Sexual and reproductive health and rights encompass a wide variety of issues that pose difficult challenges for women and adolescents around the world, especially in developing countries. Though the challenges are numerous and daunting, there are people like you in the United States advocating for the rights of vulnerable populations around the world.
During the monumental International Conference of Population and Development in 1994, reproductive health was finally defined. The definition posits that everyone should have the right to decide freely and responsibly the number, spacing and timing of their children, have the information and means to do so, and attain the highest standard of reproductive health and rights.
What are the problems?
- Lack of access to birth control: More than 200 million women around the world lack access to basic contraception methods and information, denying them the ability to protect themselves from STIs and to delay, space and limit their births.
- Unsafe abortion: Lack of access to safe abortion services results in an estimated 20 million unsafe abortions each year, causing approximately 70,000 maternal deaths and tens of thousands more infections and injuries.
- Gender based violence: Worldwide, one in three women has been coerced or forced into sex, beaten, or abused in some other way.
- Challenges to maternal health: Approximately 600,000 worldwide women die from pregnancy or childbirth each year. .
- Adolescent pregnancy and child marriage: Complications from pregnancy and childbirth are the leading cause of death for young women ages 15-19 in developing countries, and they are twice as likely to die from these complications as women ages 19 and up.
- Female Genital Cutting (FGC) is the removal of all or a part of the clitoris and labia.Over 100 million women alive today have undergone FGC and another 2 million are cut each year.
- HIV/AIDS: There are 33.4 million people living with AIDS worldwide, with 2.7 million new infections each year. Young people ages 15-24 make up half of new infections, and young women are especially vulnerable. Over 100 million women alive today have undergone FGC and another 2 million are cut each year.
Some opportunities
- Comprehensive sex education for men, women and adolescents is needed in order for individuals to understand their own bodies and rights, where they can seek health services, how to protect themselves from HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs), prevent pregnancy, and make healthy decisions regarding their bodies and relationships.
- Delaying marriage and first pregnancy: Girls who delay marriage are more likely to stay in school, delay their first pregnancy (reducing the risk of complications), and have fewer children.
- Focusing on youth: Because youth make up almost half of new HIV infections, are more susceptible to pregnancy complications and are more vulnerable to violence, a youth centered approach to policy and sexual and reproductive health services is needed.
- Prenatal care: Access to prenatal care and emergency obstetric care greatly reduce the chance of mother or child death or injury during difficult childbirth, and of post-partum complications like infection and hemorrhage. In addition, the chance of mother to child transmission of HIV can be reduced to as little as 2% .
- Access to birth control methods and testing services: Increased contraceptive supplies, better equipped and stocked clinics, and trained personnel are needed to provide women with the ability to prevent pregnancy, mother to child transmission, and infection with HIV and other STIs.
- Access to safe abortions: The mortality rate for safe abortions is only 1 in 100,000; in contrast, women who receive unsafe abortions are 100 to 1000 times more likely to die from complications.
Education for women and girls: Girls who are kept in school are more likely to delay marriage and pregnancy and also can gain the skills and education that allow them to bring themselves out of poverty.
What you can do:
- Show a movie discussing the issue. Check out our film library for a list of free films you can borrow from AIDemocracy. Films come with discussion guides and free shipping. It couldn’t be any easier!
- Organize an event on your campus. Bring in a speaker. Organize a debate. Stand up and demand change. Check out our event database for some great ideas to get you started.
- Request a mini-grant to make your film or event a success. We provide small grants to help pay for materials, food and speakers. Contact us to discuss.
- Speak out to the network. Write a blog for our site. Post something on our Facebook group. Share photos or video with us on YouTube. Share your opinions with other concerned students like you. How to submit materials.
- Ask for advice and support. Not sure how to get started? Need to talk through ideas for your event? AIDemocracy staff and student leaders are here to help
