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Because there are actually sensible people on this planet who know that the responsibility of pregnancy does not fall solely on the shoulders of girls and women, the campaign above exists. The Chicago Department of Public Health’s Office of Adolescent and School Health has launched a great campaign about teenage pregnancy. The campaign features images of pregnant lads, reminding people that there is always another party involved. Because in today’s society, people are quick to shame the young women, forgetting that they couldn’t possibly have gotten pregnant all on their own. What are we now? Amoeba?
You can read all about the campaign on the City of Chicago’s official website.
(Note: Katia Gomez is the Founder and Executive Director of Educate2Envision, an international NGO working with the children and young people of Honduras. Recently, her organization was recognized by the WomenDeliver as one of the 25 finalists for the WomenDeliver 25, an online competition to determine the top social enterprises that benefit girls and women around the world. More than 13,500 votes were cast online to select Teen Revolt, New Incentives, Wedu, and the other winners. Each finalist will receive a scholarship to WomenDeliver 2013, where they will compete in the first-ever Women Deliver Social Enterprise Challenge. Photo credits goes to Educate2Envision website and Wikipedia.)
Leo: Hi Katia, first of all, congratulations to you and to Educate2Envision for being one of the Top 10 finalists for the Women Deliver Social Enterprise Challenge. How does it feel to have reached this far? Tell us the process that your organization have undergone in order to reach this point in your organization of being a finalist of such a prestigious competition.
Katia: Thank you! It’s such an honor to be recognized for our work with the girls of Honduras on such a global scale as Women Deliver. It is a great feeling of accomplishment and also one of excitement at this particular point in time as we are growing Educate2Envision and expanding throughout the country to bring educational opportunities to hundreds more. To get to this point has taken the ability to learn lessons along the way and really take time to understand the communities we work with to better support them on their journey towards building empowered future generations.
Leo: How did Educate2Envision started as an organization? Why choose the name Educate2Envision as the name of the organization? Are you based in Honduras alone or does the organization also have other country offices with specific projects to work with?
Katia: My vision for starting the organization came after a Spring Break volunteer trip in 2009 with a group of undergrad classmates. This was one of the first times that I was able to see the poverty discussed in my classroom lectures and textbooks really come to life. Speaking to the parents and teachers in the community that would become our pilot program, I began to quickly understand all the new buzz around girls’ education and how it could indeed change the outcome of entire countries.
The name Educate2Envision came about because I wanted the name to speak to the “before and after” of our work. We don’t only want to provide a means for youth in poverty to become educated in the traditional sense, but rather we have a higher goal of providing them with the self-esteem and leadership skills to envision a better future for their communities.
We are currently working only in Honduras with our headquarters based in California.
Leo: Why should an organization like E2E focus on the education of the young people boys and girls of Honduras? How important is education to them? What good can it bring to their lives?
Katia: An endless number of surveys and interviews that our students have contributed towards overwhelmingly show a desire to use education as a tool to improve and develop their communities and to enable them to be productive citizens of Honduras. Almost every response proves to be a selfless one when asked why education is important. The level of importance cannot be overstated in a society, such as the rural communities of Honduras, where the cycle of poverty is aggressive and stubborn often reflected in parents who lack basic literacy skills. Education is that investment that can break the cycle that has endured for generations and set a precedent with the first in the family to be educated past primary school and beyond; you can bet that their children will follow the same trajectory. Poverty is a complicated web of deeply rooted inequalities, so it can be difficult to find the light at the end of the tunnel, but education is one of the most fool-proof investments we can make in putting an end to this.
Leo: Please share to us the progress of the programs and projects that E2E has implemented in the communities of Pajarillos, Miravalle, and La Ceiba such as:
a. Girls Leadership Club
b. Secondary School Sponsorship
c. E2E Youth Empowerment Network
d. Other E2E Programs
Katia: To date we have sponsored over 60 students to be the first in their families, and often communities, to move beyond 6th grade. The E2E Youth Empowerment Network will have it’s first National Conference take place next month which will showcase small business projects from each school intended to address a need in their communities. This will be the first time they will all be brought together to collaborate and help give a bigger voice to the rural poor. Our Girls Leadership Club is functioning great with the latest survey results showing that girls who participated have greater self-esteem and self-respect than before. One of my favorite recent quotes was from an 11 year old girl, “Before my friends and I would play house and pretend to be moms, now when we play we pretend to be teachers and doctors.”
Leo: Your website gave information to its best, I am wondering if you integrate comprehensive sexuality education to your programs and projects? If yes, I would love to know how you specifically integrated this in your programs and projects. If not, what could be the possible impediments/challenges that E2E which hindered you from implementing so?
Katia: Yes we definitely have prioritized reproductive health and sexuality education in our programming because it is so rarely discussed within the formal school system or even among parents. With such high rates of adolescent pregnancy, there is really no sidestepping the issue if we want our students to excel in our secondary school programming. There are a variety of ways that we instruct our students including open discussions inside the Girls Leadership Club, workshops led by our Honduran University interns, and training primary school teachers how to approach the topic in class. It is taboo is most of Honduran society to openly discuss sexuality education but we have not found parents to be opposed to E2E’s efforts in making the knowledge available to their children.
Leo: How do you monitor and evaluate your programs and projects? What are the results so far?
Katia: Our monitoring and evaluation techniques try to encompass both qualitative and quantitative indicators within a community. For example, we track student progress within the primary and secondary school systems such as enrollment, retention, and graduation rates. But we also pay close attention to the level of behavior change among our students and the community overall by asking questions related to future goals and where education fits in their lives. We have seen outstanding results among the students we have sponsored so far in 2 communities. As a result of creating access to secondary school, enrollment rates have spiked at the primary level as parents have been moved to place their kids in school. We also have the highest number of graduating primary school students in the history of the community, who will all be first generation high school students. Additionally, the community that previously faced the highest level of teen pregnancy has had zero girls in the past 2 years exit 6th grade pregnant, which has broken a decades long trend. The overall sentiment towards having goals in one’s life has been transformed dramatically over the past 3 years such that nearly 100% of primary school students can tell you what they wish to be when they grow up whereas before our arrival, they were unable to answer the question because they were unaware of what other options existed.
Leo: What good practices have you encountered while doing these programs and projects and why should we implement it and learn from it? What does E2E want to achieve at the end of the day? Are their new programs, projects or initiatives that E2E will be implementing anytime soon?
Katia: Good practices sometimes involve needing to stray from the rest of the pack. On the education side of development work, my experience has shown that many organizations invest predominantly in tangible donations and infrastructure projects. Although this does represent an unmet need in many communities, I feel there is a lack of focus on more cost-effective projects that promote leadership and innovation among rural youth. If we spend the time to truly understand the intricacies of a rural poor community, we will come to understand that deeply entrenched belief systems are incredibly difficult to influence when it comes to education, so we must make a conscious effort to work directly alongside community members every step of the way.
E2E wants to leave a community in the hands of empowered future changemakers. We don’t see our role as solely creating access to higher education and enrolling as many kids as possible into the program. Each student that we invest in is surrounded by opportunities to gain leadership and life skills that transcend what is traditionally taught in the classroom.
The newest initiative we have underway is a change to our current student sponsorship program. We are building a sustainable model that will allow students, as a class, to design a small business project that would be analyzed by experts and once finalized would receive seed funding from E2E as well as financial workshops. The income earned would be used by students to fund their own school fees .
Leo: Can you share to us how you got involved in the organization? How does it feel working with young people, girls and boys in Honduras? What is the situation in Honduras that motivated you to work for E2E?
Katia: Well it’s incredible if you look at the figures and just think that a country has nearly 75% under 30 years old and only about a quarter of them have any access or resources to attend secondary school. It’s one thing to be astonished by those numbers but it’s another thing to work directly in trying to close the gap and send first-generation high school students back to school. It’s incredibly rewarding because I was sponsored through high school and university as well and now it has come full circle to being able to help those who needed an opportunity as I did.
Leo: Educate2Envision can only do so much out of its own efforts, how does your community help or assist you? Is there a government counterpart or cooperation in your projects? Are you acknowledge by the government of Honduras for your efforts and is there a support you receive coming from them? With the recent political turmoil in the country, how did it affect your work, your recipient communities, and the education system of Honduras?
Katia: The local government has played a very helpful role in supporting our efforts whether it be through assistance with transportation, monitoring, or providing material support for any construction projects. The Secretary of Education and the Ministry of Social Development are both active in providing partnerships that help offset some financial costs, particularly personnel, on our end. We luckily have not been negatively impacted by any political situations at the national level. As an International NGO we have been very fortunate to have great freedom to function independently without much red tape.
Leo: Some people does not know about where and what Honduras is. I myself only know a few things like its Maya heritage, Tegucigalpa, Dania Prince Mendes (Miss Earth 2003), and Manuel Zelaya to name a few. In your own words, describe Honduras to us, to me. Why do you think it has a promising future when we educate its children in order to envision? Muchas gracias!
Katia: Honduras has unfortunately become synonymous with violence and drug trafficking for many who do not know the country outside of what the media reports. I’m so glad to see that you are familiar with other aspects as well! There are undoubtedly many issues related to violence and poverty that restrain Honduras from progressing forward, but the people here are resilient and bonded as a community. You will always have those in political power who are in it for the wrong reasons but I have met so many local Honduran government workers, young people, and teachers who truly believe, with all their heart, in education as the solution to improving the lives of their communities and the country as a whole. We shouldn’t allow the crimes that take place, as happen in any part of the world, to overshadow the overwhelming acts of good that exist and I believe will ultimately triumph with a new generation of humanitarians that will lead the way.
When a teenager or young woman looks in the mirror to consider her appearance, the chances are good that she will not be happy with what she sees.
To help battle that misconception, the second annual True Beauty Fashion Show was held Sunday at St. Mary Catholic Central High School. The event was meant to encourage girls, teens and young women to celebrate and appreciate their own beauty rather than compare themselves to unrealistic standards that are pervasive in advertising and popular culture.
Paxton Kreps of LaSalle, a junior at SMCC, introduced the fashion show last year after realizing that she had issues with how she perceived her looks.
“I spent numerous hours trying to fix myself,” she said. But then she realized it wasn’t her appearance that needed fixing. “It was society.” The highlight of the show included four fashion walks in which 12 SMCC students first modeled what society thinks is beautiful and then clothing in which they felt comfortable. All of the attire and props were chosen by the models from their own closets and dressers. Six younger girls joined the teens for one of the stage walks.
The first runway styles showcased high heels, flowing dresses and short skirts. But the messages were mixed. One teen carried a sign saying, “They call me fat, thick and manly.” Another carried a sign saying “I am beautiful.” The tone noticeably became more casual with later fashions that included jeans, sparkly flip flops and team spirit shirts — and many big smiles. Shannon Upchurch, a technology teacher at SMCC, was asked to assist this year as faculty adviser. She said the issue was new to her, as she is raising boys rather than girls. The SMCC students also wear uniforms to school, so she didn’t see first hand the concerns girls might have. “God sees us as flawless,” Ms. Upchurch said. photo Mackenzie Tomasik of Monroe Keynote speaker Mackenzie Tomasik of Monroe is a junior at Siena Heights University, Adrian, and a 2011 graduate of SMCC.
