The Protection of Refugee Women Health under International Law

this chapter illustrates and assesses international legal protection of refugee women health, by looking at health as a human right. Since the seventies of the last century, international cooperation through international organizations has focused on women special needs of health protection in relation to different time spans of their lives and their specific biological characteristics. International organizations have considered sexual, reproductive and maternal health the main aspects of women health and have stressed how the effective access to health care services, education and information are important targets in this connection. International organizations have further integrated a gender-based perspective into the human rights-based traditional one, in order to enhance and expand the protection of women health. Migration intensifies the need of special health care for refugee women. Many States have committed to the observance of international rules, mostly non-binding, through implementation at their domestic law levels. In principle, national measures would include the protection of refugee women health. However, the exceptional circumstances typical of migration, financial and technical resource shortages do not contribute to the satisfactory and effective realization of this objective.