11 Mar ESC statement on the conflict in Ukraine
The European Society of Contraception and Reproductive Health Position Paper on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights 2019 (The Madrid Declaration) states that:
Sexual and reproductive rights constitute fundamental human rights. Human rights of particular relevance are the rights to health, to life, to freedom from torture and other ill-treatment, to privacy and to equality and non-discrimination.
The war waged on Ukraine, underlines once again the human cost of war, with the displacement of people, the majority of whom are women and children, the most vulnerable in society.
The scenes of maimed and injured people together with the bombing of hospitals – most notably maternity and children’s hospitals and the killing of health care workers just doing their job, should be a cause for concern to all of us.
Displacement of a nation of people to camps increases vulnerability, where women and children are open to exploitation, trafficking and torture.
Many of those displaced are now located in Poland where the reproductive rights of women are sorely compromised –adding another level of human rights.
Together with the WHO, FIGO and other organisations, ESC condemns the bombing of health care facilities, the maiming of innocent people and their displacement.
Dr. Mary Short
ESC President
on behalf of the Executive Committee