World Contraception Day is 26 September & International Safe Abortion Day is 28 September. Just 2 days apart. The theme for World Contraception Day 2022 is Contraception: it’s your right: it’s your responsibility.
The Simba Utano team at Katswe held community-level advocacy dialogues at Ward 12, Mwanza Business Centre, Goromonzi. It was attended by 80 people; 20 young men, 40 young women aged 15-24, and 20 District level Stakeholders, including the Ministry of Youth, Ministry of Social Development, Ministry of Women Affairs, Ministry of Health and Child Care, Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, Goromonzi Rural District Council, NAC & the VFU. Other CSOs operating in the district were also present including FACT, Mavambo, ZACH.
The dialogue centered on Adolescent Girls and Young Women access to Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights services, including prevention and management of unintended pregnancies.
The AGYW were keen to debate and get clarity on various myths and misconceptions of how contraceptives aid infertility associated with the use of contraception such as jadelle and implants.
They believe that contraception is for the married who have given birth. If you use contraception before you start child bearing, you will not be able to have them later in life.
Boys know more about emergency contraception than girls. This is primarily because it is culturally acceptable for boys to talk freely about sex from an early age. Boys are generally allowed to express their curiosity, and experiment even at the expense of their health. If they get STIs, this may be seen as evidence of their prowess. Whereas for girls, sex talk is regarded as taboo. Even when they are sexually active, one’s sexual life is shrouded in secrecy, otherwise, if the family or community gets to sniff it out, you are finished.
One girl shared a sad experience of a school girl who committed suicide after a sibling had walked in on her and her boyfriend during a sexual encounter.
‘Boy’s survive these things. Societal judgement is brutal when it comes to female bodies and sexuality’ said Nancy, Program Officer at Katswe Sistahood.
Ruvarashe could not face the world due to the stigma associated with premarital sex. She chose to take her life. This reflects how hard society is on women and girls.
The girls generally lamented the subordination of women, and how a woman’s value is attached to her body, sexuality and sexual experiences.
‘You get told that your body is like a car, that depreciates value when used. It’s as if our sexual organs have a mileage and we are generally treated like commodities that can be evaluated by any passerby, touched inappropriately, exchanged, bought, or sold.
It is time society allowed us to own and control our bodies, and sexuality. Society should tackle and remove the social scrutiny, and allow girls to be, to explore, to shine. It is the same scrutiny that makes it hard for girls to openly discuss sex, and seek knowledge and services on contraceptive options available to them. In fact, even when they have the information, they are forced to feign ignorance to their partners to avoid being labeled loose. This leads to a rise in unintended pregnancies and unsafe abortions even in areas where contraception has been made available on demand.
Speaking at the community dialogue, Nancy Chabuda also highlighted that a clinic in Mazowe, another SU district, had reported that emergency contraceptives were expiring and going to waste
Clearly, these societal attitudes are an enemy of progress and a huge threat to the work projects such as Simba Utano does promoting contraception use by all who are sexually active, whether young, or old, single or married.