A Kestrels basketball player, she said she was happiest and felt most at home when she was playing sports. But in high school, she was teased because of her athletic build. Some of the comments she heard included the unwanted nickname “Amazon.” “I’ll never forget the laughter,” she said. The teasing carried over to college sports. About three months ago she was playing for Siena Heights when the heckling started. Ms. Tomasik was so crushed that she was about ready to walk off the court when she realized other Siena Heights athletes were defending her and trying to make the jeering stop. Someone asked after that incident, “Mackenzie, who are you listening to?” “The reason so many girls are battling this issue is they are listening to the wrong people,”she said. Ms. Tomasik has now come up with a comeback for any “Amazon” shouts. She’ll flex her arm muscles to show off, as if she was claiming the title. The response takes hecklers by surprise, and they stop. Paxton hoped the take-home message of the program would be that inner beauty is what really counts. “Your appearance is just the icing on the cake,” she said
Colorado Youth Testify in Support of HB 1081
I strictly assumed that by this time period humans would not be arguing over equality, inclusion, and sexual health. Apparently, some Americans don’t want their children learning about “the gays”, “the lesbians”, “the immigrants” or “cultures.” Some are even outraged because “white heterosexuals” are “no longer represented.” These are authentic words spoken from citizens present in the committee for HB 1081 or “The Sex Ed Bill”, on Thursday February 7th. I went into committee humming “I’m just a Bill” to ease the nerves, because I had no idea what to expect for my first committee hearing. I was not prepared to speak, but after listening to the opposition’s arguments that were no more than racist and discriminative, I wanted my voice heard. I was “the gay” that they rejected, and the “immigrant” that disgusted them, and the “culture” that they were opposed too.
My turn came to speak. Hesitant I got up from my chair, stepped slow and cautious to the stand while I felt judgment from the many eyes in the room. I thought repeatedly in my head what I wanted to say, but as soon as my mouth said the first word, everything seemed to vanish from my brain. What was a high school student to say? Hell, why was he even here? I sat down. My voice shook as I said my name, but I remembered the woman who didn’t want “the gays” and the “immigrants” in her white heterosexual culture and said “I am here representing the Latino community who cannot be here today because they do not speak English, or have the resources to be here.” Yes, I said Latino with an accent because in that very moment, I had never been more proud to be a person of color. I then stated “I would like to begin by saying that I identify as gay.” Never had a said “I identify as gay” openly, in public. I knew however that this was the time to truly express myself as an advocate.
I testified for HB 1081 in a way I never thought I would. I not only came out to the 12 legislators in the room, but I came out to the priest in the back who probably damned me to hell ten times over, the woman who drove from Colorado Springs to attack communities I am a part of, and the many allies in that room which gave me the boost of confidence I much needed. I didn’t have a clear understanding of why I do the work I do. I knew I had a passion for the education of individuals, the equality of humans, and empowerment of the mind, but it took that one woman saying “the gays” and “the immigrants” to accurately put this into perspective. Not only was I advocating for Comprehensive Sexual Health Education, but I was making a stand for everything that is included in Comp Sex Ed; The inclusion of culture, ability, gender, age, sexual orientation, size, and ethnicity. Comprehensive Sexual Health addresses the respect for others and respect for yourself, which is why I was able to testify, and confront the opposition: Learning about my body, my actions and reactions, and my rights as a young person has allowed me to gain self assurance and confidence. The experience of testifying for committee was electrifying, intimidating, but mostly rewarding and reflective, and I can only hope that I was remembered among the citizens who don’t want the “the gays”, “the lesbians”, or “the immigrants” in their culture, these pitiful underprivileged people: Where are they represented?
Respect. I think the word that best describes what I’m trying to get at with this blog. I feel like there’s this notion in society today that a women’s self-respect and self-worth lie completely between her legs, and because of this notion a lot of other social issues arise. I can’t even begin to count how many times I’ve heard some variation of the phrase have some respect for yourself ladies and keep your legs closed. Statements like this pigeonhole women and keep society in that outdated mindset that all a woman is good for is sex and childbearing. Self-respect, to me, has to do with self-love and standing up for yourself and what you believe in. It’s like a reverse golden rule, “treat others how you would like to be treated” treating yourself that way too. Self-respect has nothing to do with how much sex you have or how revealing your clothes are.
So, “slut-shaming” is what I’m getting at now. “Slut-shaming” is the shaming or acting of woman, making her feel inferior or guilty for engaging in certain sexual behaviors that deviate from traditional norms or expectations. Girls do it, calling each other sluts with no self-respect because they make sexual decisions that are simply different from their own. And by doing this, they open a door for men and the rest of society to disrespect women and look down on women who simply have different viewpoints than their own. This just adds to the inequality of women and double standards, because you less often see anyone calling a man a slut with no self-respect.
So all of this serves to contribute to another, bigger societal problem which is “victim blaming.” It’s the mindset that women are responsible for being raped, or “they were asking for it,” because of the way they were dressed, the way they were acting or the amount of drugs or alcohol in their system. This culture in society emphasizes and teaches victims not to get raped, or not to do things that would promote getting raped, rather than punishing perpetrators and teaching not to rape. No matter what the person is wearing or how they may be acting, forced sex without consent is rape. Keeping in mind that consent cannot be obtained if the person is passed out drunk. So where did “rape culture” and “victim blaming” come from? Well if we’re allowing society to look down on women as “sluts,” then we can’t be surprised when that same society isn’t sympathetic towards them when they are raped.
Back to respect. Respect is essential to stopping “slut-shaming” and the problems that emerge from it. Having respect is having an open mind towards understanding that not everyone’s opinion on sex and how and when to have it is going to be same as yours. Rather than resorting to calling each other names, we should open our minds and our hearts towards understanding people who are simply different than ourselves.
The Ministry of Educations says “No to condom in Schools.” I beg to differ. Yes to Condoms in Schools…..
By now we must all be aware of the National Family Planning Board (NFPB) and National HIV/STI merger to form the national authority for sexual and reproductive health. While it is a good move to have the merger, we are now faced with the question, will these two entities — now made one — make more success in its endeavour, and what about the rights component associated with sexual reproductive health?
One of the issues that this authority needs to examine is the debate on whether condoms should be distributed in schools or not. In order to tackle this correctly, the first step that must be taken is for us to scrutinise the readiness of individuals at this age to be engaging in sexual encounters.
There needs to be greater transparency in the age at which one can start engaging in sex and the age at which one can access sexual reproductive services. At present, it is 16 years old and 18 years old respectively. This is contradictory, but the sad reality is, it is our law, so we have to abide by it or else we know the result will be jail time or be fined large sums of money when brought before the courts. There have been several consultations over the years with the relevant authorities involved; however, we are yet to see any real change with regards to having consistency in light of this discrepancy.
Let us examine the pros and cons of distributing contraceptives in schools moreso condoms. Many argue that if this is done we are sending a strong message to children that they should be engaging in sexual activities at their young age, even though they are not emotionally ready for this act. How many of the children in schools are married? Well, we have to take into consideration the moral standing of most of the country being Christians, and we all know that it is a sinful act to be engaging in sex before marriage.
When last did you stop to check the statistics as it relates to teenage pregnancy? The last time I did, it still showed Jamaica having one of the highest in the region. What about that for HIV and other STIs? The 14-24 age groups have the highest rates in the total population. This should not be the case, but it is a reality that these unwanted diseases and pregnancies are occurring among our young people. How else can we deal with this in our society but to distribute condoms to students to rid the society of these unwanted actions? This should always be a last resort, but if the family was playing its role and educating children from within the home from an early age about sex, then the school wouldn’t have to be faced with this burden.
At the end of the day, we should also be advocating for comprehensive sex education in schools. Not only should we teach about abstinence — which is the greatest prevention strategy — but for those who are involved already there needs to be intervention strategy, and this can come in the form of condom distribution to protect these students against unwanted pregnancies and diseases. There should also be a supportive component which can come through counselling and effective referral services where needed. Students have the ability to make informed decisions and should be trusted in taking on this role at times.
Jason Madden
IYSO Council Member
http://reproductiverightsunsw.tumblr.com/post/50247350365
Wow! How time flies. I can’t imagine I am year older (again), thought I this morning when I received an SMS from a friend I have long lost sight of. It read thus; “Happy Birthday and many more years” This is a classical birthday message that anyone will send to a friend or even an unknown person, you might be thinking. But this is not the case for me because unlike in the previous years when I will just receive these messages and file, I have this year decided to carefully study these Birthday messages before filing or even deleting and as well carefully look through all the Birthday messages I have been sent at each one of these occasions.
Though written in different styles and strongly influenced by the nature of my relationship with the sender of the birthday message, there is a wish that was omnipresent in all the messages: Wishes of Good Health; which is what my friend’s, “Many More Years” in the above extraction from his birthday wish message to me seeks to express The result of this crazy study revealed to me how much Cameroonians care about their health.
The health of the average Cameroonian, like that of any normal human being in the world, is very important to him/her. What would vary might be the approach to ensuring that they stay healthy and maintain an equilibrium that is necessary for them to live a life worth living. Important as being healthy might be to Cameroonians, they are not unaware of the barriers to staying healthy. Talking about barriers to staying healthy in Cameroon, if you ask any Cameroon what the greatest barrier to staying healthy is, you would likely hear him/her answer ‘ACCESS’.
While it is clear from all indications that access to health is a stumbling block to Cameroonian’s staying healthy, it should be noted that even where these health facilities are available, users complain bitterly of the quality of the services rendered. Thus, it is common place to see a health practitioner sarcastically questioning a teenage girl about the reason for her pregnancy and making fun of her pregnancy by using very insulting and violent language. Worst still, it is common place to get a health practitioner who openly discusses results of the medical test of his/her patients without any sense of guilt or fear. The judgmental nature and lack of confidentiality in Cameroon’s health services is so widespread and across all spheres of society that a government minister recently declared that a journalist who had been tortured to death while in detention had died of HIV/AIDS.
With judgemental attitudes like these from health professionals and lack of confidentiality, no wonder an ever increasing number of pregnant teenagers refuse to go for prenatal checkups. To stay clear of insults and other traumatizing language and behaviours, they thus decide to stay at home with the risks that this carries.
It is high time the quality of health services in existing health facilities be improved so that patients, especially young persons, can have the best possible experience and not be afraid, for instance, to get an HIV test because they are not sure the results will remain between them and the health professionals.
The quality of health services, though often ignored, is an important factor in reinforcing the access of young people in particular and society at large to health facilities and should be considered as such by policy makers and health professionals. The availability of health facilities that have little or no consideration for the quality of the services offered creates more problems than it solves.
As government leaders, policymakers, healthcare professionals, NGO representatives, corporate leaders, and global media outlets gather in Kuala Lumpur to attend the Women Deliver 3rd Global conference to hold from the 28th-31st May 2013, it is my greatest desire that the quality of health services as they are now be carefully studied and appropriate action taken to make them less judgmental, more efficient, and more youth friendly.
Melissa Harris-Perry’s Panel looks at Elizabeth Smart’s recent comments on abstinence-only sex education and whether the policy is effective.
WATCH IT HERE: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ty_MA_mrow8
You could qualify for FREE birth control (what better way to celebrate National Women’s Health Week?). Find out here and spread the word to your lady friends.
In this week’s Time Magazine, Joel Stein took a look at the Millennial generation – and said that Millennials are “inactive” and “lack passion.” Advocates’ President Debra Hauser wrote this open letter to Joel informing him otherwise!
