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Protecting the Rights, Unleashing the Potential of Indigenous Girls in Rural Guatemala - 14 May 2013
CHITIXL, Guatemala --- "In my village girls do not have access to information nor education," said Sonia Delfina Cho Tún from the Chitixl community in the lush northern highlands of the country. "There isn´t a local high school. We only get to study to sixth grade. Mostly girls marry at age 15, not knowing what their future holds for them and their children. "Parents force them because they say that when they reach age 20 and are single, they can no longer find a husband and are left to grow old alone." (Source: UNFPA News)
Source: UNFPA News - May 20, 2013 Category: Global & Universal Source Type: news

Men, Step Up on Family Planning - 11 May 2013
In this Opinion piece, published by CNN, UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin talks about the important role men can and must play in lifting the obstacles that prevent women from access voluntary family planning, one of the most cost-effective ways of improving health. (Source: UNFPA News)
Source: UNFPA News - May 20, 2013 Category: Global & Universal Source Type: news

In Fiji, UNFPA Chief Stresses Women's Empowerment, Girls Education - 08 May 2013
SUVA, Fiji — If alarming rates of violence against women are to be effectively addressed, the status of women needs to be elevated. UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin emphasized the fundamental, often unacknowledged, contributions of women – to families, communities and economies – during the launch of the Pacific Regional ICPD Review report. The persistence of alarming rates of gender-based violence is one of the critical issues in the region. (Source: UNFPA News)
Source: UNFPA News - May 20, 2013 Category: Global & Universal Source Type: news

Towards Increased Services for Survivors of Sexual Violence in Syria - 08 May 2013
NIZIP, Turkey — More has to be done to ensure the health and wellbeing of women and children affected by the Syrian conflict, said Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin, Executive Director of the UNFPA, on a recent visit to Turkey's Nizip refugee camp, about 40km east of the southern city of Gaziantep. One of Turkey's newest camps, Nizip houses some 10,000 refugees, or "guests" as the government prefers to call them, in white canvas tents and containers arrayed in neat numbered rows along the rocky, sun-bleached banks of the Euphrates. (Source: UNFPA News)
Source: UNFPA News - May 20, 2013 Category: Global & Universal Source Type: news

Syrian Women Giving Birth in Exile - 07 May 2013
ZA'ATARI, Jordan — In a tent hospital bed, a Syrian woman who was four months pregnant when she fled her country's civil war cradles one of the newest residents of this dust-swept refugee camp: Her newborn son, just delivered by Caesarean. Around a dozen babies are born every day in Za'atari camp, which is home to 120,000 Syrians and counting – and there's only one, overworked Moroccan doctor performing C-sections. (Source: UNFPA News)
Source: UNFPA News - May 20, 2013 Category: Global & Universal Source Type: news

Statement for the International Day of the Midwife 2013 - 05 May 2013
On this International Day of the Midwife, UNFPA and the International Confederation of Midwives, celebrate the work of midwives in contributing to the miracle of birth—and for the myriad other things they do every day to contribute to the wellbeing of mothers and children around the world. (Source: UNFPA News)
Source: UNFPA News - May 20, 2013 Category: Global & Universal Source Type: news

Midwives Deliver for the Women of the World - 02 May 2013
Chidbirth is perhaps the riskiest and most miraculous time in a woman's life. And midwives are truly the unsung heroines of the challenge to reduce the risks women face in bringing forth life. Now, armed with better skills and training, midwives are increasingly able to deal with life-threatening emergencies and are playing a critical role in making motherhood safer around the world. (Source: UNFPA News)
Source: UNFPA News - May 20, 2013 Category: Global & Universal Source Type: news

UNFPA Donates Reproductive Health Supplies to Save Lives in Central African Republic - 01 May 2013
BANGUI, Central African Republic — Fierce fighting between rebel troops and Central African armed forces beginning in March has left widespread insecurity in the country. Cases of collective sexual violence and massive looting of public offices, housing and health facilities were reported, resulting in a massive internal displacement of populations and a drastic shortage of essential medicines, medical equipment and supplies in health centres meant to welcome and provide care to many victims of this crisis. (Source: UNFPA News)
Source: UNFPA News - May 20, 2013 Category: Global & Universal Source Type: news

