Article 4

Article 4

Reaffirming women’s rights to freedom of opinion and freedom of expression

(a) States should ensure that women have the right to “hold opinions without interference’’. (ICCPR, Article 19 (1)). This should include the right to hold and express opinions about ‘gender identity’ without being subject to harassment, prosecution or punishment.

(b) States should uphold women’s right to freedom of expression, including the “freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media’’. (ICCPR, Article 19 (2)). This should include the freedom to communicate ideas about ‘gender identity’ without being subject to harassment, prosecution or punishment.

(c) States should uphold the right of everyone to describe others on the basis of their sex rather than their ‘gender identity’, in all contexts. States should recognize that attempts by state agencies, public bodies and private organizations to compel individuals to use terms related to ‘gender identity’ rather than sex are a form of discrimination against women, and shall take measures to eliminate this form of discrimination.

(d) States should prohibit any form of sanctioning, prosecution or punishment of persons who reject attempts to compel them to identify others on the basis of ‘gender identity’ rather than sex.

Article 1

The rights of women are based upon the category of sex

Article 2

The nature of motherhood is an exclusively female status.

Article 3

Women and girls have the right to physical and reproductive integrity.

Article 4

Women have the right to freedom of opinion and freedom of expression.

Article 5

Women have the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.

Article 6

Women have the right to political participation on the basis of sex.

Article 7

Women have the right to the same opportunities as men to participate actively in sports and physical education.

Article 8

Men’s violence against women need to be eliminated.

Article 9

On the protection of the rights of the child.