeds the Timeline.
Firstly, it is important to note that this timeline focuses on “legal milestones”, which are identified as changes in the legal status of the rights that are the object of study, including the approval of treaties or laws, as well as significant jurisprudential advances. In this sense, the purpose of this timeline is to identify and display information related to normative advances, which is why public programs and policies were not included.
Regarding geographic delimitations, this project collected normative advances at the international, regional, subregional, and national levels, but information on state or provincial norms was not included.
To select relevant legal milestones, the definitions and thematic axes outlined in the following sections were considered.
The first definition of sexual and reproductive rights agreed upon by States is the one set forth in the Montevideo Consensus: "Considering that sexual rights and reproductive rights are embraced by human rights and that their exercise is essential for the enjoyment of other fundamental rights and for achieving the international development targets and poverty eradication". This agreement was adopted on the first meeting of the Regional Conference on Population and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean, held in Montevideo in August 2013, under the theme "Full integration of population dynamics into rights-based sustainable development with equality: key to the Cairo Programme of Action beyond 2014".
The definition of reproductive rights, meanwhile, was first agreed upon at the IV World Conference on Women, held in Beijing in 1995: "Reproductive Rights embrace certain human rights that are already recognized in national laws, international laws and international human rights documents and other consensus documents. These rights rest on the recognition of the basic rights of all couples and individuals to decide freely and responsibly the number, spacing and timing of their children and to have the information and means to do so, and the right to attain the highest standard of sexual and reproductive health".
This definition follows up on what was agreed the previous year at the Conference on Population and Development held in Cairo, where the States strongly agreed on the indissoluble link between population and development issues and human rights, and reproductive health as part of them. At this Conference, the States agreed on a common political definition of sexual and reproductive health, which is understood as the general state of physical, mental and social well-being in all aspects related to the reproductive system. This definition implies the capacity to enjoy a satisfying and safe sex life and to procreate, and the freedom to decide whether, when and how often to do so. Thus, the idea that reproductive health is essential for the enjoyment of other fundamental rights and for achieving international development and poverty elimination goals was settled. The States committed themselves to the implementation of legislation, policies, and plans to achieve this purpose.
The definitions, frameworks, and guidelines adopted in the aforementioned conferences and their subsequent review processes were cemented by the new major global consensus on a sustainable development agenda for 2030, adopted in September 2015.1
Human rights protection bodies have also contributed to the understanding of the elements and scope of sexual and reproductive rights. Thus, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ESCR) outlined the right to sexual and reproductive health in its General Comment 22 (2016). It established in Article 12 of the Covenant that "The right to sexual and reproductive health entails a set of freedoms and entitlements. The freedoms include the right to make free and responsible decisions and choices, free of violence, coercion, and discrimination, regarding matters concerning one’s body and sexual and reproductive health. The entitlements include unhindered access to a whole range of health facilities, goods, services and information, which ensure all people full enjoyment of the right to sexual and reproductive health [...]" (E/C.12/GC/22, Paragraph 5).
Moreover, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women has stated in its General Recommendation number 35, referring to gender-based violence against women, that: "[...] Violations of women’s sexual and reproductive health and rights, such as forced sterilization, forced abortion, forced pregnancy, criminalization of abortion, denial or delay of safe abortion and/or post-abortion care, forced continuation of pregnancy, and abuse and mistreatment of women and girls seeking sexual and reproductive health information, goods and services, are forms of gender-based violence that, depending on the circumstances, may amount to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment" (CEDAW/C/GC/35, Paragraph 18).
To outline the scope of this project, we have used the definition and contents outlined in the Montevideo Consensus on Population and Development (2013) and its Operational Guide (2015) as a guide, as it is one of the most comprehensive and forward-looking sources available.
The Montevideo Consensus, in addition to providing the first agreed definition of sexual and reproductive rights, as mentioned above, has a specific chapter on access to sexual and reproductive health, where sexual and reproductive rights are recognized as an integral part of human rights that contribute to the "full fulfillment of people and social justice" (MP 33), which places Latin America and the Caribbean in an avant-garde position in terms of recognition of rights (ECLAC, 2015). In addition, it constitutes a fundamental guide for the revision process of the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development, adopted in Cairo in 1994.