Regarding your cover story, “The Me, Me, Me Generation”: We’re thrilled that Joel Stein took some time to get to know the Millennial generation, and that he recognizes their potential for greatness. But we were surprised and saddened by his assessment that Millennials are inactive and lack passion. We work with Millennial activists in all 50 states, on hundreds of college campuses, and in dozens of communities in the United States and around the world. Every day, we are inspired by their dedication and willingness to be the source of positive change: from campus activists in Texas who registered thousands of voters for the 2012 presidential election; to Eriauna, a young woman who bravely stands outside a Kentucky women’s clinic every week defending women’s right to access abortion care; to Chelsea and Lizzie, who rightfully defied their college’s order to stop distributing condoms on their campus. These young people are not exceptions, they are our future. We are so proud of the change they’re making, right now, in their communities and can only marvel at what else they will do.
But don’t take our word for it: we invite Joel Stein to meet and talk with these activists at our annual youth conference. After seeing the energy and passion they bring to that event, no one can continue to believe that this generation is “inactive.” Joel, using a tablet and an iPhone at once is no way to get to know Millennials. Let’s judge them on their work, instead.
Sincerely,
Debra Hauser, President, Advocates for Youth
“Sadly, real or perceived controversy keeps schools from providing young people with the information and skills they need to become sexually healthy adults. Just like other topics taught in school, sexuality education should be developmentally appropriate, sequential and complete.
Irrational fear – the cultural belief that teaching young people about sex will cause them to have sex – keeps administrators and educators from doing what they know is best: providing young people with developmentally appropriate, sequential and honest sex education. Never mind that 30 years of public health research clearly demonstrates that when young people receive such education, they are more likely to delay sexual initiation, and to use protection when they do eventually become sexually active, than those who receive no sex education or learn only about abstinence. Withholding information about sex and sexuality will not keep children safe; it will only keep them ignorant.
Ninety-five percent of all Americans have sex before marriage. About half of all young people begin having sex by age 17. Providing a foundation of quality sex education is the only way to ensure that young people will grow into sexually healthy adults. It can augment what children learn at home and combat misinformation learned from peers or found on the Internet. Porn is not the best way for teenagers to learn about sex, but it will fill the vacuum when sex education is politicized and withheld from our classrooms.
Quality sex education should start in kindergarten. Early elementary school students need to learn the proper names for their body parts, the difference between good touch and bad touch, and ways in which they can be a good friend (the foundation for healthy intimate relationships later in life). Fourth- and fifth-graders need information about puberty and their changing bodies, Internet safety, and the harmful impact of bullying. And seventh-, eighth- and ninth-graders are ready for information about body image, reproduction, abstinence, contraception, H.I.V. and disease prevention, communication, and the topic they most want to learn about: healthy relationships.”
Ways to keep young children and young adults in school and to succeed in the real world is to put creative activities in the schools.Then to keep the sports in all schools also have sex education in the schools so the young children young adults can be healthy as they grow older .I was also thinking to have jobs in the school for the students with good grades and attendence so they can stay out of trouble our to save money for college through there school years are to help them find jobs outside of the school building so they can stay focus on there dreams and not the streets. Even middle schools to because i had a job at the age of 14 and i think it would be good ideas because i dont want to see the up coming generation have go through struggle living house to house our fail in to the streets start selling drugs and picking up guns.
Ways to keep young children and young adults in school and to succeed in the real world is to put creative activities in the schools.Then to keep the sports in all schools also have sex education in the schools so the young children young adults can be healthy as they grow older .I was also thinking to have jobs in the school for the students with good grades and attendence so they can stay out of trouble our to save money for college through there school years are to help them find jobs outside of the school building so they can stay focus on there dreams and not the streets. Even middle schools to because i had a job at the age of 14 and i think it would be good ideas because i dont want to see the up coming generation have go through struggle living house to house our fail in to the streets start selling drugs and picking up guns.
TODAY, the North Carolina House of Representatives will be debating a bill (HB 693) that would require teenagers notarized parental consent form in order to access STD testing and treatment, mental health counseling, pregnancy prevention or care, or substance abuse treatment. Teenagers without a parent or guardian would be required to stand before a judge and request a judicial bypass in order to obtain those health services.
Let’s do a quick before and after:
RIGHT NOW, a young person in North Carolina can see a doctor for STD testing and treatment, mental health counseling, pregnancy prevention and care, or substance abuse treatment WITHOUT parental consent.
IF THIS LAW PASSES: A young person would need NOTARIZED parental permission to see a doctor for any and all of these services (including abortion).*
Obvious problematic scenarios arise: For example, a young woman who may be sexually active may decide to forgo birth control because she is not willing to speak with their parents. There’s also the question of how often signatures are required? Is it every time you get a pap test or every time you pick up monthly contraception or antidepressant prescriptions? Does this include OTC contraception? Would young people need notarized parental permission to buy condoms?
The bill is so vague that it offers more questions than answers and the answers we do have are problematic and dangerous for young people’s health and safety.
If this law passes, North Carolina would be the ONLY state in the U.S. to amend that parental consent requirements include STD testing and treatment and mental health counseling.
It’s also worth noting that even though every state has some type of parental consent law in some form or fashion, NO state has ever required notarization. That extra step will undoubtedly make it harder for young people in North Carolina to access the services they need to lead healthy lives.
The bill is going to the House today. I hope the House leadership feels embarrassed about how far this bill goes and does the right thing for young people in their state. Crossing my fingers that House leadership doesn’t allow this crazy to go any further!
If you live in North Carolina, I recommend contacting Republican members of the House to let them know why you’re concerned about this bill. They need to hear your perspective as a young person, parent, or professional to know about how truly outrageous this effort is for our young people’s safety and health.
*However, Title X clinics, meaning any clinic which receives federal funding under Title X and including all Planned Parenthood clinics, must still by law offer confidential STI testing and treatment, and contraception, regardless of any state law.
If Nevada and Sexuality listed their relationship status on Facebook, it would undoubtedly read “It’s Complicated”.
A flourishing sex trade? Check! A tourist industry that is based around that 80’s clichéd notion that “sex sells” and continuously uses women’s bodies as the background for marketing strategies? Duh, All about it! Home to Sin City, a place built upon a slogan that tells visitors that you can basically indulge in whatever vice you want, and leave with no consequences? Come on, It’s Vegas, Baby!
But providing young people a comprehensive sex education?! NOW, THAT IS SIMPLY OUTRAGEOUS. At least that’s what many lawmakers and anti sex ed advocates are screaming about in Carson City because of a new comprehensive sex education bill (AB 230) that is currently making its way through the Nevada legislature.
As a homegrown Nevadan, a Las Vegas resident for over 25 years, and an activist who found her voice and strength by engaging in local communities in Las Vegas and throughout Nevada, I can’t put into words how important and HUGE this all is.
See, Las Vegas is a city that has a difficult time having an honest conversation about sex. Sure, its nickname is Sin City, and everywhere you look, some notion of sex is being shoved down your throat (pun unintended). And while prostitution is not legal in Las Vegas itself, there are small towns outside of the city limits where legal brothels boast a steady business. All this to say, Las Vegas and the state it resides in, have not reconciled this economically-driven presentation of sex with the way we talk to the young people growing up around it.
My sex education in Nevada was similar to many others across the country. When the time came to teach sex ed, the health teacher separated us by gender: we then learned the basic anatomy of parts and functions, saw traumatic photos of STDs, and were warned about the varying consequences to having sex. You know, the basic fear-inducing, shame-based ways of talking to young people about sexuality.
Now what wasn’t talked about were all the sex-related things I was actually seeing around me day-to-day. Like the fact that most my friends were already engaged in varying sexual activities at that point. Like how I had no clue what a healthy relationship was supposed to look like for someone my age. Like how I didn’t have a firm grasp on what rape actually was, especially in the context of drinking and drugs. Like how I had internalized the correlation of my sexual desirability and success. Like how I knew that if I went to college, I’d end up making less money than if I served cocktails on the Strip. Like how I saw my male friend get in trouble for wearing makeup to school. Yup, my Nevada sex education really just became another layer of my adolescent confusion, fear and shame around sexuality.
Growing into adulthood, finding my feminist voice, and figuring out sex and sexuality on my own, I slowly shed those layers of fear and shame that had been so prominent in my life as a young person. As my voice grew louder and my activist spirit hardened, I quickly ascertained that Las Vegas and the entire state of Nevada was one of the most unique political landscapes in this country. And also had the most schizophrenic internal conversations with itself about sex and sexuality.
But just a few years ago, I saw a brief step forward in that conversation. I had the privilege to help organize the first-ever LGBT Lobby Day in Carson City where we actually talked with legislators about gender and sexuality. That was also the session where we were able to pass a domestic partnerships bill in Nevada (a state whose constitution includes language on marriage being only between a man and a woman). And after those victories, I often wondered what the next big legislative victory would be.
Fast forward a few years later, and here I am, sitting in an office in Washington, DC, working for a national organization that fights for reproductive and sexual health/rights for young people. And my job? I manage state-based policy and mobilization efforts around comprehensive sex education.
And I’m hopeful to believe that THAT is what the next big legislative victory will be in my home state.
To put some legislative context to this — After failed attempts in 2011, the Nevada Legislature is currently (finally!) debating the merits of providing its young people with a more comprehensive approach to sex education, and advocates are pushing hard this time around to see their vision turn into reality. And to add to that, the nation’s eye has been on Nevada’s legislature recently, most having to do with a new wave of courageous and progressive legislators (Lucy Flores, Kelvin Atkinson, Pat Spearman – I’m lookin’ at you!) that have really pushed the state to see that the Personal IS Political …. even in the Wild West of Nevada.
And though I find myself described as a Washingtonian these days, y’all should know that this little Battle Born activist doesn’t mess around with her Nevada’tude. With Nevada having the 4th highest teen pregnancy rate in the nation, and topping the charts in STD rates and high school drop-out rates, I’m standing in solidarity and joining my friends in the Silver State to push for a more comprehensive approach to sex education.
Because the adults of Nevada owe it to their young people to finally figure out their state’s relationship to sex; and maybe then, Nevada’s young people will have access to a healthy, positive relationship to sexuality and themselves.
If you are curious about the movement of Nevada’s sex ed bill, follow updates here!
I am extremely saddened and distraught as I continue to see how our youth are being treated. The OCR has reported that there is an increase in reported cases of child abuse since January 2013. There have been some 3,000 reported cases of child abuse. This is an approximate increase of some 300 from 2,700 during the corresponding period last year. This has to be of high concern as there are still challenges with under reporting in several instances. It is therefore quite clear that our children may be very well under siege. The policy framework at the government level is too conflicting and restrictive continues to stifle and kill the congruent progress and development of our young people. The whole issue around the sexual reproductive health and rights of our young people MUST be protected. They must have equal access to information and resources that will see to their protection and development. There can be no shades of grey.
The entire nation needs to take collective responsibility for our youth and children. We cannot continue on this destructive path. If the human resource pool of youth is being affected and depleted we simply have no future and can look for no sustainable and real development. We have made strides but we still have a way to go. We all must be on the same page. We all must work towards one common goal. We have to ACT to save our youth. The call to action must include:
Last week, governments from around the world met at the United Nations for the 46th Commission on Population and Development (CPD). Throughout the week-long deliberations, governments, UN agencies, demographers, and NGOs debated the topic of migration and its relationship to the 1994 ICPD Programme of Action—a groundbreaking declaration which signaled a major shift in population policy from one based on population control to one based on human rights, including sexual and reproductive health (SRH).