Al-Azhar Centre, Ugandan Physician, Receive 2013 United Nations Population Award - 30 April 2013
UNITED NATIONS, New York—An academic institution affiliated with the Al-Azhar University in Egypt and a public health advocate from Uganda were announced yesterday as winners of the 2013 United Nations Population Award. (Source: UNFPA News)
Source: UNFPA News - May 20, 2013 Category: Global & Universal Source Type: news

Running in Fear, Sprinting Towards Hope - 26 April 2013
UNITED NATIONS, New York — In an increasingly interconnected world, more individuals than ever before are leaving their homes to begin a new life somewhere else. Since 1990 the number of migrants has increased from 155 million to around 214 million, with women making up an increasing proportion of that total. (Source: UNFPA News)
Source: UNFPA News - May 20, 2013 Category: Global & Universal Source Type: news

Let Girls Be Girls - 24 April 2013
In this Opinion piece, published by the Thomson Reuters Foundation , UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin calls attention to the violation of the human rights of adolescent girls due to the persistence of child marriage and other harmful practices. (Source: UNFPA News)
Source: UNFPA News - May 20, 2013 Category: Global & Universal Source Type: news

Commission on Population and Development 46th Session - Opening Remarks Executive Director UNFPA - 24 April 2013
UNFPA Executive Director Babatunde Osotimehin delivers opening remarks on the forty-sixth session of the Commission on Population and Development. (Source: UNFPA News)
Source: UNFPA News - May 20, 2013 Category: Global & Universal Source Type: news

Myanmar Tests Procedures for Its 2014 Census - 22 April 2013
YANGON — The Myanmar Government with support from UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, undertook a pilot census exercise from 30 March to 10 April to prepare for a nationwide census in 2014, the country's first in 30 years. One hundred schoolteachers trained to be enumerators visited thousands of homes and questioned residents in selected villages in 20 townships across the country representing a cross-section of Myanmar's diverse geographic and ethnic mix. (Source: UNFPA News)
Source: UNFPA News - May 20, 2013 Category: Global & Universal Source Type: news

Syria's Refugees: Birth and Life in Zaatari Camp – in Pictures - 22 April 2013
Jordan's Zaatari refugee camp houses more than 100,000 Syrians who have fled the civil war; 3,000 of those registered are pregnant women. Against the odds, women are adapting to the cycle of life. (Source: UNFPA News)
Source: UNFPA News - May 20, 2013 Category: Global & Universal Source Type: news

Advancing adolescent capacity to consent to transgender-related health care in Colombia and the USA
Abstract: Many sexual and reproductive health care services, including gender reassignment treatment, facilitate reproductive autonomy and self-determination of gender identity. Individuals who are unable to refuse or consent to these services on their own behalf, such as adolescents, are at risk of violations of their rights to privacy and self-determination. This paper explores the issue of adolescent capacity to consent to transgender-related health care in Colombia and the United States (USA), focusing on the two countries' struggles to balance the rights of adolescents to make autonomous and confidential decisions wit...
Source: Reproductive Health Matters - May 20, 2013 Category: Global & Universal Authors: Katherine Romero, Rebecca Reingold Source Type: research

Young women's experiences of side-effects from contraceptive implants: a challenge to bodily control
Abstract: In the UK, long-acting reversible contraceptives have been welcomed by sexual health policy-makers and many practitioners as a particularly effective way of preventing unintended pregnancy, especially teenage conception. However, little is known about women's individual experiences of these forms of contraception beyond limited data on retention rates and reasons for discontinuation. The main aims of this research were to gain a fuller understanding of why some young women have their implants removed, and what may help them maintain this method of contraception if they wish to do so. The contraceptive choices of ...
Source: Reproductive Health Matters - May 20, 2013 Category: Global & Universal Authors: Lesley Hoggart, Victoria Louise Newton Source Type: research

Improving quality of life with new menstrual hygiene practices among adolescent tribal girls in rural Gujarat, India
Abstract: The Government of India has started a new scheme aimed at offering sanitary pads at a subsidized rate to adolescent girls in rural areas. This paper addresses menstrual health and hygiene practices among adolescent girls in a rural, tribal region of South Gujarat, India, and their experiences using old cloths, a new soft cloth (falalin) and sanitary pads. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected in a community-based study over six months, with a pre-and post- design, among 164 adolescent girls from eight villages. Questions covered knowledge of menstruation, menstrual practices, quality of life, experienc...
Source: Reproductive Health Matters - May 20, 2013 Category: Global & Universal Authors: Shobha P Shah, Rajesh Nair, Pankaj P Shah, Dhiren K Modi, Shrey A Desai, Lata Desai Source Type: research

