On 17 February 2026, Patricia Schulz, ICJ Commissioner and former CEDAW Committee member, delivered a statement at a side event on the elaboration of an addendum to CEDAW General Recommendation (GR) No. 24 on Women and Health, held during the Committee’s 92nd Session.
She urged the Committee to ensure that the update to GR No. 24 addresses the harmful impact of criminal laws on women’s health, equality, and other human rights. She underscored how the rollback of human rights protections disproportionately affects women’s sexual and reproductive health and rights, especially with respect to those hailing from already marginalized populations, such as women and girls experiencing homelessness or sex workers.
Her statement further highlighted how arbitrary and unjustified criminalization not only violates women’s human rights, but may also lead to interrelated crises in public health. It is therefore critical that these laws be repealed or struck down as soon as possible. In her conclusions, Patricia Schulz commended The 8 March Principles issued by the ICJ in 2023, which provide an accessible and practical legal guidance for practitioners on a human rights-based approach to criminal law, based on the general principles of criminal law and international human rights law.
