Prioritize girls and young women on International Women’s Day

Lack of access to critical services prevents progress towards the MDGs

The choices that girls and young women can make around sex and pregnancy will resonate throughout their lives and have a significant influence on progress towards the Millennium Development Goals.

Yet today, sex and pregnancy pose tremendous risks to the lives and well-being of girls and young women because they lack access to comprehensive sexuality education, to sexual and reproductive health information and services, and because of persistent gender and age discrimination. When girls and young women are able to make meaningful choices about their life path, they are empowered; their quality of life improves, as does, subsequently, the well-being of their families and communities.

Evidence shows the needs of girls and young women are neglected

Adolescent girls bear more than their share of poverty, not surprising considering that “less than two cents of every dollar spent on international development is directed specifically toward adolescent girls.”[i] The evidence suggests that many existing interventions and programmes are not fully meeting their needs:

Global leading causes of death in females aged 15-24 years, 2004 [i]

• All maternal causes 19.3%
• Self-inflicted injuries 7.5%
• HIV/AIDS 6.8%
• Tuberculosis 6.5%
• Road traffic accidents 5%

2.5 million unsafe abortions are performed on young women (aged 15-19 years) in developing countries annually.[ii]

· Sexual and reproductive health programmes in many countries are targeted towards women who are married or over 18 years of age, despite the facts: many young women have sex before age 18 and as the age of marriage increases, sex is increasingly premarital.[iii],[iv],[v]

· Restrictions regarding age of consent for access to health services and sex stigmatize young women’s sexuality and pose additional barriers to services.

· A study from sub-Saharan Africa found that “fear, shame and cost are the three most common barriers that adolescents face in accessing sexual and reproductive health services.”[vi]

Re-casting sexuality in a positive light

Sexuality is a fundamental aspect of human life, and it is closely related to sexual behaviours, identity, gender norms, relationships and reproduction. Girls and young women are empowered when they understand that their identities, feelings, behaviour and aspirations are legitimate and respected. Their confidence and autonomy increases, and they are able to make informed, healthy choices about relationships, sexuality and pregnancy, which benefit their family and themselves.

Positive approaches to girls’ and women’s sexual and reproductive lives are important for individual development, and are mediating factors that contribute to wider development goals.

Projects that promote a positive approach to young women’s sexuality

These examples of best practice have empowered girls and young women, and contributed to development, by embracing a positive approach to their sexual and reproductive lives. Many of them have been replicated in other regions and contexts, but investment is needed to take them to scale. They include:

· Comprehensive sexuality education, integrating gender, HIV, sex and relationships

· Youth-friendly services, delivered in appropriate ways and places, at affordable costs

· Support young women who have an unintended pregnancy

· Engaging young men as partners in healthy sexual relationships

· Safe spaces for girls and young women to congregate and support each other

Recommendations

1. Research: Support research on girls and young women that is comprehensive and pragmatic

· Demand quantitative and qualitative indicators that provide meaningful information about girls’ and young women’s sexual and reproductive choices and the quality of information and services being provided to them.

· Involve young people as researchers and work with them to get research integrated in policy and practice

2. Programmes and services: Invest in programmes and services for girls and young women

· Invest in youth-friendly services

· Remove restrictions in the provision of sexual and reproductive information and services, including discrimination based on age, gender, HIV status, marital status or socio-economic status

· Ensure that programmes and services include strategies to reach the most marginalized and vulnerable girls and young women

· Incorporate a positive attitude to young women’s sexual behaviour, sexuality and reproduction

3. Policies: create supportive legal and policy frameworks, social norms and infrastructures

· Involve young people, in a meaningful way, in policy development, implementation and evaluation

· Policies and laws should respect the evolving capacities of girls and young women and not impose age-related restrictions or discriminations

· Guarantee access to comprehensive sexuality education and sexual and reproductive health services for young women and young men, both in and out of school

It is time for policy- and decision-makers, educators, service providers and community leaders to re-think strategies for girls and young women: invest in, protect and promote policies, programmes, services and research that incorporate a positive approach to their choices around all aspects of sex, sexuality and pregnancy.   

IPPF is both a service provider and an advocate of sexual and reproductive health and rights. We are a worldwide network of 151 Member Associations active in over 170 countries.

[i] Nike Foundation, The Girl Effect, accessed at www.girleffect.org, on April 21, 2010.

[i] Maternal causes included in this table are maternal haemorrhage, maternal sepsis, hypertensive disorders, obstructed labour, abortion and other maternal conditions. Source: Prepared by Carolyn Coffey, 2nd February 20011 using data provided by Colin Mather. Based on data reported in: Patton GC, Coffey C, Sawyer SM, Viner RM, Haller DM, Base K, Vos T, Ferguson J and CD Mathers (2009) Global patterns of mortality in young people: a systematic analysis of population health data. The Lancet, 374: 881-92.

[ii] Guttmacher (2009) Abortion Worldwide: A Decade of Uneven Progress. New York: Guttmacher.

[iii] National Research Council (2005) Growing up Global: The changing transitions to adulthood in developing countries. Lloyd, CB (ed). National Research Council. Pp 198. Based on a study of Demographic Health Surveys in 41 developing countries.

[iv] Xenox, P and M Kabamalan (2005) A comparative history of age-structure and social transitions among Asian youth. In Shripad Tuljapurkar, Ian Pool, and Vipan Prachuabmoh, eds. Riding the age waves. Population, Resources, and Development: International Studies in Population, Volume 1. Dordrecht: Springer Verlag, pp. 57-88.

[v] Xenos, Peter , Achmad, Sulistinah , Lin, Hui Sheng , Luis, Ping Keung , Podhisita, Chai , Raymundo, Corazon and Thapa, Shyam (2006) Delayed Asian Transitions to Adulthood. Asian Population Studies, 2(2), 149-185.

[vi] Bankole, A and S Malarcher (2010) Removing Barriers to Adolescents’ Access to Contraceptive Information and Services. Studies in Family Planning, 41 (2). Based on a study in four African countries.

Contact Paul Bell on 44 (0)207 939 8233

Read more

Sexual Rights in Action

Sexual Rights: an IPPF Declaration

This declaration is an interpretation of international human rights and the entitlements related to human sexuality that IPPF believes are implicit in them. It recognizes the sexual rights of society’s most vulnerable and marginalized groups, including those subjected to sexual violence, stigma and discrimination.

What will you be doing on International Women's Day on 8th March 2011?

The London March, led by Annie Lennox left Borough Market at 11am, walking along the south side of the river to Millennium Bridge, crossing the Thames to the North side then continuing west along the river walk way past Victoria Embankment Gardens, then crossing back along Hungerford Bridge to the Southbank, finishing at the Royal Festival Hall for speeches.

Download the flyer

Reuters Alertnet are hosting a live blogging event for International Women’s Day, several people from IPPF are blogging on this forum.

Read Carmen Barroso's article about life in Brazil in The Guardian.

DFID feature Girls Decide on their site.