Cultural complexity is an integral dimension of health, forcing practitioners to strike a balance between being relativistic and intervening when social traditions threaten a population’s health and human rights. South Africa has been thrust into this tight spot, as a cultural practice called ukuthwala facilitates abduction and sex trafficking of adolescent girls, according to a Nov. 29 article by the Mail & Guardian. Originally a stepping stone toward marriage for consenting couples, ukuthwala has now evolved to include “the abduction of a girl or a young woman by a man and his accomplices with the intention of forcing her family to agree to a marriage,” the media outlet said. This of course constitutes a grave denial of women’s rights to choose their partners and determine what happens to their bodies. According to Girls Not Brides, 1% of South African girls under 15 are married, as are 6% of those under 18. However, these figures do not account for differences between rural...
The global health community is no stranger to intractable issues or creative ways to confront them, and World AIDS Day—observed each Dec.1—plays a valuable role in catalyzing conversations about ending “one of the most destructive pandemics in history." This year’s theme is “Increasing Impact Through Transparency, Accountability, and Partnerships,” Ambassador Deborah L. Birx, U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator & U.S. Special Representative for Global Health Diplomacy at the U.S. Department of State revealed in a Nov. 1 blog post on HIV.gov. Started in 1988, World AIDS Day offers “a time to honor those who have lost their lives to AIDS, communicate our ongoing commitment to assist those who are living with or at risk for HIV, and celebrate the caregivers, families, friends, and communities that support them,” Birx said. Indeed, the event is simultaneously retrospective and prospective. While innovative treatments and programs—including antiretroviral therapy, condom distributions and mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) reduction campaigns—have, in many ways, transformed HIV since it was discovered in 1984, there...
In a concerning violation of female soldiers’ reproductive and human rights, Indonesia’s military reportedly continues to conduct invasive “virginity tests” on women recruits, despite a 2014 statement by the World Health Organization that such examinations have “no scientific validity.” Human Rights Watch made the allegation in a Nov. 23 special report, citing “senior military and police officers with knowledge of the ‘virginity testing’ policy.” Indonesian officials purport a “two-finger test” that assesses a woman’s hymen can accurately indicate whether she is a virgin, if she is pregnant and how mentally sound she is. As Fuad Basya, a spokesman for the military, said in 2015, “If they are no longer virgins, if they are naughty, it means their mentality is not good.” Such attitudes, which equate virginity with morality, may foster a toxic culture surrounding sexuality. Indeed, an August editorial VICE editorial chronicles the challenges of obtaining emergency contraception as an unmarried woman in Indonesia, including “slut-shaming pharmacists, slow-a** clinics, and weird WhatsApp...
Too often, conversations about reproductive health target women without also assigning responsibility to their male partners. World Vasectomy Day seeks to confront this issue, encouraging men to adopt active roles in family planning.
“A celebration of men around the world who are stepping up for their partners, their families and their future,” the program is “the largest male-focused family planning event in history,” according to its website. Headquartered in Mexico City for 2017, World Vasectomy Day activities have previously taken place in Nairobi, Kenya, and Bali, Indonesia.
Organizers held a “Vasectomiathon” Nov. 16-17 which included, through digital communication, about 1,200 health practitioners in more than 50 nations. Their campaign re-frames an often-stigmatized and private reproductive health choice as a public and “heroic decision [men can make] to care for their families, communities and our planet.”
Organizers advertised live vasectomies and film screenings at both the Vasectomiathon and the actual World Vasectomy Day celebration on Nov. 19. The public can attend Sunday's event in...
Reproductive health activists in the Philippines have to cause to celebrate, as the country has dissolved a major impediment to women exercising autonomy over their bodies. A Nov. 10 advisory from the Philippine Food and Drug Administration verified 51 contraceptives as “non-abortifacient” after backlash from pro-life organizations prompted a governmental review.
In a momentous win for women, the country’s 2012 Reproductive Health Law ensured those "living in the deeply Catholic and densely populated nation universal access to contraception, fertility control and maternal care, and mandated sex education in schools,” according to the New York Times.
However, allegations equating contraceptives with abortifacients prompted the Supreme Court to impose partial restrictions on the law in 2015, effectively revoking crucial rights the Reproductive Health Law afforded women. A July ruling required FDA clearance of the contraceptives to lift the restraining order.
The administration's list, published Sunday, includes injectables, intrauterine devices and pills, as well as implants, of which the Philippine health department has more than 200,000...
Over 600,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled to Bangladesh to escape persecution in Myanmar, and are currently living in crowded and under-resourced refugee camps. Reproductive health services are often non-existent or severely limited in refugee camps, yet these services are desperately needed by women and girls living in the camps. Bangladesh has begun to offer birth control pills, injectables, and condoms in the camps, and is hiring more staff to offer reproductive health services, including family planning counseling. This is not a service that should be optional in refugee camps, and we hope services continue as long as they are needed....
On Thursday November 2nd, Ivanka Trump traveled to Japan to speak at the World Assembly of Women. In her remarks, Trump commented on the importance of shaping a more realistic picture of women who work (be it in the home, outside, or a combination of both), and that women need to be afforded the same opportunities as their male peers. As she talked about her daughter, she said: "It is my hope that by the time my daughter Arabella grows into a woman, she will not be defined by whether she works inside or outside the home. She will simply be a woman afforded the same opportunities as her male peers and equipped with the education and support she needs to fulfill her unique potential." For her daughter, or girls around the world to do this? They need access to comprehensive reproductive healthcare. Without the ability to decide and control their reproductive futures, girls choices are taken away from them. They will...
The Consortium of Universities for Global Health (CUGH) announced its fifth annual Reflection Essay Contest. The contest is co-sponsored by CUGH, Child Family Health International, University of Pittsburg Center for Global Health and Loyola University Chicago Health Sciences Division. Trainees from undergraduate, graduate and post-graduate levels and Global Health faculty/practitioners are encouraged to submit an essay to the contest. Winners will be invited to attend and read their essays at the CUGH 2018 Annual Conference (March 16-18, 2018) in New York, NY. Submissions are due by midnight EST on November 12, 2017. For more information, please visit the CUGH website....
This limited-time, free online course based on the Lancet Maternal Health Series will explore the state of maternal health around the world. Students, researchers and implementers are invited to join to review the latest evidence and learn what is needed to ensure good-quality, woman-centered maternal healthcare for all. You will cover topics that include epidemiology of maternal and neonatal health, patterns in health care delivery, what constitutes quality maternal health care and how it related to respectful care, and challenges and opportunities in the Sustainable Development Goals. Check it out! Link to the online course: https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/maternal-health...