What’s migration got to do with sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), you ask? Well, just about everything.
Today, more women are migrating than ever before, representing nearly half of the total international migrant population, and in some countries, as much as 70 to 80 percent. And young migrants under the age of 29 make up half of all global migrants. During the process of migration, women and girls tend to be more vulnerable to human rights violations, particularly SRHR violations, including violence, exploitation, and sexual coercion. Moreover, migrant women and young people are also at increased risk of unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections due to inadequate access to health services, including SRH services. As a result, ensuring access to SRHR information and services and protection of women’s and young people’s rights was our number one goal at the CPD.
So, how’d we do? Well, this year’s CPD proved interesting, to say the least. Traditionally progressive countries that fight every year to advance SRHR found themselves in a bit of a pickle given their countries’ rather regressive migration policies. Against the backdrop of comprehensive immigration reform playing out on Capitol Hill, the US delegation—typically a stalwart champion of young people’s SRHR and LGBT rights—sought to include language restricting access to non-emergency services to only those migrants who are documented or in legal status. The same was true for other Global North countries like the UK, Canada, Denmark, and the EU. At the same time, conservative countries with strong religious views (think Nigeria, Egypt, Qatar, Honduras, Malta, and Poland) joined forces with the Holy See (aka, the Vatican) to denounce any inclusion of SRHR or sexual orientation and gender identity. Discussions grew more and more tense by the day, resulting in an eventual breakdown of the negotiations and a final “take it or leave it” declaration drafted by the chair of the commission.
From a youth SRHR perspective, the declaration is just so-so. Here’s my take on it.
The Good:
The Bad:
And the Ugly:
After a groundbreaking resolution on adolescents and young people at last year’s CPD, we’ve certainly got our work cut out for us to ensure young people’s rights are front and center in the 20-year review of the ICPD in 2014 and in the post-2015 development agenda. We simply cannot afford to go backwards; we need forward progress if we are ever to see the full implementation of the ICPD Programme of Action.
What’s striking about this developing story from Pennsylvania is the media’s, and the court system’s, complete lack of concern for the teen at its center.
After authorities found the body of a premature infant in the trash at a Lancaster high school, they used security footage to identify the young woman who gave birth, and arrested her, charging her with concealment of the death of a child.
Far from asking what led to this young woman giving birth, very prematurely, alone, in a bathroom, or what led her to take the actions she took after that, officials have decided to portray her as a monster, and a murderer – from the judge who has set a $1 million bail, to the District Attorney, who has denounced the teen and called her responsible for the child’s death, even though they don’t know that that is true.
In fact, the article notes that authorities don’t even know whether or not the baby was alive at birth – making the DA’s comments even more reprehensible.
We know very little about this young woman’s circumstances, what happened that night, or what happened in the months leading up to it. It’s baffling and infuriating that seemingly everyone involved has opted to pillory her rather than asking more questions about what was obviously an extremely desperate moment. But judging by how her pregnancy and labor played out, she’s used to a system that criminalizes first and asks questions later.
Let’s change the conversation – post a comment on the news article that demands better questions be asked, before the District Attorney, judge, and newspaper in Lancaster County decide she is guilty before they have all the facts.
I had the privilege of attending Jamaican Parliament on the day that the current Minister of Finance presented the budget for the 2013/2014 financial year.
My views:
In general, it shows that there are minimal, but positive trends for the economy in future, and a wide range of strategies will be employed to improve Jamaica’s economic performance in the coming years.
Implications for youth:
I was very disappointed at the little reference that was given to the role that youth would play in the execution of our island;s master plan, however I have to commend the minister for the provisions that will be made for entrepreneurship, and skills building for young entrepreneurs.
Health-wise, I was even more disappointed. Youth health was neither mentioned in the budget of the Minister of Health, nor under the budget for the Minister of Youth and Culture. Yes, I understand that youth will fall under some possible breakdown under the allocation of funds, but it would be pretty nice to know if any of the funds in the budget were allocated to youth. Of course, this will help us in our advocacy, ad in seeking funds and sponsorship for carrying out our advocacy work regarding Youth Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights.
I think now even more, we need to arrange and successfully enter a meeting with both the Minister of Youth and the Minister of Health to see what the plans are for us, how we fit in, and what our role is.
With each new year (financial and otherwise), comes increased challenges in getting financial support for projects and initiatives. This year, we need to ensure that we confront the government and make appeals for funds to be specially allocated for youth health initiatives. No amount of planning for growth and development will succeed if there is not a healthy batch of young people to work. It’s our right and our duty. Let us act.
When Katelyn Campbell protested her school’s mandatory abstinence-only assembly, she did something I’ve wanted to do since leaving college. I remember there was one day in my health class sophomore year of high school when we had two speakers come into our class to talk about abstinence. I don’t remember what they said other than, “Sex isn’t bad, but just don’t do it.” That’s paraphrased a bit, but you get the idea. Knowing what I know now, however, I sometimes wonder what I would have said if I could somehow be transported back into my 16 year old body on that day. Maybe it’s weird, but I think about it occasionally. I imagine challenging the speakers on some point or another. Eventually, it leads to me standing up and teaching the class myself. We talk about things like teen sexuality, healthy relationships, and rape culture.
Transgender women are the fastest growing population of the HIV-positive. The National Institutes of Health came out with a report, noting that almost a third of transgender Americans have HIV. Trans women of color specifically are at a greater risk than their white sisters. Through a survey, it was found that 56% of black trans women have HIV. The 2009 study from NIH also noted that many transgender women may not even know their HIV status. With an alarming statistic like this, we have to wonder what’s causing it.
When individuals are thrown into social injustice, it can be difficult to escape from. Trans women are profiled and disproportionately targeted and arrested by the law enforcement. The police will try to use condoms as evidence of sex work, so trans women face the “choice” of keeping themselves and their partners safe or getting arrested. When they’re forced into jail, trans women are often housed with male inmates or they are put into solitary confinement, as if either path is any better. Sex workers are generally more likely to be HIV-positive than those who are not engaged in sex work, but because of the disproportionate targeting of trans women, trans women sex workers’ risk for HIV is four times greater.
While sex work is a valid way of meeting financial needs, some trans women turn to it as an option because of discrimination in employment. In most of the United States, it’s completely legal to turn down or dismiss a person based on gender identity and sexual orientation. People can even be denied housing or become evicted because of their gender identity and orientation. This leaves a dangerously negative and significant impact on their economic well-being and safety. It also makes it difficult for trans women especially to keep up with their hormonal therapy, since it’s often not covered by insurance, if they can even pay for that insurance with what the circumstances are. With lack of access to basic health care, many incompetent doctors, clinics, social stigma, and overall institutions that discriminate against trans women, especially those of color– it’s all a very nasty formula expressing why trans women are hit so hard with HIV.
So, what can we do to help? Trans people are often absent from public campaigns for sexual health and safety. We can start by including them into that, and into many of our discussions and campaigns of social justice as well. We could get trans-specific in our literature in safer sex guides. We could also set up community centers as a safe space for trans people and create some peer groups, which would be strong social networks and a good use of peer outreach for safer sex and HIV testing. And of course we could and should create social support and do our part to de-stigmatize our trans brothers and sisters. Look up a local or national activist organization today.
Tennessee state lawmakers decided to pass a resolution this week. Before I tell you what the resolution was, let me give you a quick background on how Tennesee deals with its social issues. The bills that have been introduced in this state include: school prayer, fines on students who have saggy jeans, public displays of Christianity’s Ten Commandments, public access to the names of doctors who provide abortions, and the most “popular” is the “Don’t Say Gay” Bill which would prevent teachers from ever discussing homosexuality. Tennessee has also pushed the education system to teach the “controversies” of evolution and climate change. This state has also made an attempt to deal with its high teen pregnancy rates by restricting discussion in sex education, in fear that a truly comprehensive lesson might be arousing to the teens.
The latest endeavor has the state of Tennessee set to celebrate “Traditional Marriage Day” on August 31st, after passing a resolution to dedicate such an observation on the date. Gay rights activists are pushing against this measure. They declared that August 31st should be called “Tennessee Marriage Equality Day” instead. Chris Sanders of the Tennessee Equality Project suggested that these two different advocate groups have similar goals. He was quoted saying, “We’re not opposed to traditional marriages, but we believe traditional marriage is for everyone.”
Now in the “Traditional Marriage Day”’s defense, advocates for the measure claim that the day is merely about pointing out the economic benefits of getting married, hoping that more couples would be encouraged in doing so. It surely has nothing to do with stigmatizing and railing against marriage equality. No, of course not. Yet the official written resolution itself quotes the Christian Bible and in a clear statement says that marriage is to be “expressed only between a man and a wife.”
This is strange. If “Traditional Marriage Day” was simply about encouraging couples to get married and enjoy economic benefits, then why should same-sex couples be prohibited from doing the same? And isn’t every day pretty much Traditional Marriage Day then? I mean, especially in Tennessee where a state constitutional amendment was passed in 2006, banning marriage equality. This measure was supported by 81% of voters and since then, Tennessee has seen little progress on this issue. But activists are still fighting.
Check out the Tennessee Equality Project’s Facebook page and proclamation!
« KO! KO! KO! », shouted the crowd .Mind you, they weren’t participating in a boxing match, neither were they at a musical concert, they shouted KO! in response to the health officials that took turns in sensitizing the crowd of more than 5000 that gathered at the Douala Place du Gouvernement to participate in the 9KM sensitization Walk that was organized by the Cameroon’s Coalition of Businesses for the fight against HIV/AIDS, Malaria, and Tuberculosis and better known by its French acronym CCATSIDA, Cameroon’s Ministry of Public Health, and other stakeholders (local and international) in the fight against Malaria this Saturday 20th April 2013.
Being a participant, I could not help but be marveled at how engaged fellow participants were as we criss-crossed the streets of Cameroon’s most populated town. Young and old, and from diverse horizons, one thing united this people; that Malaria be kicked Out of Cameroon.
This passion and demonstrated in the endurance of the participants all through the alertness of their footsteps and the smile on their faces, could not however stop me from asking myself fundamental questions around the strategy for the fight against Malaria in my country. Thus, when one of the thousands of spectators that had amassed at streets corners shouted, “Where are condoms?”, there was an outburst of laughter from the crowd, I began asking myself what might have prompted this spectator to ask the question he did. As I thought about this, my eyes fell on the logo of the Cameroonian Coalition of Businesses for the fight against HIV/AIDS, Malaria, and Tuberculosis and on the T-Shirt of the participant ahead of me, my answer was here. The words AIDS on this coalitions logo prompted the question from this spectator.
AIDS and its prevention methods are better known in Cameroon than Malaria and its means of protection. This is paradoxical given that Malaria kills in Cameroon and Sub-Saharan Africa than HIV/AIDS. Mind you, I am in no way saying that resources (human and material) should be shifted from the fight against HIV/AIDS, which is causing havoc in Cameroon especially amongst youths, to the fight against Malaria. The point I am trying to make is that the fight against Malaria, HIV/AIDS, and Tuberculosis has for long been done as though they were isolated.
It is true that a person that has Malaria or Tuberculosis is not automatically an HIV/AIDS patient, but most often people suffering from HIV/AIDS in Cameroon are victims of the Malaria and tuberculosis given the milieu in which they live and the little means they have to survive on.
