Chapter 4 Challenges, risks and opportunities Part 2 summarized the findings of this study with respect to challenges facing NHRIs in effectively integrating reproductive rights into their work. The present Part explores the identified challenges in more detail. It also considers the risks that NHRIs may face in seeking to implement their acknowledged mandate to protect and promote reproductive rights. While challenges and risks are a major theme of this study, it is important to emphasize that NHRIs are being presented with valuable opportunities to take this issue forward. Some of the opportunities identified below are common to most, if not all, NHRIs. Other opportunities will be more relevant to particular institutions, or to groups of institutions which operate in similar ways or in similar environments. 4.1. Challenge: Lack of knowledge, common understanding and expertise In their written responses, most NHRIs did not identify lack of knowledge, understanding or expertise as a significant obstacle to the effective implementation of reproductive rights. However, as detailed above, a very different picture emerged during the follow-up discussions. At that point, almost every NHRI admitted that this was a major obstacle. In most cases, this situation referred to the NHRI itself: the institution as a whole was characterised as lacking formal knowledge in this area. Staff were said to be “unaware” of reproductive rights. They were also said to be “confused” about what the term actually includes. No NHRI consulted was able to identify true institutional expertise in the area of reproductive rights. This lack of expertise means that staff are not trained or even made aware of the various issues that arise in connection with reproductive rights. This impacts on all areas of the institution’s work: from monitoring to human rights education. Lack of knowledge of reproductive rights can both reflect and compound a lack of knowledge of the situation of reproductive rights. Several respondents noted that they did not have a strong understanding of what were the most pressing problems. As one noted: “we need research. We need more information to find the neglected issues and work out where to focus our attention.” One NHRI representative pointed out that there appears to be two different understandings of reproductive rights: a narrower one that refers solely to the rights that related directly to reproduction (access to family planning, rights implicated in pregnancy and birth, etc.); and a much broader understanding (which the questionnaire appeared to have adopted), that includes more tangential issues such as violence against women and discrimination in relation to civil status. During interviews and in their written communications, several NHRIs referred only to “reproductive health rights”. When questioned on this term, they noted that its use reflected 33