‘Family values’ African charter condemned by rights groups as regressive and dangerous

An African treaty that rejects longstanding international human rights obligations moved a step closer to becoming policy this week as governments across the continent met in Ghana. The draft African charter on family, sovereignty and values, seen by the Guardian, asserts that African values and culture are under attack from “foreign ideologies” and urges states to withdraw from any agreements that do not align with the principles of the charter, including the 2003 Maputo protocol , which promotes gender equality and protects the reproductive and health rights of women and girls. The charter is the first attempt to impose a continent-wide legal framework rooted in a moralistic rather than rights-based viewpoint. It claims that sexual and reproductive health and rights are an existential threat to the African family, and falsely states that policies based on these rights promote abortion on demand. The draft treaty also rejects comprehensive sex education (CSE), which it claims sexualises children; asserts that gender is either male or female; and declares that parental rights override a child’s rights, including on decisions about sexuality and discipline. African legal experts, reproductive rights groups and LGBTQ+ advocates have condemned the charter as regressive and dangerous. A mural asserting women’s rights in Freetown, Sierra Leone, where abortion is largely illegal. A bill to decriminalise abortion was blocked by religious leaders last year. …