I have for long being convinced that an effective fight against Malaria cannot be done in an isolated manner but must be inclusive; taking into consideration the vectors of the disease in various communities in Cameroon. A dirty environment provides good breeding grounds for Mosquitoes especially the female Anopheles mosquito, through which Malaria is spread, the fight against Malaria must start from there. If a clean environment is achieved through mechanism through efficient urban development and poverty reduction strategies, Malaria will be made history. After all, isn’t it common knowledge that prevention is better than Cure?
In Cameroon and I guess is the case elsewhere in the world, a change from a dirty and crowded environment to a cleaner environment is the main indicator that a person has emerged from poverty. This is so because people who could barely afford 3 meals a day will have little time to think about the environments in which they live talk less of women in this bracket going for prenatal consultation or even having time to take their infants to the hospital when they are sick. Thus, despite the bed-nets distribution campaigns that have been organized all over Cameroon and despite the fact that Malaria treatment is free for children and pregnant women in Cameroon, Malaria killed more than 3000 people most of whom children.
Without an efficient attack on poverty, which is fertile ground for poor living conditions, I am afraid our walk and much talk on the fight against Malaria will be in vain. For Malaria to be kicked out of this country, we must not only walk on occasions like those organized to mark the World day for the fight against Malaria, we must truly walk the talk on the fight against Malaria daily, by launching an immediate assault and poverty. Because Malaria is the consequence of a dirty environment which is its self a glaring consequence of poverty.
For years it has been argued that the Caribbean family structure is one that is “unstructured”. This may be the result of us having diverse and always-emerging family patterns. The nuclear family is seen as ideal by many, but when you look at our reality there are many single-parent families; in most cases headed by the mother. What impact does this have on our youth development?
Needless to say, there are many impacts this may have on youth development. The positive side is that these single-parent homes may impact the children in a way that they may want to be the agent of change for their families. They, therefore, push to be the best in all they do to achieve their highest potential and ultimately become the star of that family.
The negative is that most mothers within single-parent families may be weak and are yet to develop assertive parenting skills of which their child or children may take advantage. This is indeed sad, as these children basically become their own parents and do whatever they like because there is no authoritative figure in their lives. These children may become a part of little cliques and succumb to negative peer pressure of substance abuse and start engaging in risky sexual encounters.
While we want to encourage nuclear family practices in our society, it must be noted that people will, in most cases, go against the norm. So even the growing practice of females becoming liberated and having children on their own, without a male being directly involved, must be taken into consideration.
We should be facilitating youth development at the community level through social groups, youth information centres, after-school programmes, and counselling intervention to address some of the issues that may arise with regards to these youths.
Jason Madden
IYSO Council Member
The two years I spent serving as a health volunteer with the Peace Corps in West Africa were some of the most formative years of my life. They fostered my sense of independence and resourcefulness, solidified my career and life goals, and taught me to question injustices, particularly those injustices that jeopardized the sexual and reproductive health and rights of young women and girls and placed them at an educational, economic, social, and political disadvantage. I never imagined that one day I would find myself questioning injustices faced by Peace Corps volunteers themselves.
More than 210,000 of us have served in the Peace Corps since its founding 52 years ago. As anyone can attest, Peace Corps volunteers provide an invaluable service to our country and the countries in which we serve, but we often do it at risk to our own safety and security. Over the past decade, more than 1,000 volunteers have experienced sexual assault. Women—who comprise more than 60 percent of the 8,000 currently serving volunteers—should never have to face the tragedy of a sexual assault, but if they do, they should be able to access comprehensive health care and support services. Yet, Peace Corps volunteers are now one of the only groups of women who receive their health care through the federal government who are denied coverage for abortion services in the cases of rape, incest, or life endangerment.
We must change this outrageously blatant discriminatory policy! Join me in demanding health equity and fairness for Peace Corps volunteers!
Denying volunteers a basic health care benefit that is extended to all other federal employees—including the Peace Corps employees who work with these volunteers—is grossly unfair and denies thousands of volunteers access to vital health services. Women serving our country deserve equity and fairness in access to health care, consistent with other areas of federal law.
Fortunately, Senators Lautenberg, Shaheen, Gillibrand, Boxer, Murray, Warren, and Murphy introduced the Peace Corps Equity Act (S. 813), which would repeal this inequitable restriction on women’s health and allow the Peace Corps to provide the same coverage for abortion care—in cases of rape, incest, and life endangerment—as employees covered under other federal health plans currently receive.
Please contact your Senators today to urge their support for the Peace Corps Equity Act!
No woman should face life endangerment because she cannot access a medical procedure that is safe and legal in the United States.
In solidarity,
Janine Kossen
Director of Public Policy and Returned Peace Corps Volunteer
Transgender Woman Arrested for Exposing Breasts, Jailed With Men
Trigger warning: transphobia
A transgender woman from New York was arrested in Savannah, Ga., last week for allegedly exposing her breasts, reports Savannah’s WSAV. But when deputies booked Ashley Del Valle, 38, she says a nurse examined her genitals, and determined that she was “technically a male.” As a result, Del Valle was placed in a holding cell in the men’s prison ward.
“I also came to realize that the focus on personhood ignores the fact that a zygote, embryo, or fetus is growing inside of another person’s body.”
| — | Libby Anne, “How I Lost Faith in the ‘Pro-Life’ Movement” |
This is really important to consider. You absolutely can advocate for a zygote, embryo, or fetus. But understand that in doing so, it subsequently infringes on the rights of the person this being resides in.
Giving a fetus personhood is not equality. No one currently has the special right of using another’s person body without constant consent.
The American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Reproductive Rights have filed a lawsuit to block an Arkansas law banning abortion care after 12 weeks from going into effect.
Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe had vetoed the extreme measure in March, citing concerns that it violated Roe v. Wade and that subsequent legal challenges would prove “very costly to the taxpayers of our state” as the “costs and fees [of defending an unconstitutional law] can be significant.” The Legislature overrode Beebe’s veto in March.
The suit seeks a preliminary injunction against the law, which is set to take effect in July.
“This law is one of the most dangerous assaults on women’s health that we’ve seen in decades,” said Rita Sklar, executive director of the ACLU of Arkansas. “We may not all agree about abortion, but we can all agree that this complex and personal decision should be made by a woman, her family, and her doctor, not politicians.”
And not just women, of course. Everyone is entitled to reproductive/sexual healthcare and rights.
Read more here: http://www.salon.com/2013/04/17/arkansas_abortion_ban_faces_legal_challenge/
When debating whether a fetus’s “right to life” trumps a woman’s “right to choose” — or whether the news media has paid enough attention to the trial of a Philadelphia doctor who allegedly killed seven babies born alive during late-term abortions, as well as a pregnant woman — Americans are bitterly divided on abortion. Before abandoning facts for rhetoric, let’s tackle some misunderstandings about this procedure’s history and impact.
Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/five-myths-about-abortion-rights/2013/04/18/bd53c884-a5e5-11e2-b029-8fb7e977ef71_story.html
Social justice and environmental justice have a very direct
correlation. The environmental movement and the feminist movement both
advocate for the health of humanity, but in different ways. There are
many subject matters that exemplify this intersectionality.
For example, the way people use and abuse nature can easily be
compared to how society uses and abuses women.
Toxic Chemicals. We clearly need to do something about how easy it is
for major companies to slowly pollute our bodies and our earth. There
are over 84,000 chemicals in popular consumer products and only 200
have been tested. When chemicals even are tested it is primarily on
men, so these companies clearly do not care about the effect they are
having on women’s bodies. Some of these chemicals are made from toxins
that pollute our water and air. Many of these chemicals have been
shown to cause infertility, low sperm counts, sexual dysfunction,
miscarriage, and different types of cancer. Not to mention women use
personal care products far more often than men and are therefore more
negatively affected. Here at ETSU we’re celebrating Earth Day with a
festival and a young man best summarized it when he said “unnatural
chemicals don’t make natural beauty.”
Not everyone can afford ridiculously expensive so-called “natural
organic” personal care products to keep themselves and their children
healthy. In addition, toxic waste dumps are disproportionately located
near minority communities. Women of color are targeted by systematic
racist beauty standards convincing them to buy hair relaxers and skin
lightening creams with chemicals that have severe damage potential.
For example, the chemicals found in common African-American hair
products are known endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs). EDCs are
linked to a range of reproductive health issues, like premature
puberty, gynecologic cancer, and birth defects. Look at who is hurting
the most by toxic chemicals. This is clearly a social justice issue
activists need to rise up against.
Quick Fact: 80% of federal transportation funds go to highways while
only 20% goes to mass transit. Not only does this hurt inner city
communities, but it’s a contributing factor to global warming.
Reproductive Justice. You know what’s really hurting our resources?
Overpopulation. People are using up far more than they need to and it
is growing out of control. If reproductive health options were more
readily available this would alleviate a great deal of that
environmental strain.
Here is a quick review on what the Toxic Substances Control Act is and
why we need it to be updated. This site also helps teach you on how
you can help.http://www.saferchemicals.org/resources/opinion.html
Find out what is in your cosmetics:
http://safecosmetics.org/article.php?list=type&type=33
Wake up to the threat of toxic chemicals!
www.rhtp.org/fertility/ToxicZombie.asp (Many resources used in the
writing of this blog were obtained from this site.)
“Toxic Combination: Fact Sheet on Toxic Chemicals and Reproductive
Health”—Center for American Progress:
http://www.americanprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/issues/2010/04/pdf/toxic_combination.pdf
“Women of Color are at Greater Risk for Toxic Chemical
Exposure”—Women’s Voices for the Earth:
http://www.womensvoices.org/about/why-a-womens-organization/
In a society where the growing population of youth is unstoppable, there remains a huge problem concerning the employability of some young people. They are encouraged to venture into tertiary studies and then enter the world of work, which most ambitious young people strive to do.
It was recently brought to my attention that a young graduate of a prominent university after showing up to an interview was rejected solely base on his age. This is scandalous and should not be accepted within our society. Prejudice or discrimination on the basis of a person’s age should not be the reason to reject an individual for employment especially a young person. How will these individual get the necessary experience they so desire if they are not given the opportunity to show the skills and abilities that they have garnered?
The Jamaican society is not doing much to engage and keep young people active and wanting to be a part of nation building. Young people are within their most productive years and can do so much for the population and aid in development. However, if there is no enabling environment for this then these young people will seek to find greener pastures. These greener pastures promises much more opportunity and then without a doubt the quota for brain drain will increase.
Don’t deny us from becoming a part of the working class because we are young. We want to make a contribution to the development of this nation. For every young person a decent job is a means through which they can become fully independent. Having young people employed will lead to sustainable development and more productivity as they would have entered in the workforce as a skilled professional and is expected to move up the ladder over a period of time.
When young people are deprive from entering into the workforce the worst case scenario is that they will turn to drugs, crime and violence and may become more vulnerable and susceptible to disease.
There need to be polices that speaks to youth employment opportunities both within the private and public sectors in order to address the growing problem of employers not wanting young people being in their organization.
Jason Madden
IYSO Council Member
Restrictions Will Force 40-
Year-Old Abortion Clinic To
Close This Weekend
Last week, Virginia’s Board of Health voted to finalizeunnecessary regulations that will force many of the state’s abortion clinics to shut down. Those new restrictions — which are known as the Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers, or TRAP laws — are already having their intended effect. Hillcrest Clinic, which opened to the public just nine months after the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision legalized abortion services, will be closing its doors this weekend.
