As part of the main drivers of the BAM Group of Companies, this being the umbrella company within which Informative Newspaper operates, alongside sister brands Finite
Magazine, Finite Lifestyle Club, Bam Promotions and Twin Talk, Informative Newspaper takes particular interest in social issues and causes created to advance the development of
young girls and women and their participation in the global space.
To advance and cement the organization’s support for women and young girls, the Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights is today, through this issue introduced. Its purpose is to
advance knowledge and create further awareness on developments surrounding the said community sector and to help audiences stay updated on such, further guiding means of both action and reaction to these developments.
This week we discuss: Human rights barriers to family planning and contraception
Harmful gender norms
Women and girls may be unable to access family planning because of family or spousal opposition, often based on religious reasons or social values. In many African countries, married women may themselves oppose contraception because they believe it is their duty to have children. Adolescent girls and young women may not be able to disclose that they are sexually active because of social norms and this may limit their ability and willingness to access contraception.
Lack of information and education on contraception and family planning
Many women struggle to access information about modern contraception and do not understand how contraception works or which method would work best for them. The lack of information does not only impede access because women do not demand access, but it also leads to misconceptions about the side effects and health risks associated with contraception which may deter women from asking for and using contraception. For example, some women believe that hormonal contraception may make them infertile or cause cancer.
In Africa, studies show that many married women do not use contraception if they have not resumed menstruation post-pregnancy, they are still breast-feeding or both because they do not believe they can get pregnant.
Women living with HIV and family planning
Family planning services rarely provide targeted services and information to women living with HIV, who have both the same and different family planning needs as other women. They have a higher risk of contracting STIs and need specific information about their options for contraception, including access to male and female condoms.
Women living with HIV have the right to become pregnant and have children. They should be able to decide whether they wish to have children and to plan their pregnancies, but they frequently cannot access accurate information that allows them to make informed decisions about pregnancy and children in the context of their HIV status. Some may be pressurised by health care workers, families and sexual partners to be sterilised and women living with HIV in some SADC countries have reported being sterilised without their informed consent.
Consequences of the lack of access to contraception and information
Health consequences of unintended pregnancy
Women who do not have access to contraception are unable to prevent or delay their pregnancies and many, especially vulnerable and marginalised women and adolescent girls, experience negative health consequences as a result. Providing access to all women in developing countries who have an unmet need for contraception would prevent: 54 million unintended pregnancies, 16 million unsafe abortions and 7 million miscarriages, 79 000 maternal deaths and 1.1 million infant deaths.
Economic benefits of ensuring access to contraception for all women
Unwanted and unintended pregnancy is a significant cause of poverty for women in developing countries and there are clear economic benefits to investing in family planning. For every additional dollar that is invested in contraception, the cost of pregnancy-related care will be reduced by $2.22. In terms of socio-economic benefits, achieving universal access to quality sexual and reproductive health services is estimated to yield returns of $120 for every dollar invested. Providing contraception and contraceptive information and education can save women’s lives and allow them to live more productive lives and reducing gender inequality.
Lack of sexual autonomy
Lack of access to contraception undermines the ability of women to control their fertility and health, undermining their ability to enjoy a satisfying sex life.
What can parliamentarians do to advance access to family planning and contraception?
Undertake advocacy research: Parliamentarians can initiate research into the barriers to family planning, including the lack of education about contraception both inside and outside hospital and clinic facilities. This research should pay specific attention to the family planning needs of women living with HIV, female members of key populations and young women, as well as the specific barriers they face in accessing services and information. It is important for parliamentarians to understand the reasons why women in their countries are not accessing contraception as reasons will differ between countries. Further, by understanding the dynamics in their own countries, parliamentarians could encourage evidence based policies and programming.
Parliamentarians can investigate the availability of family planning in public health facilities and whether health care workers have been trained to advise and administer contraception, including to women living with HIV, female members of key populations and young women. They can also investigate the availability of CSE for adolescents and young people that includes information and education about family planning and contraception. Parliamentarians can also initiate research into special programmes that promote access to
contraception and information to marginalised and vulnerable women.
Enact and strengthen protective laws: Parliamentarians can draft and enact laws promoting
access to family planning. They can ensure that laws:
- Promote equal, non-discriminatory access to family planning and contraception, ensure that
women are able to make informed decisions about contraception and give their informed consent before using any form of contraception;
- Promote access to family planning and contraception for young women, women living with HIV, female members of key populations and other marginalised and vulnerable women;
- Prohibit any form of coercion in access to contraception, including sterilisation;
- Do not criminalise methods of preventing pregnancy, including abortion;
- Do not require spousal or parental consent to access contraception and contraceptive information;
- Respect the right to medical confidentiality for women and girls; and
- Promote access to CSE for adolescents and young men and women, including information about contraception.
Ensure accountability for implementation of commitments: Parliamentarians can undertake legal audits to assess the extent to which laws and policies are consistent with their international and regional human rights commitments. They can also call for accountability to and reporting on efforts to meet related international and regional human rights commitments. They can meet with the relevant parliamentary committees to share information and concerns about discriminatory laws and assess what changes are necessary to advance access to family planning and contraception.
They can meet with international and regional experts to discuss what law reform is necessary and advocate for legal and policy reform to ensure compliance. They can monitor and hold government ministries accountable for reporting on their progress towards amending discriminatory laws and enact protective ones, and they can encourage civil society to monitor whether protective laws are being implemented.
Where they find deficits, they can advocate for legal and policy reform to ensure compliance.
Parliamentarians can encourage government to develop national plans of action, with clear targets, milestones, indicators and allocated budgets, to achieve SDG Target 3.7 on ensuring universal access to sexual and reproductive health care services. They can monitor and hold government ministries accountable for reporting on their progress towards achieving SDG Target 3.7.
Budget monitoring: Parliamentarians can advocate for adequate budgets to be allocated to
advancing universal access to SRHR, including family planning and contraception and ensure that budgeted programmes for family planning and contraceptive methods are tailored to the needs of the community, considering conservative traditions and practices of certain social groups and communities and indicating clearly the scientific evidence available on reproduction and ways to control it safely. They can analyse budget allocations for SRH to assess that programmes will reach the women and girls who most need them. They can encourage various ministries (e.g. health, education, justice) to budget for relevant programmes and that human rights are fully integrated into programmes on contraception and appropriately costed to ensure implementation.
Next, we discuss: Safe Abortion