At the family planning summit in London, I waited to hear leaders of different countries recognise the centrality of women’s human rights, their sexual and reproductive rights. But disappointingly, although a few notable references were made to these issues by some leaders, women’s human rights were not appropriately addressed.
The report of the Global Commission on HIV and the Law, released today, recommends the repeal of laws that prohibit consenting adults from buying or selling sex. The recommendations will be a powerful advocacy tool for sex workers at both international and local levels.
All I had to do was take a pill every day, I was told, and hey presto, I didn't have to worry about getting pregnant if I didn't want to, and it worked! But oh, if only it had all turned out to be that easy.
I recently had the privilege of talking with women across Guinea and the messages I heard over and over again were these: I want to live a healthy life... to earn a living... to educate my children.
In this week's sexual health roundup: new research suggests that the HPV vaccine lowers the likelihood of HPV in both the young women who have had them and others in their communities; the FDA approves the first completely in-home HIV test but some worry about its potentially high rate of false-negatives; and the latest addition to research on teens and sexting finds those who sext are more likely to have had sex.
We have two options: We can make family planning a priority and invest the money needed to give women control of their own lives and futures. Or we can allow our nation – and our world – to slide backward.
This week’s summit is a crucial opportunity to re-invigorate international efforts to provide millions of women with access to the contraception they so desperately need. Yet increasing the availability of contraception is just one aspect of ensuring reproductive health, and cannot be seen in isolation.
