On 7th August, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights recognised care as an autonomous human right.
In response to a request from Argentina, backed by SAAF grantee partner Equipo Latinoamericano de Justicia y Género (ELA), the right to provide and receive care (including self-care) is elevated to the level of a universal enforceable entitlement.
Significantly, the court explicitly connected self-care with access to sexual and reproductive health services, recognising that genuine wellbeing requires the ability to make free and informed decisions about pregnancy, childbirth, motherhood and bodily autonomy. It stressed that all people – including women, transgender people and non-binary people who can become pregnant – should be free from imposed mandates of motherhood or care.