Everyone has the right to make their own choices about their bodies. Yet millions of people are denied their right to say no to sex – or yes to the choice of a marriage partner or to the right time to have a child – because of their race, sex, sexual orientation, age or ability.
“When women and girls can make the most fundamental choices about their bodies, they not only gain in terms of autonomy, but also through advances in health and education, income and safety,” UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Natalia Kanem has said. “These add up to a world of greater justice and human well-being, which benefits us all.”
As we work towards a world in which everyone can claim their right to autonomy and self-determination, here are five things you should know about consent.
1. Consent is inseparable from human rights.
Bodily autonomy – the ability for people to make their own choices about their bodies, including on issues relating to health care, contraception and whether to have sex – is not only a human right, but the foundation upon which other human rights are built. It is included in international rights agreements including the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. Intertwined with bodily autonomy is the right to bodily integrity, meaning people can live free from physical acts to which they do not consent.
Yet sadly, only 55 per cent of all women in the world today have bodily autonomy, according to UNFPA’s 2021 State of the World Population Report. The report, titled My Body is My Own, examines data on women’s decision-making power and laws that support sexual and reproductive health and rights, and also highlights the legal, economic and social barriers to bodily autonomy and integrity. For instance, 20 countries or territories have “marry your rapist” laws that allow perpetrators to escape punishment if they marry their victims. But some of the biggest barriers to bodily autonomy involve stereotypes, assumptions, misconceptions and myths about autonomy and the rights of women and girls. It’s time for some myth busting.
2. Denial of consent increases the risk of sexually transmitted infections.
Sexually transmitted infections have a profound impact on sexual and reproductive health around the world. More than 1 million such infections are acquired every day worldwide – the majority of which are asymptomatic, according to the World Health Organization. Each year there are an estimated 374 million new infections, adding to the millions that already exist. Sexually transmitted infections have a direct impact on sexual and reproductive health through stigma, infertility, cancers, pregnancy complications, and even death.
“A sexual act will only last a few minutes, but STIs might last a lifetime,” says Bidia Deperthes, UNFPA’s HIV Prevention Advisor. “Condoms are the only triple protection method to simultaneously prevent sexually transmitted infections, HIV and unintended pregnancies.”
Good sexual and reproductive health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being. To maintain it, people need access to accurate information and the safe, effective, affordable contraception method of their choice. They must be informed and empowered to protect themselves from sexually transmitted infections. If they decide to have children, women must have access to skilled health care providers and services that can help them have a fit pregnancy, safe birth and healthy baby.
Boys and men are essential partners in all of this. “Boys and men need information and the skills to navigate healthy sexual lives and to develop gender-equitable attitudes and a commitment to consent and respect,” Dr. Kanem has said. “Timely, age-appropriate comprehensive sexuality education helps young people develop these skills.”
3. Consent is about more than just sex.
The power of people to control their own bodies is linked to how much control they have in other spheres of their lives.
Many people, especially women and girls, suffer losses to bodily autonomy linked to a lack of agency in making their own life decisions, according to My Body is My Own. These losses manifest in many ways, including forced and child marriage, terrible bargains in which unwanted sex is exchanged for a home and food, and female genital mutilation, a harmful practice that involves altering or injuring the female genitalia for non-medical reasons. These losses also manifest when people of diverse sexual orientations and gender identities fear being assaulted for simply walking down the street, and when people with disabilities are deprived of self-determination, freedom from violence and a safe and satisfying sexual life.
There are many forces that prevent women and girls from having bodily autonomy, but a root cause is gender discrimination. When there are gender-discriminatory social norms, the bodies of women and girls can be subject to choices made by others – from intimate partners to legislatures. These discriminatory norms become even more harmful when compounded with other forms of discrimination involving race, sexual orientation, age or disability.
Despite constitutional guarantees of gender equality in many countries, on average, women enjoy just 75 per cent of the legal rights of men worldwide. True progress largely depends on uprooting gender inequality and all forms of discrimination – and transforming the social and economic structures that maintain them.
4. Consent is crucial for people with disabilities, who are at greater risk of sexual violence.
Young people with disabilities, especially girls, are far more vulnerable to violence than their peers without disabilities. Tragically, children with disabilities are nearly three times more likely to be subjected to sexual violence than children without disabilities, with girls at the greatest risk, according to a 2018 global study by UNFPA.
The numbers are alarming. In a study by the African Child Policy Forum on violence against children with disabilities, nearly every young person interviewed had been sexually abused at least once – and most more than once. Another study conducted in Australia found that as many as 62 per cent of women with disabilities under the age of 50 had experienced violence since the age of 15, and women with disabilities had experienced sexual violence at three times the rate of those without disabilities. Children who are deaf, blind, autistic, or living with psychosocial or intellectual disabilities are most vulnerable to violence; studies have found that they are five times more likely to be subjected to abuse than others.
UNFPA’s global study on ending gender-based violence and realizing sexual and reproductive health and rights for young people with disabilities seeks to end the invisibility of these young people, especially women and girls, by involving them in discussions of the issues as well as the solutions. As Dr. Kanem has said, “This is how we ensure that no one is left behind.”
5. Consent has a direct impact on physical and psychological well-being.
It’s a stunning figure: Worldwide, an estimated one in three women will experience physical or sexual abuse in her lifetime. Gender-based violence is one of the most prevalent human rights violations in the world, undermining the health, dignity, security and autonomy of its victims.
When a woman is subjected to gender-based violence, there are short and long-term consequences for her physical, mental and sexual and reproductive health. Injuries, unintended pregnancies, sexually transmitted infections, as well as anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and self-harm are among the impacts survivors may face. The impunity that is so often enjoyed by the perpetrators – and the fear generated by their actions – takes a global toll on women and girls, stunting their contributions to international development, peace and progress.
UNFPA works to address gender-based violence in more than 150 countries and territories across the globe, in partnership with women’s and youth organizations and networks, civil society organizations, governments, academic and research institutes, and others. “Violence against women and girls happens everywhere. It prevails in homes, schools, businesses, parks, public transport, sport arenas and, increasingly, online. It escalates in the context of climate change and in times of war,” Dr. Kanem has said. “Yet violence against women and girls is completely preventable. We can stop this crisis by acting in solidarity with the growing numbers of people who are standing up and saying, enough!”
