In 2015, the world committed itself in the Sustainable Development Goals to ensuring universal access to sexual and reproductive health rights in the next 15 years. Yet throughout the world, on a routine basis, the rights of women and girls are violated. Legislators and policymakers often ignore the sexual and reproductive health rights of women and rarely approach these issues from a human rights perspective. What role can human rights law play in addressing these challenges, and ensure progress towards the fulfilment of the SDGs.

The OxHRH new documentary series Shaping the Future of Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights focuses on activist experiences in the field of sexual and reproductive health rights, their success stories, and advice for fellow activists across contexts. The series take a comparative perspective and closely examine how the strong moral and legal imperatives of human rights can be given detailed substance by grounding them in local context and making them effective in relation to individuals’ lived experiences.

The first episode in Shaping The Future-Strategies for Change explores different tactics for using human rights law to achieve sexual and reproductive health. In talking to lawyers and activists from Kenya to Mexico, from The Philippines to Poland, the episode explores the role of data, strategic alliances, budgets, courts, Parliament, international human rights forum and community mobilisation in fulfilling sexual and reproductive health rights for all.

The second episode, Of Abortion, can be found here, and the third episode, Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights at School can be found here, the fourth episode, Safe Childbirth can be found here and the final episode Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights at Work can be found here.