We call on national decision-makers to support the implementation of a comprehensive approach to contraceptive choice in the 16 countries within a broader sexual and reproductive health and rights agenda. This is fundamental to ensuring the wellbeing of all women and girls, particularly the most vulnerable and is a crucial precondition to allowing women and couples the freedom to choose parenthood or not. It is a competence of EU Member States to formulate and implement SRHR policies at a national level. Yet when it comes to public health and non-discrimination, the EU can exercise policy-making, foster research and the exchange of best practices, and better support the implementation of SRHR at national level. Therefore, the Barometer partners call for a structured dialogue involving all relevant stakeholders at EU and national levels. Additionally, we urge the EU to make a greater investment in SRHR research and data collection.  

People with learning disabilities have a right to be protected from sexual violence and abuse, yet 90% of them will experience sexual abuse at some point in their life, most frequently from family members or others in their close circle. Safeguarding this right can only be achieved if people with learning disabilities are empowered to protect themselves. Increasing their autonomy in relation to their sexual lives, relationships, bodies and privacy is key. But how can people with learning disabilities be expected to say no to sexual violence and abuse, if even the smallest aspects of daily life are decided for them by others? In this context, it is crucial to strengthen their overall autonomy, active participation and integration in society, and the transition from institutions to community based-care. The 2-year ‘Keep me Safe’ project aimed to empower young people with learning disabilities to protect themselves against sexual abuse and violence across Europe. It was co-funded by the European Commission Daphne III Programme. On 11-12 December 2014, IPPF Member Associations, NGOs, parents of young people with learning disabilities, decision-makers and authorities from Bulgaria, Cyprus, Germany, Ireland, Latvia, The Netherlands, Macedonia, Romania, Spain, and UK, as well as staff from the IPPF EN regional office, gathered in Madrid for its final event. Here you can download the set of Policy recommendations they developed and endorsed at the meeting. 

Every day, everywhere women have abortions. In fact, one in three women will have an abortion in their lifetime. Your sister, mother, daughter, partner, friend. Yourself. However, many countries around the world continue to restrict access to safe and legal abortion. Globally, 66 countries either prohibit abortion entirely or permit it only to save a woman's life. Approximately one quarter of the world's population resides in these countries. Too many women still do not have autonomy over their reproductive lives, and are not able to choose to end an unwanted pregnancy under safe conditions with the support of a trained provider. That is why on September 28, the Global Day of Action for Access to Safe and Legal Abortion, IPPF will join with partners across the world to call for universal access for safe and legal abortion. In our region, from Skopje to Stockholm, Tirana to Dublin, our Member Associations are marking the day with activities ranging from press conferences, advocacy workshops, public debates organised by youth activists and short movie launches to providing information and education materials to schools; dedicated social media campaigns; clinic open day with free sexual and reproductive health services, and appearing in newspapers and TV documentaries to make the case for safe and legal abortion. Criminalising abortion does not reduce the number of abortions, all it does is push abortion underground and rates of unsafe abortion increase. In fact, the lowest abortion rates in the world are in regions with some of the most liberal legal frameworks for the provision of abortion services. A woman’s right to safe, legal abortion is under threat in Europe too. The abandoning this week of a regressive anti-abortion bill in Spain is a step in the right direction and an illustration of what can be achieved through the joint action of civil society organisations. But the fact remains it should never have been on the legislature’s books in the first place. It shows that rights can be rolled back at anytime, anywhere. The women who suffer as a consequence of restrictive laws are not just numbers. Each woman who seeks an abortion does so under a unique set of circumstances. IPPF has produced a series of short films to tell the stories of some of these women. Women like Juliette from France, who just like millions of other women around the world, decided to have an abortion following an unintended pregnancy. In this video Juliette describes the challenges she faced in trying to find accurate and unbiased information about abortion, and she shares her thoughts on the role of men in the abortion process. You can watch the other videos in the series here. Unwanted pregnancies will always be a fact of life and abortions will continue. So, join us on September 28 in calling for governments to make abortion safe and legal abortion everywhere. Read a guest blog on the "state shambles" of abortion in Ireland by IFPA, IPPF's Irish Member Association here.

This series of four Report Cards explores the challenges of HIV prevention for sex workers in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Russia. It was produced by IPPF European Network with the support of the Sex Workers' Rights Advocacy Network (SWAN) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). The Report Cards are available for download here in English and Russian.

A UN Study from 2006 suggests that 90% of people with intellectual impairments will experience sexual abuse at some point in their life, most frequently from family members or others in their close environment. Empowering young people who have a learning disability to protect themselves against sexual abuse and violence requires acknowledgement and respect of their sexuality from their carers alongside guidance on protection and appropriate behaviour. From 2013-2015, we ran a project to empower young people with learning disabilities to protect themselves against sexual abuse and violence, harnessing best practice, expertise and proven strategies from IPPF members in Europe with extensive experience in this area. The project was called 'Keep Me Safe'. This work was co-funded by the European Commission (DG Justice - Daphne III Programme).  This training manual has been developed for organisations who wish to educate and sensitize staff, teachers and carers about the sexual and reproductive health and rights of young people with mild to moderate learning disabilities.

Our Annual Report 2012 gives a broad insight into the many activities our activists carried out in their fight for sexual and reproductive health and rights across Europe and Central Asia and globally.