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Haz click aquí para leer este posicionamiento en español. Clique aqui para ler essa posição em português.   Gestos, IPPF Collaborative Partner in Brazil, expresses its deep indignation at the urgent approval of Bill 1904/2024, which equates legal abortion and homicide if performed after 22 weeks of gestation. For such a bill to pass to the plenary for a vote, without being analysed by the Commissions of the Chamber of Deputies, is a direct attack on the rights of all women, girls and people who have abortions in Brazil.   The right to abortion is permitted in Brazil in three cases: risk to the life of the pregnant woman, pregnancy resulting from rape and anencephalic fetuses. This bill, which has the support of the Chamber President, Arthur Lira, represents another serious violation of rights, increasing the conditions of suffering and impotence. It is unjust, ineffective and will cause further damage to the health (including mental) of women, girls and pregnant people.  In Brazil, about 60% of rape cases occur against girls up to the age of 14. According to the Unified Health System (SUS), in 2022 there were more than 17,000 pregnancies of girls up to 14 years old, which represents an average of 39 girls giving birth every day. Data indicates that girls take longer to realise the violence they have suffered, most often committed by male family members, and do not immediately identify the pregnancy.   Brazil is already considered a country that has failed to guarantee the right to legal abortion. The last Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of Brazil conducted by the UN Human Rights Committee in September 2023 expressed serious concern about the violation of access to legal abortion in the country. Several recommendations made to the country call for the repeal of laws that criminalise people in need of legal abortion and the health professionals who assist them.  Civil society organisations, research institutes and the World Health Organisation itself have warned about the seriousness of the reversals in reproductive rights. In 2019, five years ago, Gestos launched the campaign "Legal abortion: don't judge, support", which highlighted the urgent need to offer support and solidarity to people who need abortions in the cases provided for by law.     There is no shortage of evidence that abortion is a public health issue and that it must be discussed considering the multiple structural inequalities faced by women, girls and people who have abortions. That is why we reject those representatives who, in the National Congress and/or in the different executive bodies, represent fundamentalism, sexism, misogyny and irresponsibility towards the people they are supposed to protect in their public functions.  For this reason, Gestos joins the different demonstrations and activities of feminist organisations, social movements and civil society: we will not stop until Bill 1904/2024 is stopped in Congress.        Gestos is a Collaborative Partner of IPPF in Brazil. Since1993 they have effectively contributed to guaranteeing the human rights of people living with HIV and AIDS. They also help to form new civil society organizations, such as the National Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS (RNPVHA - 1995), the Positive Work Group - GTP+ (2000), the Group of Positive Actions (2003), the Group of Support to HIV Positive People (GASP) 2003, Acts of Citizenship (2006). From 2007 to 2011, Gestos created and coordinated the UNGASS-AIDS Forum on Sexual and Reproductive Health, where it oversaw the implementation of agreements signed at the UN in sixteen developing countries. The UNGASS-AIDS Forum has established itself as a space for political debate on issues related to HIV and AIDS and sexual and reproductive health and rights. They are also a consultative NGO at the UN, with ECOSOC status since 2017.     

IPPF ACRO participates in the C20 Conception Meeting in Brazil. Kamilah Morain, Director of Member Association Support and Development at ACRO, participated in the inaugural meeting of the C20 Engagement Group in Recife, Brazil. This group plans and proposes policies for the upcoming G20 forum, which will take place in November 2024, focusing on issues such as health and education. As the co-facilitator of the Women's Rights and Gender Equality working group, she will, on behalf of IPPF ACRO, seek to ensure that the voices of women and girls are heard by the G20 leaders. This is crucial because the G20 represents a large portion of the global economy and trade.   Profamilia ready to host the Seventh International Conference on Family Planning in November 2025. For the first time in history, the International Conference on Family Planning (ICFP) will be held in Latin America, and Profamilia Colombia will be a co-host! Alongside the William H. Gates Sr. Institute for Reproductive Health and Population and the Government of Colombia and the Valle del Lili Foundation, Profamilia will welcome thousands of family planning professionals from November 3rd to 6th, 2025, in Colombia. The ICFP serves as a gathering point for governments, institutions, researchers, activists, and professionals seeking to promote collaboration and innovation in sexual and reproductive health. On this occasion, Colombia has been chosen as the venue due to the government's commitment and the efforts of social movements that have resulted in significant advances in access to sexual and reproductive health for Colombian people. See you there!   Gestos succeeds in canceling the HIV and other STI testing requirement in the city of Lagoa do Carro, Brazil. Thanks to a complaint from Gestos' legal team, and in collaboration with Caop Cidadania and the Public Ministry of Carpina, the municipal government of Lagoa do Carro canceled the requirement to undergo HIV, Syphilis, and Hepatitis B and C testing in its contests. This significant victory for human rights and the advancement of sexual and reproductive health is a reminder that demanding STI test results is a discriminatory practice that violates human rights. Furthermore, in Brazil, the right to confidentiality is guaranteed by law. Congratulations to the Gestos team for their hard work in guaranteeing the rights of people living with HIV!   Kamala Harris visits a Planned Parenthood clinic and becomes the first Vice President of the United States to visit an abortion clinic. The sixth stop on Vice President Kamala Harris's "Fighting for Reproductive Freedom" Tour was a Planned Parenthood abortion clinic. It has been a great opportunity for the Vice President to see the great work that Planned Parenthood does every day to provide sexual and reproductive health care, including safe abortion. In the months leading up to the presidential elections, she has positioned herself as an advocate for access to abortion in a complicated context following the Supreme Court's recent decisions on this issue. "It is right and just that people have access to the health care they need," Kamala Harris said at a press conference.   If you want to receive SRHR news directly from the ground to your inbox, subscribe to our newsletter "Rising the Tide". Subscribe