Chemical sexualities: the use of pharmaceutical and cosmetic products by youth in South Sulawesi, Indonesia
This article draws from the initial findings of the University of Amsterdam's ChemicalYouth project. Based on interviews with 142 youths, focus group discussions and participant observation in South Sulawesi, Indonesia, we found that young people – in the domain of sexual health – turn to pharmaceuticals and cosmetics to: (1) feel clean and attractive; (2) increase (sexual) stamina; (3) feel good and sexually confident; (4) counter sexual risks; and (5) for a group of transgender youths, to feminize their male bodies. How youth achieve these desires varies depending on their income and the demands of their working live...
Source: Reproductive Health Matters - May 20, 2013 Category: Global & Universal Authors: Anita Hardon, Nurul Ilmi Idrus, Takeo David Hymans Source Type: research

Moving beyond the “male perpetrator, female victim” discourse in addressing sex and relationships for HIV prevention: peer research in Eastern Zambia
Abstract: Despite the resources put into HIV education programmes with young people in sub-Saharan Africa in the past two decades, there is little clear evidence of impact. Many programmes continue to be oriented towards individual behaviour change (and in reality, often sexual abstinence) with insufficient focus on understanding how societies constrain or enable individual agency in sexual decision-making and how this is affected by social norms. If education programmes do address gender they often reinforce a “male perpetrator, female victim” discourse, where girls and women are held responsible for boys' and men's s...
Source: Reproductive Health Matters - May 20, 2013 Category: Global & Universal Authors: Jo Heslop, Rabecca Banda Source Type: research

Early relationships and marriage in conflict and post-conflict settings: vulnerability of youth in Uganda
This article presents factors which contribute to early relationships and informal marriages in conflict and post-conflict settings, based on qualitative research undertaken among two distinct populations in Uganda: internally displaced persons in Mucwini transit camp in northern Uganda and Congolese refugees in the Nakivale refugee settlement in southwestern Uganda. Themes were examined through a social–ecological framework. Findings indicate that fundamental shifts in economies, family relationships, and communication combined with structural changes encountered in settlements resulted in changed relationships and marr...
Source: Reproductive Health Matters - May 20, 2013 Category: Global & Universal Authors: Jennifer Schlecht, Elizabeth Rowley, Juliet Babirye Source Type: research

Delay in termination of pregnancy among unmarried adolescents and young women attending a tertiary hospital abortion clinic in Trivandrum, Kerala, India
Abstract: Unwed pregnancy among adolescents is a disturbing event in Indian belief-systems, and very young motherhood limits girls' social, economic and educational prospects. Girls who seek abortions are always at higher risk for delay in care seeking; this paper looks at the reasons why. It reports the experiences of 34 unmarried adolescent girls and young women, aged 10–24 years, who obtained induced abortion from a tertiary care abortion clinic over a period of seven months in 2004. Ten were below 19 years of age, the rest were 20–24 years. Only eight of the 34 pregnancies were (Source: Reproductive Health Matters)
Source: Reproductive Health Matters - May 20, 2013 Category: Global & Universal Authors: Sowmini C.V. Source Type: research

“One Billion Rising” at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health: a reflection
This article is a reflection on that experience and the broader role that public health students can play in the fight against GBV. (Source: Reproductive Health Matters)
Source: Reproductive Health Matters - May 20, 2013 Category: Global & Universal Authors: Casey Branchini, Veena Sriram, Anushree Ray, Kerry Scott, Anita Thurakal Source Type: research

Erica Royston
(Source: Reproductive Health Matters)
Source: Reproductive Health Matters - May 20, 2013 Category: Global & Universal Source Type: research

Menstrual Hygiene Matters: a resource for improving menstrual hygiene around the world: by Sarah House, Thérèse Mahon, Sue Cavill Co-published by WaterAid and 17 other organisations, 2012 www.wateraid.org/mhm
This comprehensive, peer-reviewed handbook presents practical guidance on how to address menstrual hygiene within a range of water and sanitation, health and education programmes. It builds on detailed research to find out what issues women and girls face and how these are being addressed in many developing countries. The handbook focuses on practical examples, drawing on what is already being implemented in different contexts to encourage replication. It contains extensive training resources and ideas. The text below is taken from the Modules 1 and 2. (Source: Reproductive Health Matters)
Source: Reproductive Health Matters - May 20, 2013 Category: Global & Universal Source Type: research