This chapter covers fourteen priority actions related to:
This highly comprehensive characterization also has a diversity, intergenerational, multicultural, and cross-cutting approach. Indeed, this chapter is related to other chapters of the Montevideo Consensus on Population and Development, including Chapter B on the rights, needs, responsibilities and requirements of girls, boys, adolescents and youth, Chapter F on migrants, Chapter H on indigenous peoples and Chapter I on Afro-descendant populations.
Within this broad conceptualization of sexual and reproductive rights is priority action 37, whereby States agree to "Guarantee universal access to good-quality sexual health and reproductive health services, bearing in mind the specific needs of men and women, adolescents and young people, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender persons, older persons and persons with disabilities, with special attention to vulnerable persons, persons living in rural and remote areas […]”
The described framework guided the selection of legal milestones at the international, regional and subregional levels, identifying decisions that constitute state commitments in the area of sexual and reproductive rights. In line with this approach, we reviewed agreements adopted at world conferences, such as the World Conference on Population and Development and the World Conference on Women, regional bodies, such as the Regional Conference on Women and the Regional Conference on Population and Development of Latin America and the Caribbean, and resolutions adopted at the General Assembly of the Organization of American States, and subregional decisions, such as those adopted at the MERCOSUR Common Market Council (Consejo del Mercado Común del MERCOSUR, or MERCOSUR Council).
Initially, reports by special rapporteurs, independent experts, and working groups were not included, as they are not direct sources of state commitments, despite their importance for examining, monitoring, advising, and reporting on human rights issues affecting vulnerable groups.
However, we made exceptions for two rapporteurships reports: the Report of the Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health (2011) and the Report of the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment (2013), because they address key issues that contribute to the normative development of sexual and reproductive rights. In the first case, the rapporteur examines the interaction between criminal laws and other legal restrictions related to sexual and reproductive health and the right to health. In the second, a number of commonly reported abusive practices in health care settings are addressed and the link between the prohibition of practices such as abortion and torture is exposed. Additionally, we included the First Hemispheric Report on the Implementation of the Convention of Belém do Pará of the Follow-up Mechanism of the Convention (MESECVI).
Furthermore, we identified significant documents from human rights protection bodies of both the regional system and the universal human rights protection systems, including recommendations and general observations of treaty bodies, individual case decisions regarding cases from the region issued by United Nations treaty bodies, case decisions of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and in-depth decisions and thematic reports of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.
At the national level, we used the conceptual framework provided by the Montevideo Consensus on Population and Development (2013) and its Operational Guide (2015) to guide the topics to be covered in the collection of information, including:
For length reasons, the methodological decision was made to prioritize these topics over others such as Comprehensive Sex Education and Sexual Orientation, which, although they are undoubtedly fundamental elements of sexual and reproductive rights, have their own normative development that exceeds the limits of this project.
The timeline is oriented vertically, which allows for international and regional milestones to be displayed in parallel on the left margin of the screen, while national milestones are shown on the right margin.
Each entry includes a description and thematic labels that engable the identification of the main topics addressed by the milestone.
In each section, the available buttons provide access to the relevant paragraphs, as well as to the repository where the full text of the source document is available.
2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (2015). United Nations General Assembly (A/RES/69/315).
ECLAC (2013) Montevideo Consensus on Population and Development. First meeting of the Regional Conference on Population and Development of Latin America and the Caribbean.
ECLAC (2015) Operational guide for implementation and follow-up of the Montevideo Consensus on Population and Development. Second Meeting of the Regional Conference on Population and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (2016) General Comment No. 22, on the right to sexual and reproductive health (article 12 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights) (E/C.12/GC/22).
Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (2017) General recommendation number 35 (CEDAW/C/GC/35).
Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (1995) Fourth World Conference on Women.
Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development (1994). Cairo International Conference on Population and Development.
See A/RES/69/315. Sustainable Development Goals 5.6: Ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights as agreed in accordance with the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development and the Beijing Platform for Action and the outcome documents of their review conferences.