A/HRC/42/24 examination could not “prove” sexual violence to avoid getting involved in legal processes, stating that their job was to provide services, not to uphold the law. In other instances, victims of sexual violence were not provided with information about the possibilities for seeking justice, if that was the path they wished to pursue, due to fears for their safety. These are gaps which a human rights-based approach would help identify and seek to address from the perspective of the individual concerned. IV. Operationalizing a human rights-based approach in humanitarian settings A. Availability, accessibility, acceptability and quality 44. Human rights requires that sexual and reproductive health facilities, goods, information and services be available (e.g., sufficient quantity and range), accessible (e.g., physically and economically accessible to all affected individuals and communities), acceptable (e.g., scientifically and medically appropriate, gender responsive and centred on the individual woman and girls) and of good quality. 4 45. In a discussion around this “AAAQ framework”, experts highlighted that it is in line with medical practice. They emphasized that the complex nature of a humanitarian crisis, including extreme adversity and insecurity, a restriction of mobility, as well as the breakdown of infrastructure and health and justice systems, poses unique challenges for women and girls to avail themselves of needed services and for all actors to fully deliver on availability, accessibility, acceptability and quality of facilities, goods, information and services. 46. In addition, one of the challenges to addressing preventable maternal mortality and morbidity concerns real or perceived restrictive legal, policy and social environments. A human rights-based approach can help clarify the legal, policy and social context in an emergency and dispel overly broad assumptions about what is permitted and accepted – and when there is genuine operational risk. In restrictive environments, certain interventions that are critical to prevent maternal mortality and morbidity, such as safe abortion and postabortion care and contraception, are often deprioritized or avoided, with significant availability and accessibility implications for affected women and girls. A good practice identified in this context is legal risk assessments, which analyse what the risk to providing certain services is, what the exceptions are in law and what mitigation strategies can be developed. 47. Another barrier in this context includes the potential stigma faced by individual woman and girls seeking certain reproductive health services, as well as the reticence of providers to provide such services at the individual, agency and institutional level. This reality has become further entrenched by the emergence of highly restrictive donor policies around health funding. Stigma is an area that could best be addressed before a crisis hits, and practice has shown that once an agency is clearly on board, providers feel more secure about providing the required comprehensive package of sexual and reproductive health services. Experts highlighted that consistent guidance, drawing on a human rights-based approach as articulated in the technical guidance, can help providers address real or perceived sensitive areas in service provision in emergencies. 48. Good practice examples were also shared of rights-based trainings with policymakers and then health providers, alongside clinical trainings, to address any possible misconceptions, stigma and biases. Other good practice examples included the need to insist on holistic and comprehensive service provision to address preventable maternal mortality and morbidity. It was underscored that collaboration with local organizations and service providers on how best to do so was critical. 4 See Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, general comment No. 22 (2016) on the right to sexual and reproductive health. 9