Making it Real: Sexual Health Communication for Young People Living with Disadvantage: Deborah Keys, Doreen Rosenthal, Henrietta Williams, Shelley Mallett, Lynne Jordan, Dot Henning Melbourne School of Public Health, University of Melbourne, and Family Planning Victoria, Australia, 2008 ISBN 9780734039675
The Making it Real research aimed to identify best strategies in STI communication for marginalised young people and to provide an evidence base for the development of appropriately targeted STI communication strategies for these young people. The project sought: (Source: Reproductive Health Matters)
Source: Reproductive Health Matters - May 20, 2013 Category: Global & Universal Source Type: research

Pacific Youth: Their Rights, Our Future: Report of an Open Hearing on Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health in the Pacific: by New Zealand Parliamentarians' Group on Population and Development November 2012, www.fpi.org.nz/what_we_do/advocacy/parliamentary_group/nzppd_resources/report_pacific_youth_their_rights_our_future
On 11 June 2012, the New Zealand Parliamentarians' Group on Population and Development held an Open Hearing on ‘Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in the Pacific’. Modelled like a select committee, its purpose was to increase understanding of, support for, and investment in adolescent sexual and reproductive health and rights in the Pacific. Written submissions were received from a wide range of stakeholders, twelve of whom were selected to submit orally at the Open Hearing. (Source: Reproductive Health Matters)
Source: Reproductive Health Matters - May 20, 2013 Category: Global & Universal Source Type: research

Rights-based services for adolescents living with HIV: adolescent self-efficacy and implications for health systems in Zambia
Abstract: A rights-based approach in HIV service delivery for adults is increasingly taking root in sub-Saharan Africa in the context of greater availability of antiretroviral therapy. Yet there has been comparatively little progress in strengthening a rights-based approach to adolescent HIV services, which we learned during a qualitative study in 2010 among 111 adolescents living with HIV, 21 parents and 38 health providers in three districts in Zambia. Adolescents in the study expressed a range of information and support needs and wanted locally relevant interventions to meet those needs. They wanted greater access to HI...
Source: Reproductive Health Matters - May 20, 2013 Category: Global & Universal Authors: Gitau Mburu, Ian Hodgson, Anja Teltschik, Mala Ram, Choolwe Haamujompa, Divya Bajpai, Beatrice Mutali Source Type: research

Policy commitments vs. lived realities of young pregnant women and mothers in school, Western Cape, South Africa
Abstract: Reproductive rights in South Africa continue to be undermined for young women who fall pregnant and become mothers while still at school. Before 1994, exclusionary practices were common and the majority of those who fell pregnant failed to resume their education. With the adoption of new policies in 2007, young pregnant women and mothers are supposed to be supported to complete school successfully. Notwithstanding these new policies, there are incongruities between policy implementation and young women's lived experience in school. This paper explores the experiences of pregnancy and parenting among a group of 15...
Source: Reproductive Health Matters - May 20, 2013 Category: Global & Universal Authors: Sisa Ngabaza, Tamara Shefer Source Type: research

Sex education in the eyes of primary school teachers in Novo Hamburgo, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
Abstract: Sex education has been included in the National Curriculum of the Brazilian Ministry of Education since 1996 as a cross-cutting theme that should be linked to the contents of each school subject in primary and high schools. This paper presents a study of the implementation of this policy in the primary schools of Novo Hamburgo, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, based on interviews between January 2011 and April 2012 with 82 teachers working in those schools. We found that sex education was not being taught as a cross-cutting theme in any of the schools, and that any lessons were mostly dominated by a biomedical discours...
Source: Reproductive Health Matters - May 20, 2013 Category: Global & Universal Authors: Denise Quaresma da Silva, Oscar Ulloa Guerra, Christiane Sperling Source Type: research

The Sexuality Education Initiative: a programme involving teenagers, schools, parents and sexual health services in Los Angeles, CA, USA
Abstract: In response to abstinence-only programmes in the United States that promote myths and misconceptions about sexuality and sexual behaviour, the comprehensive sexuality education community has been sidetracked from improving the sexuality education available in US schools for almost two decades now. Much work is still needed to move beyond fear-based approaches and the one-way communication of information that many programmes still use. Starting in 2008 Planned Parenthood Los Angeles developed and launched a teen-centred sexuality education programme based on critical thinking, human rights, gender equality, and ac...
Source: Reproductive Health Matters - May 20, 2013 Category: Global & Universal Authors: Magaly Marques, Nicole Ressa Source Type: research

