A lawyer’s perspective on reproductive rights in South America

My name is Valentina Cáceres, and I am a lawyer from Chile. Since graduating in 2020, I have been deepening my interest in gender studies and women's rights, and how these important fields relate to my hopes of pursuing an international career.

Since the start of the pandemic, several gender related issues have become more visible around the globe. As a woman of reproductive age passionate about the idea of bodily autonomy for myself and others, I decided to investigate these issues, having never witnessed a discussion about it in law school beyond the typical debate about the legalisation of abortion in Chile. Because of this, and because of my desire to become more self-aware about something that affects me directly, I feel the need to learn more so that I can confidently discuss this issue with other women and awaken an interest in it in those who have never questioned it. I believe that in recent years, activists have made important strides in the fight towards bodily autonomy, yet there is still much work to be done towards providing greater accessibility to abortion, contraceptives, and improved and more comprehensive sexual education.

But what are reproductive and sexual rights? The definition provided by Amnesty International encapsulates many of the Latin American issues I discuss here. Amnesty International defines these rights as being able to make your own decisions about your body, obtain accurate information about these issues, access sexual and reproductive health services (including contraception), choose when and with whom to marry, and decide if and how many children you want to have.

In Latin America, the discussion on reproductive and sexual rights began when countries saw the need to control birth rates and combat sexually transmitted diseases in the 1970s. Today, women themselves have taken the control and the public stage to demand autonomy over their bodies, questioning the political systems, and civil and criminal laws which have diminished their ability to achieve the right to make decisions about their own bodies.

Late in 2020, Argentina legalized abortion until the 14th week of pregnancy, a welcome but too narrow progress that led the feminist movement to adopt a platform that advocates comprehensive sexual and reproductive rights.

Part of their slogan was "Sex education to decide." The statement shows how quality sex education is central to achieving bodily autonomy. With information more accessible than ever through the internet, quality sex education is not only as important as ever, but more achievable than ever.

Government investment in social and educational programmes to provide quality sex education to girls could help to prevent unwanted pregnancies (Latin America has the second highest adolescent pregnancy rates in the world) and reduce the spread of sexually transmitted diseases (HIV in the region has increased by 21% in the last decade).

What has been done so far is insufficient. In Chile, for example, there is still no law on sex education and a study completed jointly by Pan American Health Organization and World Health Organization (‘Prevención con educación’) assessed the country as 'deficient' - the worst in the region - in the handling of these issues.

Likewise, another movement manifesto “Contraceptives to avoid abortions” is directly related to a need that thousands of Latinas have, a need exacerbated by the pandemic due to the scarcity of contraceptives methods.

Over the 2020-2021 period, an estimated 74% of women in Chile will find it difficult to access contraceptive methods, in Venezuela the value of a packet of condoms is three times the price of a minimum wage, and in Argentina, it is estimated that 35% of women may discontinue the use of modern contraceptives due to difficulties in obtaining them from public health services. The scenario is surely concerning.

As global agents of change with access to platforms for discussion and dissemination, we need to demand public policies and practices that ensure reproductive and sexual human rights in our countries. South America is making progress, but there is still a long way to go.

For my part, I thank the feminist movement - organizations such as 'La rebelión del cuerpo' (Chile) - and the entire network of young Latinas who have raised their voices and put social pressure to be able to conquer rights that our grandmothers would not have dared to dream of, since, in many cases, this could drastically improve - and even save - the life of one of us.

Valentina Cáceres is a Chilean lawyer working on reproductive rights in South America.