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Recommendation 1979 (2011) Final version
Prenatal sex selection
1. Referring to its Resolution 1829 (2011) on
prenatal sex selection, the Parliamentary Assembly wishes to draw
the Committee of Ministers’ attention to this practice which occurs
in a number of member states, in particular Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan
and Georgia, as indicated by skewed sex ratios at birth.
2. Prenatal sex selection calls into question the core values
upheld by the Council of Europe, such as equality and dignity of
human beings, non-discrimination and the protection of the individual’s
dignity and fundamental rights with regard to the applications of
biology and medicine. It also touches upon core activities of the
Council of Europe such as the promotion and protection of human
rights, the promotion of gender equality and the prevention of and
fight against gender-based violence.
3. The Assembly therefore invites the Committee of Ministers
to:
3.1. bring to the attention
of the Group of Experts on Action against Violence against Women
and Domestic Violence (GREVIO) and the Committee of the Parties
of the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating
violence against women and domestic violence, once they will have
been established, the issue of prenatal sex selection and its underlying
causes, in light of its links with violence against women;
3.2. instruct the Steering Committee on Bioethics to conduct
a comparative study on prenatal sex selection and consider the elaboration
of guidelines and good practices on prenatal sex selection in the context
of Article 14 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights
and Dignity of the Human Being with regard to the Application of
Biology and Medicine: Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine
(ETS No. 164);
3.3. step up efforts aimed at promoting the signature, ratification
and implementation of the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing
and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (CETS
No. 210) and the Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine;
4. As regards the four Council of Europe member states with the
most skewed sex ratios, Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia,
the Assembly asks the Committee of Ministers to:
4.1. take the issue of prenatal sex
selection into account in the framework of assistance and co-operation
programmes with these countries, in particular in the field of education,
youth and dialogue with civil society;
4.2. ask its relevant committees and structures working in
the field of equality between women and men to organise or contribute
to public awareness-raising campaigns on the equal value of girls
and boys in these countries.