When a girl's decision involves the community: the realities of adolescent Maya girls' lives in rural indigenous Guatemala
This article explores the extent to which adolescent Maya girls are able to adopt what they have learned in a community-based skills-building and sex education programme in isolated rural, indigenous Guatemalan communities. This is presented through an interview between the authors, who met and worked together in the Population Council's programme Abriendo Oportunidades (Opening Opportunities) for girls aged 8–19 years. The interview discusses what can be done so that indigenous adolescents not only obtain the sexual health information they need, but develop the skills to make decisions, communicate with their peers and ...
Source: Reproductive Health Matters - May 20, 2013 Category: Global & Universal Authors: Heather Wehr, Silvia Ester Tum Source Type: research

Beyond the clinic walls: empowering young people through Youth Peer Provider programmes in Ecuador and Nicaragua
Abstract: Youth in Latin America experience high rates of teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections, but traditional health services are not meeting their health care needs. Youth require access to tailored health care and information to make informed, healthy decisions. To break down barriers to these vital sexual and reproductive health services, Planned Parenthood Global, a division of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, developed a Youth Peer Provider model which has been implemented in Latin America since the early 1990s. The model goes beyond peer education to train Youth Peer Providers under age 20 to...
Source: Reproductive Health Matters - May 20, 2013 Category: Global & Universal Authors: Claire Tebbets, Dee Redwine Source Type: research

Integrating gender and rights into sexuality education: field reports on using It's All One
Abstract: International policy agreements, along with emerging evidence about factors influencing programme effectiveness, have led to calls for a shift in sexuality education toward an approach that places gender norms and human rights at its heart. Little documentation exists, however, about the degree to which this shift is actually taking place on the ground or what it entails. Field experiences in using new curriculum tools, such as It's All One, offer one lens onto these questions. To gain a sense of practitioners' experience with this tool, a two-part exercise was conducted. First, responses from an on-line survey o...
Source: Reproductive Health Matters - May 20, 2013 Category: Global & Universal Authors: Deborah Rogow, Nicole Haberland, Angel Del Valle, Nicole Lee, Grace Osakue, Zhihong Sa, Michelle Skaer Source Type: research

Evolving capacity and decision-making in practice: adolescents' access to legal abortion services in Mexico City
This study in Mexico City in 2009 explored whether regulations and clinical attitudes and practice were supporting or hindering the access of adolescent girls aged 12–17 to information regarding abortion and to abortion services. We surveyed abortion clinic directors and staff, and adolescents arranging or just having had an abortion, and sent mystery clients to clinics to ask for information. While providers were generally positive about adolescents' ability to decide on abortion, they had different understandings about the need for adult accompaniment and who that adult should be, and mystery clients seeking informatio...
Source: Reproductive Health Matters - May 20, 2013 Category: Global & Universal Authors: Jessie Clyde, Jennifer Bain, Kelly Castagnaro, Marcela Rueda, Carrie Tatum, Katherine Watson Source Type: research

The importance of a positive approach to sexuality in sexual health programmes for unmarried adolescents in Bangladesh
This article explores the mismatch that exists between what unmarried adolescents in Bangladesh experience, want and need in regard to their sexuality and what they receive from their society, which negatively impacts on their understanding of sexuality and their well-being. The findings provide a picture of Bangladeshi adolescents' (12–18 years) sexual feelings, experiences, behaviours, anxieties and concerns – in particular in relation to desire, pleasure, sexual power, masturbation, virginity, romantic love and dating, and arranged marriage – and how socio-sexual norms and taboos influence these. Curiosity of boys...
Source: Reproductive Health Matters - May 20, 2013 Category: Global & Universal Authors: Miranda van Reeuwijk, Papreen Nahar Source Type: research

