Sonia Correa

Sonia Corrêa is Brazilian. She has a degree in Architecture and a post- grade in Anthropology. Since the late 1970´s she has been involved in research and advocacy activities related to gender equality, health and sexuality. She is the founder of various non-governmental initiatives in Brazil.

Between 1992 and 2009 she has been the research coordinator for sexual and reproductive health and rights at DAWN – Development Alternatives with Women for a new Era – a Southern Hemisphere feminist network that. In that capacity, she closely followed United Nations negotiations directly impacting on gender and sexuality related matters: the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD – Cairo 1994), the IV World Conference on Women (IV WCW –Beijing, 1995) and also the five and ten years year review processes of this conferences.

Since 2002 she co-chairs, with Richard Parker, Sexuality Policy Watch a global forum comprised of researchers and activists engaged in analyzing global trends in sexuality- related policy and politics. During 2003 and 2004 she was directly involved with the process related to the resolution on human rights and sexual orientation tabled by Brazil in the UN Human Rights Commission. In 2006 she co-chaired the expert meeting that finalized the Yogyakarta Principles.

Sonia Corrêa has extensively published in Portuguese and English. This list includes, among other, Population and Reproductive Rights: Feminist Perspectives from the South (Zed Books, 1994) and Sexuality, Health and Human Rights co-authored with Richard Parker and Rosalind Petchesky (Routledge, 2008). She has also lectured in various academic institutions.

Abortion and Human Rights: Will Brazil be the Next Nicaragua?

Brazilian women have seen important setbacks in regard to access to abortion in recent years. A clear turning point was September 2005, when a law aimed at reforming existing punitive legislation on abortion was presented to the Congress without the required support of the executive branch.