As advocates for young people’s sexual health and rights, many may not think of us as having a stake in the immigration reform game. But in fact, it’s quite the opposite. The health and wellbeing of young people both within and outside our borders, regardless of immigration paperwork, is of the utmost importance to our organization. While we may not take a stand on every issue in immigration reform, there are a few that rise to the top—some of which were included in the Senate’s Gang of Eight bill, and others which were left out.
The Good
In 2010, Advocates for Youth stood strong with DREAMers (undocumented youth) across the country and had our hearts broken when the Senate voted down the DREAM Act, which would have given young people who arrived in the United States as children a pathway to citizenship. In the current bill, DREAMers who arrive to the United States before the age of 16 and who have completed high school in the United States can apply for a Registered Provisional Immigrant (RPI) status and move more quickly through the process to become citizens. There is also no age cap to this provision.
Currently, those who apply for asylum in the United States have one year to do so. The current bill would lift that extremely short deadline which would help reduce the burden of those needing asylum in the United States, many of whom identify as LGBT and are coming from countries that persecute these communities.
Many of our families have had members who were deported for low-level offenses, simply because they were without papers. As a result, they are barred from re-entering the United States for extended periods of time, even if they have children here who are citizens. The current bill gives those who have been deported with family still in the United States the ability to apply for RPI status.
Too often individuals, and especially those who identify as LGBT, have been abused in immigration facilities. This bill would provide training and resources on appropriate use of force, individual rights, and cultural sensitivity.
The Bad
Because of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), same-sex couples do not receive the same benefits of heterosexual couples when it comes to sponsoring a spouse from another country. The Uniting American Families Act (UAFA) would have resolved this situation, but unfortunately it was left out of the bill.
For those that gain RPI status, they will not have access to public benefits like Medicaid, Children’s Health Insurance Program or food stamps. For the 11 million undocumented people who now will have a pathway to citizenship (yay), that 13-year process could mean no access to healthcare during that time (extra boo). We’ve already had long discussions around the Affordable Care Act about what it means to go without healthcare (from awful health outcomes to additional costs being placed on hospitals), and especially those who would be given RPI status should be able to access the healthcare they need to lead healthy lives.
There is a lot more good and a lot more bad, but these are the issues we’ll be watching closely.
The GetHip DC line is a resource for you to find information about sexual health. It’s free and available 24/7.
You can get info about STDs and birth control, as well as where to go locally for help. Just text GetHipDC to 74574
As I reviewed the estimates of expenditure for the Ministry of Youth and Culture 2012/2013, it is quite clear that funding is inadequate but also set out in a ‘silo’ manner. I simply do not get the feeling that the budgets being done over the years offer clear linkages across sectors, agencies and ministries. I will admit that line items present can be linked in some way however, to what extent does realistic integrated budgeting occur? What is the youth involvement like in crafting budgets that will impact on the said youth? Is youth diversity adequately taken into consideration? In terms of budgets being done for youth I cannot fathom time and time again why there are programmes being undertaken that contradict polices ( some international) that would be in the best interest of the child. A prime example would be funding support for youth in adult correctional facilities when this should never be happening.
Our stakeholders and governments need to also look across relevant sectors and assess if we have effectively undertaken Gender Responsive Budgetting, where planning, programming and budgeting contributes to the advancement of gender equality and the fulfillment of women’s rights. It entails identifying and reflecting needed interventions to address gender gaps in sector and local government policies, plans and budgets. I am still not convinced that this has been an area given enough action focus. We have to remain cognizant of the fact that women and girls make up some 50.7% of the total population, hence gender budgeting must be an imperative. USAID’s Policy on Youth outlines quite clearly four elements that should be taken into consideration for youth programming and by extension, youth budgeting. These include:
I found a photo of a woman holding up a placard asking for greater coverage of a suspected murder. In Valdosta, GA, 17 year-old Kendrick Johnson was found dead in a pile of mats at his high school. The photo I found on Facebook however, tells a different story.
Accompanying text reads, “His name is Kendrick Kj Johnson he was beaten to death at his High School here in Valdosta Ga the police is covering up his story by saying there was no foul play but clearly you can see its a lie. They have yet to give the Johnson/Tooley family any answers. Im only asking for a minute of your time to plz share his story we need all the support we can get. Please support the Kendrick Kj Johnson movement.”
After a quick google search for related news stories, all I found was coverage of his falling into the pile of mats and dying from the subsequent blood flow to his brain after hanging upside down for an extended period of time. Although foul play is suspected, the speculation of these news stories say nothing about him being beaten to death. Plus one of the news outlets that covered the supposedly fake conclusion was FOX News…’nuff said.
Many have experienced opinions about this case’s similarity to Emmett Till’s. What could possibly be the motive behind this?
Does anyone know the truth about this? Additional information is needed to get justice for this young man’s family.
Only 23% of sexually active teens have been tested for HIV. Are you one of them? Find free or low-cost clinics near you!
Today is National Youth HIV and AIDS Awareness Day. This disease has been robbing our generation of precious young people for many years and now is the time to take a stand and fight for our generation back. I am happy to support this day and I have hopes that it will evolve into a mass movement amongst the young people of this generation. Knowledge is power! By raising awareness and promoting prevention young people will have the power to fight HIV and AIDS.
April 10, 2013 will be celebrated as National Youth HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (NYHAAD) in the United States. The reality remains that our young people are being impacted by HIV within our society. Therefore their needs must be catered to as well.
According to Population Media, “Young people in Jamaica are in a severe crisis. Jamaica’s adolescent pregnancy rate is among the highest in the Caribbean, and Jamaica’s infection rate for HIV/AIDS is highest among youth ages 15-24. In 2004, AIDS was the second leading cause of death for both young men and young women ages 15-24.”
The 2012 International AIDS Conference saw a ground breaking number of over 2000 young people from around the world being active in the activities leading up to and at the conference. This is a stride in the right direction and no wonder the relevance of having NYHAAD. .
Jamaica’s HIV programme has been acclaimed as being among the most successful in the Latin American and Caribbean region and this is commendable but there are still gaps that need to bridge. One such gap is having youths become more involved in the HIV/AIDS response. Youths have so much input to make if they are given the opportunity to do so.
Within policy making youths must be at the table helping to aid in the decision making process. Over a year ago the Health Ministry was quoted saying “There is a worrying trend of younger females contracting HIV/AIDS, with the 10-29 and 15-19 age groups accounting for the majority of the increase.” What actions has the government taken to address this since then? Recognizing NYHAAD is one such action that could be modeled to have young people reflect on their actions and input they can make in the HIV response.
Getting to zero is the goal of all involves in the HIV response and it is not an easy task. In order to get there stakeholders must look at creative ways of reaching the most vulnerable within our society. Without the input by those who are most affected then this reality will just be blown away in the winds.
We believe that youth involvement within the HIV/AIDS response will put on end to this epidemic. Ending AIDS means no more AIDS related death. This will come through awareness. What better way to do this now than to join us in recognizing the importance of having a National Youth HIV/AIDS Awareness Day and have the relevant ministries observing this day as well.
Jason Madden
IYSO Council Member
This month is Sexual Assault Awareness month, and unfortunately it feels very, very relevant lately. Rape culture has proven itself to be alive and well- from the recent suicide of Canadian high school student Rehtaeh Parsons after photos of her being gang raped were circulated online, to the biased media coverage of the Steubenville rape trial, which sympathized with the convicted rapists and blamed the victim. It can feel very overwhelming and depressing to continually hear about, watch, and endure episode after episode of abuse, violation and degradation, which is why I’m proposing that this month, we self empower through ACTION! Here are some things you can do to actively combat rape culture, and work towards a society in which sexuality is free from violence and full of love, respect, and pleasure:
1. Educate yourself about sexual consent, then pledge to only practice consensual sex by signing the Consent is Sexy pledge! While your at it, you could even bring the Consent is Sexy campaign to your campus!
2.Support victims of sexual abuse by going to a Take Back The Night event on your campus or in your community. If there isn’t one, get started planning your own for next year!
3. Know the National Sexual Assault Hotline (1-800-656-HOPE). Post it in places your peers will see, such as on the doors of bathroom stalls, in dorm common areas, or health centers.
4. Speak up and Vlog about it! Make a video about the issue of sexual assault. Here are two great ones: WTF HAPPENED IN STEUBENVILLE? by vlogger Laci Greene and this Anti-Rape video by University of Oregon film student Samantha Stendel
These are just a few of a huge number of ways you can take action against rape culture and sexual abuse. There is no limit to the amount of passion and creativity you can draw on! Have some other ideas? Write them in the comments!
Tomorrow is the first ever National Youth HIV & AIDS Awareness Day. Why is it important you ask? Here’s why
April is Autism Awareness Month, and although most of us would like to think that organizations like Autism Speaks are doing autistic people a world of good, it turns out that may not be true. I came across a post on Tumblr, written by an autistic individual, who finds fault with the way that Autism Speaks portrays the people it is supposedly advocating for.
April, as you might know, is Autism Awareness month. If you want to help, I’d urge you to follow Autism Acceptance Day, check out & donate to ASAN, and educate yourself on what the Autistic community is and looks like. Hint: we’re people, not puzzles.
As you probably know because I say it all the time, I am Autistic. Therefore, April is generally the month where I get to hate myself, and the entire world, the most. I have a whole drinking game done up to survive watching the media teach the world how to fear me. Bingo cards and everything.
The post goes on to discuss the way that autism is portrayed in the media – like a contagious disease that every parent is terrified of. Reading that post, I could kind of see how this particular type of advocacy could be damaging instead of helpful. The aim of the whole campaign is to educate people and raise money for research right? But that doesn’t mean that we should forget about the faces behind the cause. Combine that with the fact that whatever services provided for autistic kids supposedly ends when they transition into adults, and the reason for that Tumblr post is understandable.
Another blogger wrote a post in March last year outlining the many reasons why people should not donate to Autism Speaks but to other organizations. Some of which include the fact that only 4% of the AS budget actually goes to helping autistic children and families (as of 2010) and the fact that there are no autistic people on their board of directors or in some other form of leadership. How is it possible to advocate for people without them?
Overall, it seems like AS is doing a very good job of contributing to the negative stereotypes about autistic people rather than combating said stereotypes. They have been known to describe autism as a disorder that works “faster than pediatric AIDS, cancer and diabetes combined,” will ensure that your marriage fails, will bankrupt you, cause you not to sleep and make it “virtually impossible” to go out in public without experiencing embarrassment or pain. Yes it’s important to let people know what living with autism entails, but why portray them as less than human?
A few weeks back I listened attentively to ‘SOS Doctor’, one of the best health programs that be on Radio in Cameroon. As I listened, I got very happy at the great job that Dr. Dion Grace, a member of the National AIDS Control Committee of Cameroon was doing to educate Cameroonians on anti-retroviral drugs. She eloquently and insightfully answered every one of the questions that were posed to her by listeners who called-in and am sure her intervention in the program was a timely one. Everything was fine until when a listener called-in to ask what is it that could be done to reduce stigma on people who are on anti-retroviral drugs. Dr. Dion as usual gave a very insightful answer to this question going as far as citing the example of Ivory Coast where the drugs are put in anonymous packages so that they can be taken by patients without fear of stigma by the people around them. She went ahead to cite cases where some special containers of various doses is been used in some countries to reduce stigma. This was quiet interesting to know, but when she started advising people on anti-retroviral that they could tell people around them that they are taking vitamins or pills in order to avoid stigmatization I grumbled the following to myself: Do I have to be so ashamed of my status that I have to lie to others?