Contextualising sexual harassment of adolescent girls in Bangladesh
This article aims to contextualize a particular form of sexual harassment, namely “eve teasing”, experienced by Bangladeshi adolescent girls (12–18 years) which emerged from a study of adolescent sexual behaviour carried out by young people. The study used qualitative methods and a participatory approach, including focus group discussions, key informant interviews and observation. Despite taboos, unmarried adolescents actively seek information about sex, erotic pleasure and romance. Information was easily available from videos, mobile phone clips and pornographic magazines, but reinforced gender inequality. “Eve te...
Source: Reproductive Health Matters - May 20, 2013 Category: Global & Universal Authors: Papreen Nahar, Miranda van Reeuwijk, Ria Reis Source Type: research

“I have grown up controlling myself a lot.” Fear and misconceptions about sex among adolescents vertically-infected with HIV in Tanzania
Abstract: With increased access to HIV treatment throughout Africa, a generation of HIV positive children is now transitioning to adulthood while living with a chronic condition requiring lifelong medication, which can amplify the anxieties of adolescence. This qualitative study explored how adolescents in Tanzania with HIV experience their nascent sexuality, as part of an evaluation of a home-based care programme. We interviewed 14 adolescents aged 15–19 who had acquired HIV perinatally, 10 of their parents or other primary caregivers, and 12 volunteer home-based care providers who provided support, practical advice, an...
Source: Reproductive Health Matters - May 20, 2013 Category: Global & Universal Authors: Joanna Busza, Giulia VR Besana, Pasiens Mapunda, Elizabeth Oliveras Source Type: research

Gendered norms, sexual exploitation and adolescent pregnancy in rural Tanzania
Abstract: Adolescent pregnancy places girls at increased risk for poor health and educational outcomes that limit livelihood options, economic independence, and empowerment in adulthood. In Tanzania, adolescent pregnancy remains a significant concern, with over half of all first births occurring before women reach the age of 20. A participatory research and action project (Vitu Newala) conducted formative research in a rural district on the dynamics of sexual risk and agency among 82 girls aged 12–17. Four major risk factors undermined girls' ability to protect their own health and well-being: poverty that pushed them in...
Source: Reproductive Health Matters - May 20, 2013 Category: Global & Universal Authors: Jennifer McCleary-Sills, Zayid Douglas, Annagrace Rwehumbiza, Aziza Hamisi, Richard Mabala Source Type: research

Meeting the commitments of the ICPD Programme of Action to young people
Abstract: Some of the commitments nations have made in international agreements, notably in the ICPD Programme of Action (1994) and the resolution of the UN Committee on Population & Development (2012), to young people include: realisation of the right to education and attainment of a secondary school education; delaying marriage beyond childhood and ensuring free and full choice in marriage-related decisions; exercise of the right to health, including access to friendly health services and counselling; access to health-promoting information, including on sexual and reproductive matters; acquisition of protective assets an...
Source: Reproductive Health Matters - May 20, 2013 Category: Global & Universal Authors: Shireen J Jejeebhoy, AJ Francis Zavier, KG Santhya Source Type: research

Using popular culture for social change: Soul City videos and a mobile clip for adolescents in South Africa
The Soul City Institute for Health and Development Communication (SCI) is a South African NGO and the largest social and behaviour change communication project in Africa. Social and Behaviour Change Communication (SBCC) is the systematic application of interactive, theory-based, and research-driven communication processes and strategies that go beyond individual behaviour change approaches to also address the social and structural drivers of unhealthy behaviours. Using a combination of mass media, social mobilisation and advocacy, the SCI aims to improve the quality of life and health of people in Southern Africa through s...
Source: Reproductive Health Matters - May 20, 2013 Category: Global & Universal Authors: Harriet Perlman, Shereen Usdin, Jenny Button Source Type: research

“It would be weird to have that on Facebook”: young people's use of social media and the risk of sharing sexual health information
Abstract: In today's media environment, information is not simply passed from producers to consumers, but is mediated by participants of new media cultures, including information on sexual health. In focus groups held in Sydney and regional Australia in 2011, we asked young people aged 16–22 about the potential for sexual health promotion via Facebook and other social media. Our findings point to the complex ways in which young people use social media, and the unlikelihood of traditional take-home sexual health messages having traction in social media spaces. Five key aspects which emerged were: the participatory culture...
Source: Reproductive Health Matters - May 20, 2013 Category: Global & Universal Authors: Paul Byron, Kath Albury, Clifton Evers Source Type: research

