Danielle Toppin
RH Reality Check, Caribbean
Danielle Toppin writes from Jamaica. She has experience with gender and development, and will be covering reproductive health issues in the Caribbean and Latin America.
All Work
Empowering Adolescents to Make Wise Sexual Choices
While acknowledging the "cultural context" in which many students live, Jamaican Minister of Education Andrew Holness has refused to supply students with condoms in the schools.
One Girl’s Story of Living with HIV
In a series of diary entries for the Jamaica Gleaner, a young woman living with HIV relates the often neglected psychological effects of HIV infection and young motherhood.
Against Backdrop of Sexual Violence, Ads, Too, Exploit Young Teens
Against a wider backdrop of sexual violence being committed against, and perpetrated by, children and adolescents, the sexualization of under-aged teenagers in Jamaica is extremely problematic.
In Jamaica HIV Affects More than Just Health
In a cultural climate with too many examples of stigma and discrimination against people living with HIV, a proposed plan in Jamaica to protect the right of HIV-positive workers could symbolize a major step in the way the country treats this key issue.
Jamaican Health Official Calls for Sex Work Decriminalization
A senior public health official in Jamaica recently called for decriminalization and taxation of commercial sex work. Other government officials decried the proposal, but have few effective suggestions of their own.
Taking ‘Baby Mothers’ For Granted
Because we live in societies that conceive of motherhood as "natural," policymakers haven't created adequate support systems for our diverse needs.
When Bodies Become War Zones
Gender activists in Jamaica have noted the persistence of strong links between community-based violence and rape.
Domestic Violence Is an RH Issue
The presence of violence - be it emotional, physical or sexual - diminishes the ability of healthy individuals to demand healthy sexual relationships, and by extension a healthy sense of self.
Jamaica’s Flawed Abortion Laws
Illegal abortions are one of the top ten causes of maternal death in Jamaica. Safe, legal abortions are only accessible to those who can afford one. Existing abortion "common law" in Jamaica is ambiguous and differs than legislation on the books. Jamaica is in the midst of a heated abortion debate.
Child Brides: In Jamaica, Too
Although ideas regarding men's right to ownership over 'their' women in intimate relationships can be found across communities, the practice of cohabitation between under-aged females and older men is predominantly found in communities marked by poverty.
Valuing Tradition, Valuing the Elderly
In a number of communities across the Caribbean, we have come to place an extremely high value on youth, moving away from traditions that elevated our elders to a place of respect, and in essence silencing their voices and increasing their vulnerability.
HIV Is Not Just a Health Problem
By emphasizing the social dynamics that often contribute to the transmission of HIV, policy planners and practitioners rightly see HIV as a social and development issue, not just as a health issue.
In Their Voices: Children Living with HIV in Jamaica Speak
Recognizing the unique circumstances of children whose lives have been directly impacted by HIV, a number of worthwhile initiatives have been launched in Jamaica to address the issue.
On “Jamaican-ness” and Gay Textbooks
A textbook that was allegedly proposed by the Jamaican Ministry of Education for inclusion in the home economics school curriculum made mention of same-sex unions and families, and a public outcry on the meaning of "Jamaican-ness" ensued.
Centralizing Stories
No matter how we feel about adolescent sexuality, the fact remains: real girls and boys are choosing to, or being forced to, enter into sexual relationships every day. The stories are numerous. We need to listen.
Abortion: A Question of Morality?
Despite steps taken by many Caribbean nations towards ensuring women’s right to safely terminate their pregnancies, cultural debates which pit abortion against God omit two key factors from the debate: women’s right to choose, and the psychological, social and emotional impacts of their choices.
Sexual Violence More than Just Rape
Art and advertising that play on concepts of sexual violence both feed and depend on a culture that normalizes sexual violence against women.
Jamaica Labor Party Takes Power
Will the newly-elected Jamaica Labor Party realize that gender equity and reproductive health care have significance for social and economic development?
Real Men, Real Sexual Health Needs
Talking about men's sexual health needs means being open about masculinity.
What’s Natural About Childbirth?
States, not necessarily women, win when medical technology invades every aspect of pregnancy and childbirth.
Assassins on the Loose?
Danielle Toppin explores an HIV prevention strategy proposed by Dr. Ray Noel, HIV Specialist for the Tobago Health Promotion Clinic, in an article in the Trinidadian newspaper The Sunday Guardian.
“It’s Your Wicket, Protect It!”
The National HIV/AIDS Commission of Barbados launched a prevention campaign consisting of public service announcements that draw on one of the Caribbean's core cultural elements: cricket.
The British Virgin Islands: HIV Profile
Danielle Toppin travels to the British Virgin Islands to meet with local HIV/AIDS officials and begin to gauge what HIV/AIDS looks like there.
Putting the Cart Before the Horse
Danielle Toppin offers suggestions to improve a pilot survey in the Caribbean that fell short of reaching a wide number of people in groups vulnerable to HIV.
Lost in Translation
Jamaica has put measures in place to support the Convention on the Rights of the Child and protect children from sexual abuse, but cultural issues must be addressed in addition to legal reform.
Gender Dynamics of Reproductive Health Policies
In the area of reproductive and sexual health, accommodations must be made to take account of the impact of gender socialisation and the ways in which it shapes the sexual identities.
Children and Commercial Sex Work
Children's participation in commercial sex work brings with it some particularly troublesome concerns in the areas of sexual and reproductive health. There is an urgent need for programmes and policies that meet the needs of this vulnerable group.
Changing Views on Adolescent Sexuality
In the Caribbean, views are slowly changing from conservative attitudes to more positive understanding of healthy adolescent sexuality. Educating teenagers honestly will empower them to make wise decisions.
Becoming a Woman through Motherhood
Editor's Note: Today we welcome Danielle Toppin, writing from Jamaica. She has experience with gender and development, and will be covering reproductive health issues in the Caribbean and Latin America.
On November 4, 2004, I discovered that I was pregnant. In that moment, my life began to change. The ways in which I saw myself; and in which society perceived me shifted. It was as though I had finally fulfilled my role as a woman. I had proven my worthiness.
In the Caribbean context, ideas of motherhood are inextricably linked with ideas of womanhood. In Barbados, meanings are attached to fertile and infertile female bodies; with value being attached to those women who reproduce, and withheld from those women who, either by choice or by nature, do not. Mothering has become synonymous with "becoming a woman", achieving an almost mythical status as the natural path that women's lives should take.
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