I have no statistics on this but I can assure you that having to lie on your HIV status is the order of the day in Cameroon especially amongst young people to avoid stigma and discrimination. Well, this to an extend is understandable given that People Living With HIV/AIDS(PLWHA) are considered as being punished by God for either their sisns or those committed by their family. But when telling a lie to avoid stigma is a behaviour that is reinforced health professionals, I have reservations and clearly doubt how efficient this approach could be.
I am utterly convinced that a problem can only be solved if its root cause(s) is/are carefully tackled. As a young person living in a society where most PLWHA are young persons, I compare telling a lie on your HIV/AIDS status to survive to deliberately refusing to tackle the problem from it’s source and launching an attack on its leaves instead.
To reduce stigma in the most sustainable way possible, education rather than lies is required.Young People, their families, and the communities in which People on anti-retroviral drugs have to be educated on the dangers of stigma and on the importance of accepting PLWHA. Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations’ Secretary-General, vividly spelt out society’s responsibility to PLWHA when he declared that, “We can fight stigma. Enlightened laws and policies are key. But it begins with openness, the courage to speak out. Schools should teach respect and understanding. Religious leaders should preach tolerance. The media should condemn prejudice and use its influence to advance social change, from securing legal protections to ensuring access to health care.”
Lies do nothing but contribute in amplifying the myth around HIV/AIDS in the Cameroonian society. People on anti-retroviral drugs do not need to lie on their status to survive stigma, they need to accept themselves as they are and deserve the care and protection that every other human being is due by the society in which they live.They deserve to live a real life and not a life of lies.
Here in this write up, I am writing about the programs that we (Youth Activist Leadership Council) have done and are planning to do in our seven months tenure. Though, there is no limitation for work as seven months but officially the team will be working only for this time period. All the planning and strategies were made during the ‘Inception Traning’, March 3 -7 2013 at Dhulikhel.
Starting with the ‘Meeting’, each council member compulsory attend meetings in every alternative Tuesday which becomes each for the member to check on the progress and detail plan for the days coming. In addition to this, Coalition meeting will also be held frequently in a month to work in collaborative approach for ‘Sexual and Reproduction Health and Right’ and ‘HIV & AIDS’. ‘Media Outreach’ by every member in every month is another opportunity for the council members to explore their knowledge and experience among public and concern people. Since, advocacy is major tools used by the Council Members; meetings with UN officials and Policy Designer are frequently designed with the assistance of YUWA.
Talking about the action, we perform workshops in school, colleges and YUWA office itself to develop the issue of SRHR and HIV & AIDS especially among the students and youth. Similar to this, focusing on rural areas of the country ‘Orientation on SRHR’ is also to be organized. ‘Khula Aakash’ a discussion program within the young people will be helpful to develop the scenario of SRHR and HIV& AIDS within Nation and International. Program like ‘Youth Conclave’ can raise this issue to a new height with fruitful discussion with the resource and other concern people with huge mass coverage and media outreach.
Street Sensitization programs like Puppet Show, Songs, Dramas can be very useful for the awareness propose for the public people. Fast Track code campaign through SMS petition (First time in Nepal), Blogging, twitting are other plan of the council. For Election Campaign, commitment paper signature with the policy makers, Gifting T-shirts and recording videos are another plan. Publication of ‘Issue Brief on Abortion’, ‘Post 2015’, ‘and Policy Brief’ are also planned.
Podcast and documentary making can be very useful to explore the works the council has done and will be doing in mass and social media. Reporting is very essential thus, this is also done in hand in hand after the program for Documentation.
Are you a young person (14-24 years old) who is:
So far, our Gay/Straight Alliance is going well. We have a core group of students that attend every meeting and are very involved. However, there have been some misconceptions lately about what we stand for. They think that we are a group of gay people who talk about being gay. We have planned some events to gain some attention, including a bake sale, a button day, and participating in the day of silence.
In the post-2015 development agenda, we must focus on reducing inequality, which has widened both within and between countries. Thus, it is important that we must also accelerate the social, political, and economic inclusion of marginalized groups, especially women and girls and young people – whom United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon gave a nod to the importance of women, who “hold up half the sky,” and of young people, “the very face of our future.”
Still, one crucial ingredient went without mention: sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). The inclusion of SRHR and access to family planning completes the jigsaw puzzle of a just sustainable world and in the roadmap to development.
To understand why, consider the lives of the women who sell dried fish in my province – Leyte, in the Philippines. The women of Leyte are on the front lines of an unfolding environmental crisis. The Gulf they depend on for their livelihood has been ravaged by overfishing and the destruction of coral reefs, forests and mangroves. Where fishers once reeled in up to 50 kilograms a day, the average has now dropped to just 0-5 kilograms, barely enough to feed a family.
Climate change has disrupted the weather, making it too unpredictable to dry fish under the heat of the sun. It produces the lowest quality of their dried fish product and the result, for the women of Leyte, is a substantial loss of income.
Large families are still the norm in Leyte, where most women have more than four children. Many would like to prevent or delay having another child; one in three births is unwanted or mistimed. But too many lack access to family planning and reproductive health services and information.
High fertility and declining income forces families to make painful choices. In many cases, one or two or even more of the children will be the “sacrificial lamb” who goes to work so at least some of their siblings can go to school. Most of these young people who are out-of-school have no option but to do hard labor or enter the service of being a household helper since they have no diploma that can guarantee them to find a job in a company or even in the government.
With lack of economic opportunities, women and young people have no choice but to engage in sex work. In a society that does not recognize sex work as a decent respectable profession, they are vulnerable to abuse, exploitation, and sexually transmitted infections. They end up getting married, having children at a very young age and at the time when young women reach the age of 20, they already have 2-3 children.
Most parents – especially mothers – want their children to finish school, since access to quality education can end the cycle of poverty. My own grandmother, who was widowed at the age of 33, struggled to make ends meet so that all of her four children could finish college and provide a promising future for their own children.
Climate change and resource depletion will eventually affect all of the world’s people. But it is already gravely affecting the dried fish sellers in Leyte. There are efforts under way to help. The Green Climate Fund will finance climate adaptation in developing countries, and much can be done to promote better land use, reduce carbon dioxide emissions, and secure rights for indigenous people. Under the administration of President Benigno Simeon C. Aquino III public and private partnerships flourished in an effort to finance infrastructure and social services to address the needs of the marginalized and the poor.
These policy measures are necessary and strategic, but they are not sufficient. To make a powerful lasting impact in the lives of the women and young people of Leyte, we must ensure that SRHR and family planning are included in efforts to address climate change and promote sustainable development.
Family planning and SRHR is a potential game changer. Women and young people who are empowered to make choices about childbearing are healthier and more resilient. They are more likely to invest in their children’s education; they and their children are less likely to be poor.
We can just imagine a better world if the estimated 215 million women who now lack access to contraception were able to plan their families. Imagine if we unleash the potential of 600 million adolescent girls, by ensuring their access to education, opportunities, and rights. In fact, imagine if every one of the planet’s three billion young people were empowered with rights and opportunity. Imagine that those young men and women are able to make informed choices to stay healthy and free of HIV; to marry if they choose and raise healthy, happy families. Imagine breaking the cycle of poverty and gender-based violence that has haunted humanity for generations and generations.
In my country, women’s rights movement had its historic victory with the passage of the Reproductive Health Law or RH Law. The enactment and implementation of the RH law in the Philippines is a huge victory for women and young people. However, the struggle is not over. A few days ago, the Supreme Court of the Philippines issued a temporary restraining order or better known as status quo ante order for 120 days, allegedly to allow petitioners to argue its constitutional merits and/or demerits of the law.
Such delaying tactics hijacks the future of women and young people. In a global inclusive development framework, we must first guarantee basic human rights for women and young people. Ensure that we end gender-based violence; economic opportunities, give greater participation of women and young people in the decision-making and political process; provide access to clean, safe, and potable water; and stand-up against child marriage.
We must build a sustainable economy that is inclusive, not divisive; sustaining, not depleting. But most of all, we must ensure provision of basic social services such as comprehensive sexuality education for young people, women and youth-friendly health services, and family planning not only for married couples but also for every women and young people .
This week, in Bali, young people have demanded that we must be put at the heart of development. “Young people should be involved in writing the High Level Panel’s recommendations to the UN General Assembly. Young people in all our diversity must occupy a meaningful space in our new development agenda. We refuse to be an afterthought. It is only with our voice and involvement that the post-2015 agenda will be a success (Bali Youth Multi-stakeholder Meeting Communiqué).”
In the post-2015 development agenda, we must focus on reducing inequality, which has widened both within and between countries. Thus, it is important that we must also accelerate the social, political, and economic inclusion of marginalized groups, especially women and girls and young people – whom United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon gave a nod to the importance of women, who “hold up half the sky,” and of young people, “the very face of our future.”
Still, one crucial ingredient went without mention: sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). The inclusion of SRHR and access to family planning completes the jigsaw puzzle of a just sustainable world and in the roadmap to development.
To understand why, consider the lives of the women who sell dried fish in my province – Leyte, in the Philippines. The women of Leyte are on the front lines of an unfolding environmental crisis. The Gulf they depend on for their livelihood has been ravaged by overfishing and the destruction of coral reefs, forests and mangroves. Where fishers once reeled in up to 50 kilograms a day, the average has now dropped to just 0-5 kilograms, barely enough to feed a family.
Climate change has disrupted the weather, making it too unpredictable to dry fish under the heat of the sun. It produces the lowest quality of their dried fish product and the result, for the women of Leyte, is a substantial loss of income.
Large families are still the norm in Leyte, where most women have more than four children. Many would like to prevent or delay having another child; one in three births is unwanted or mistimed. But too many lack access to family planning and reproductive health services and information.
High fertility and declining income forces families to make painful choices. In many cases, one or two or even more of the children will be the “sacrificial lamb” who goes to work so at least some of their siblings can go to school. Most of these young people who are out-of-school have no option but to do hard labor or enter the service of being a household helper since they have no diploma that can guarantee them to find a job in a company or even in the government.
With lack of economic opportunities, women and young people have no choice but to engage in sex work. In a society that does not recognize sex work as a decent respectable profession, they are vulnerable to abuse, exploitation, and sexually transmitted infections. They end up getting married, having children at a very young age and at the time when young women reach the age of 20, they already have 2-3 children.
Most parents – especially mothers – want their children to finish school, since access to quality education can end the cycle of poverty. My own grandmother, who was widowed at the age of 33, struggled to make ends meet so that all of her four children could finish college and provide a promising future for their own children.
Climate change and resource depletion will eventually affect all of the world’s people. But it is already gravely affecting the dried fish sellers in Leyte. There are efforts under way to help. The Green Climate Fund will finance climate adaptation in developing countries, and much can be done to promote better land use, reduce carbon dioxide emissions, and secure rights for indigenous people. Under the administration of President Benigno Simeon C. Aquino III public and private partnerships flourished in an effort to finance infrastructure and social services to address the needs of the marginalized and the poor.