When target groups talk back: at the intersection of visual ethnography and adolescent sexual health
This is a report by the first author about the making of two videos about adolescent sexual health in Ecuador in 2011 and 2012.When I first arrived in the Cuenca, Ecuador, to begin ethnographic fieldwork as part of an adolescent sexual and reproductive health project (CERCA), my colleagues at the University of Cuenca Medical School assured me that talking about sex with young people, their parents, or anyone else in this predominantly Catholic city would be difficult. When I proposed getting cuencanos to talk about these issues on camera, one research assistant told me I was crazy. However, it had already been my experienc...
Source: Reproductive Health Matters - May 20, 2013 Category: Global & Universal Authors: Erica Nelson, Dylan Howitt Source Type: research

Advocating for safe abortion in Rwanda: how young people and the personal stories of young women in prison brought about change
This article describes some of the crucial elements in how this success was achieved in Rwanda, which began through a project launched by Rutgers WPF on “sensitive issues in young people's sexuality” in several countries. This paper describes how the Rwandan Youth Action Movement decided to work on unsafe abortion as part of this project. They gathered data on the extent of unsafe abortion and testimonies of young Rwandan women in prison for abortions; organized debates, values clarification exercises, interviews and a survey in four universities; launched a petition for law reform; produced awareness-raising materials...
Source: Reproductive Health Matters - May 20, 2013 Category: Global & Universal Authors: Chantal Umuhoza, Barbara Oosters, Miranda van Reeuwijk, Ine Vanwesenbeeck Source Type: research

CrowdOutAIDS: crowdsourcing youth perspectives for action
This article describes the participatory approach of using social media and crowdsourcing solutions to integrate youth perspectives into strategy and policy processes. In these forums, youth consistently identified the need to change the way sex and relationships are dealt with through changing how sex is talked about, putting comprehensive sexuality education in place, and overcoming social and cultural taboos. The outcome document recommended three major priorities: dispel taboos surrounding sex and sexuality, eliminate stigma and discrimination against young people living with HIV, and remove social and legal barriers. ...
Source: Reproductive Health Matters - May 20, 2013 Category: Global & Universal Authors: Mikaela Hildebrand, Claudia Ahumada, Sharon Watson Source Type: research

Young people, sex and relationships: miles to go and promises to keep
The overarching messages from the papers in this journal issue are that: 1) adolescents and young people want and need sexual health information and health care, provided with a sex-positive approach to sex, sexuality, sexual identity and relationships; 2) those providing it need specialist training; and 3) adolescent and youth leadership and involvement in policy, activities and programmes are crucial. Adolescents and young people want to know about HIV, STIs, pregnancy, abortion, contraception, sexual and gender identity, communication in relationships, menstruation, sexual violence and coercion, stigma, bullying, discri...
Source: Reproductive Health Matters - May 20, 2013 Category: Global & Universal Authors: Marge Berer Source Type: research

Termination of pregnancy as emergency obstetric care: the interpretation of Catholic health policy and the consequences for pregnant women: An analysis of the death of Savita Halappanavar in Ireland and similar cases
Abstract: Issues arising from the death of Savita Halappanavar in Ireland in October 2012 include the question of whether it is unethical to refuse to terminate a non-viable pregnancy when the woman’s life may be at risk. In Catholic maternity services, this decision intersects with health professionals’ interpretation of Catholic health policy on treatment of miscarriage as well as the law on abortion. This paper explores how these issues came together around Savita’s death and the consequences for pregnant women and maternity services worldwide. It discusses cases not only in Ireland but also the Americas. Many of ...
Source: Reproductive Health Matters - May 20, 2013 Category: Global & Universal Authors: Marge Berer Source Type: research

Prevention Screening and Counseling: Strategy for Integration Into Medical Education and Practice
Abstract: Providing optimal preventive services across the life span is integral to improving the nation’s health. However, teaching future health professionals evidence-based prevention screening and counseling has notable limitations. Applying the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (Task Force) preventive services recommendations is necessary but not sufficient to teach comprehensive and practical preventive services delivery. Certain important health topics have not yet been investigated by the Task Force; other Task Force health topics have insufficient evidence or nonspecific recommendations. The purpose of the cur...
Source: American Journal of Preventive Medicine - May 20, 2013 Category: Global & Universal Authors: Sarah M. Mian, Suzanne Lazorick, Kristina L. Simeonsson, Hayley F. Afanador, Chelsea L. Stowe, Lloyd F. Novick Tags: Topics in Education Source Type: research