These policy measures are necessary and strategic, but they are not sufficient. To make a powerful lasting impact in the lives of the women and young people of Leyte, we must ensure that SRHR and family planning are included in efforts to address climate change and promote sustainable development.
Family planning and SRHR is a potential game changer. Women and young people who are empowered to make choices about childbearing are healthier and more resilient. They are more likely to invest in their children’s education; they and their children are less likely to be poor.
We can just imagine a better world if the estimated 215 million women who now lack access to contraception were able to plan their families. Imagine if we unleash the potential of 600 million adolescent girls, by ensuring their access to education, opportunities, and rights. In fact, imagine if every one of the planet’s three billion young people were empowered with rights and opportunity. Imagine that those young men and women are able to make informed choices to stay healthy and free of HIV; to marry if they choose and raise healthy, happy families. Imagine breaking the cycle of poverty and gender-based violence that has haunted humanity for generations and generations.
In my country, women’s rights movement had its historic victory with the passage of the Reproductive Health Law or RH Law. The enactment and implementation of the RH law in the Philippines is a huge victory for women and young people. However, the struggle is not over. A few days ago, the Supreme Court of the Philippines issued a temporary restraining order or better known as status quo ante order for 120 days, allegedly to allow petitioners to argue its constitutional merits and/or demerits of the law.
Such delaying tactics hijacks the future of women and young people. In a global inclusive development framework, we must first guarantee basic human rights for women and young people. Ensure that we end gender-based violence; economic opportunities, give greater participation of women and young people in the decision-making and political process; provide access to clean, safe, and potable water; and stand-up against child marriage.
We must build a sustainable economy that is inclusive, not divisive; sustaining, not depleting. But most of all, we must ensure provision of basic social services such as comprehensive sexuality education for young people, women and youth-friendly health services, and family planning not only for married couples but also for every women and young people .
This week, in Bali, young people have demanded that we must be put at the heart of development. “Young people should be involved in writing the High Level Panel’s recommendations to the UN General Assembly. Young people in all our diversity must occupy a meaningful space in our new development agenda. We refuse to be an afterthought. It is only with our voice and involvement that the post-2015 agenda will be a success.”
In the post-2015 development agenda, we must focus on reducing inequality, which has widened both within and between countries. Thus, it is important that we must also accelerate the social, political, and economic inclusion of marginalized groups, especially women and girls and young people – whom United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon gave a nod to the importance of women, who “hold up half the sky,” and of young people, “the very face of our future.”
Still, one crucial ingredient went without mention: sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). The inclusion of SRHR and access to family planning completes the jigsaw puzzle of a just sustainable world and in the roadmap to development.
To understand why, consider the lives of the women who sell dried fish in my province – Leyte, in the Philippines. The women of Leyte are on the front lines of an unfolding environmental crisis. The Gulf they depend on for their livelihood has been ravaged by overfishing and the destruction of coral reefs, forests and mangroves. Where fishers once reeled in up to 50 kilograms a day, the average has now dropped to just 0-5 kilograms, barely enough to feed a family.
Climate change has disrupted the weather, making it too unpredictable to dry fish under the heat of the sun. It produces the lowest quality of their dried fish product and the result, for the women of Leyte, is a substantial loss of income.
Large families are still the norm in Leyte, where most women have more than four children. Many would like to prevent or delay having another child; one in three births is unwanted or mistimed. But too many lack access to family planning and reproductive health services and information.
High fertility and declining income forces families to make painful choices. In many cases, one or two or even more of the children will be the “sacrificial lamb” who goes to work so at least some of their siblings can go to school. Most of these young people who are out-of-school have no option but to do hard labor or enter the service of being a household helper since they have no diploma that can guarantee them to find a job in a company or even in the government.
With lack of economic opportunities, women and young people have no choice but to engage in sex work. In a society that does not recognize sex work as a decent respectable profession, they are vulnerable to abuse, exploitation, and sexually transmitted infections. They end up getting married, having children at a very young age and at the time when young women reach the age of 20, they already have 2-3 children.
Most parents – especially mothers – want their children to finish school, since access to quality education can end the cycle of poverty. My own grandmother, who was widowed at the age of 33, struggled to make ends meet so that all of her four children could finish college and provide a promising future for their own children.
Climate change and resource depletion will eventually affect all of the world’s people. But it is already gravely affecting the dried fish sellers in Leyte. There are efforts under way to help. The Green Climate Fund will finance climate adaptation in developing countries, and much can be done to promote better land use, reduce carbon dioxide emissions, and secure rights for indigenous people. Under the administration of President Benigno Simeon C. Aquino III public and private partnerships flourished in an effort to finance infrastructure and social services to address the needs of the marginalized and the poor.
These policy measures are necessary and strategic, but they are not sufficient. To make a powerful lasting impact in the lives of the women and young people of Leyte, we must ensure that SRHR and family planning are included in efforts to address climate change and promote sustainable development.
Family planning and SRHR is a potential game changer. Women and young people who are empowered to make choices about childbearing are healthier and more resilient. They are more likely to invest in their children’s education; they and their children are less likely to be poor.
We can just imagine a better world if the estimated 215 million women who now lack access to contraception were able to plan their families. Imagine if we unleash the potential of 600 million adolescent girls, by ensuring their access to education, opportunities, and rights. In fact, imagine if every one of the planet’s three billion young people were empowered with rights and opportunity. Imagine that those young men and women are able to make informed choices to stay healthy and free of HIV; to marry if they choose and raise healthy, happy families. Imagine breaking the cycle of poverty and gender-based violence that has haunted humanity for generations and generations.
In my country, women’s rights movement had its historic victory with the passage of the Reproductive Health Law or RH Law. The enactment and implementation of the RH law in the Philippines is a huge victory for women and young people. However, the struggle is not over. A few days ago, the Supreme Court of the Philippines issued a temporary restraining order or better known as status quo ante order for 120 days, allegedly to allow petitioners to argue its constitutional merits and/or demerits of the law.
Such delaying tactics hijacks the future of women and young people. In a global inclusive development framework, we must first guarantee basic human rights for women and young people. Ensure that we end gender-based violence; economic opportunities, give greater participation of women and young people in the decision-making and political process; provide access to clean, safe, and potable water; and stand-up against child marriage.
We must build a sustainable economy that is inclusive, not divisive; sustaining, not depleting. But most of all, we must ensure provision of basic social services such as comprehensive sexuality education for young people, women and youth-friendly health services, and family planning not only for married couples but also for every women and young people .
This week, in Bali, young people have demanded that we must be put at the heart of development. “Young people should be involved in writing the High Level Panel’s recommendations to the UN General Assembly. Young people in all our diversity must occupy a meaningful space in our new development agenda. We refuse to be an afterthought. It is only with our voice and involvement that the post-2015 agenda will be a success.”
As a young activist working on improving young people’s sexual and reproductive health and justice around the world, I always find myself being questioned on legitimacy—why me? How can I—still a college student—lobby for policy changes such as a permanent repeal of the Global Gag Rule or tell senior policymakers why abstinence-only sex education is ineffective, harmful, and bad public policy? In fact, this is also a question that society always asks young people—why do youth matter? Why should young people be empowered and engaged in discussions on critical development issues as well as policymaking? How will our engagement make a difference?
To begin with, I need to admit that although I am constantly learning and tremendously passionate about international development, I am not an expert on the issue. But, what I am an expert on—and what all young people are experts on—is what it means to be a young person in this ever-global world in which we live. Young people are critical to development since we comprise nearly half the world’s 7 billion people. Our future is the world’s future and our development is closely linked with the world’s development. How can a nation not be trapped in poverty if its young people are illiterate? How can we end HIV/AIDS if young people still cannot have access to contraception and comprehensive and accurate sex education? How can societies ever achieve gender equality if girls still suffer from child marriage or boys still are taught to perpetuate gender norms and patriarchy? In order to address these and other critical development needs, the world must empower young people as decisionmakers, influencers, and partners.
Yet, despite our ever-increasing numbers, we are still marginalized and our voices are not heard. Society still treats us as if we are ignorant, inexperienced, naive, and passive beneficiaries of programs and policies; that we can’t or shouldn’t have a say in these matters. The truth is we can—and we must—be at the forefront of international development. We simply cannot afford to sit idly by and watch as policymakers misrepresent facts and science in their efforts to legislate morality for young people, all the while hindering youth empowerment and social development.
Make no mistake about it, while empowering youth is critical to overall development, engaging youth is the most critical tool for what I will call “correct as well as needed” empowerment. I strongly believe that society should encourage young people to speak out as well as provide youth engagement platforms—since youth engagement can also bring creative solutions to developmental issues. Although we are not perfect experts, we are creative thinkers and can come up with new solutions to old dilemmas. A great example is social mobilization through popular media, which is very cost-effective.
Given that youth empowerment is essential to development, it is important for society to give young people a say and acknowledge the power of the youth! Nothing about us without us!
Today while I was half sleeping, ¼ day dreaming and ¼ studying some Caribbean Studies, I stumbled upon some troubling statistics that I think you all should know. The following statistics were published in the World Bank (2003) report on Caribbean Youth Development. They are as follows:
1.) Sexual and physical abuse is high in the Caribbean and socially accepted in many Caribbean Countries
2.) The onset of sexual initiation in the Caribbean is the highest in the world (with the exception of Africa, where early sexual experiences take place within marriage).
3.) The region has the highest incidence of HIV/AIDS outside of Africa.
4.) The incidence of rage among young people is extremely high.
5.) Youth unemployment is especially elevated in some Caribbean countries (e.g Jamaica)
6.) In contrast to the United States, which has high levels of youth violence, the proportion of Caribbean adolescent males who carry firearms is extremely high.
7.) Although data on drug use are scanty, anecdotal evidence suggests a widespread social acceptance of alcohol and marijuana in some Caribbean Countries, among both in-school and out-of-school youth. (World Bank 2003, pp.xiv,xv)
The report makes mention of the fact that these at risk youth may not be directly responsible for their delinquent behaviour but instead they are enmeshed in a system which promulgates such behaviours.
The report continues by highlighting that the responsibility for such delinquent behaviour lies in the family primarily and also the education system which “continues to privilege high academic success and does not have adequate programmes designed for children who are intelligent in other areas” (Mohammed 2007, pp. 312)
Fortunately some programmes exist in the Caribbean to provide at risk youth with well needed support. Some of these programmes include the Project Strong programme which originated in St. Kitts and Nevis and the Healthy Lifestyle Project, originating in Jamaica and spreading across the Caribbean.
<3 kevz
p.s I’m still shocked at #2… what could cause this… any views?
Here’s something you may not have known. Every month 1,000 young people acquire HIV. Every month.
It’s time to take action and invest in young people – their health, their education, and their leadership – so we can truly reach an AIDS-free generation!
Join us for the FIRST EVER National Youth HIV & AIDS Awareness Day (NYHAAD) on April 10! Let’s acknowledge young people’s great work fighting this epidemic, and hold our leaders accountable to prioritizing young people in the fight against HIV & AIDS.
Quick comment RE: some of the upsetting posts I’ve been coming across today on various social media platforms
I get it. I TOTALLY get it. Marriage is an outdated institution. Allowing same sex marriage will not directly lead to equal rights for all. And the list goes on. But this is absolutely NOT the right time for anyone who believes in human rights (especially fellow LGBT members) to throw stones on our path to become more equal citizens. As the saying goes, “If you don’t have something nice to say…”
Women practicing taekwondo, fully dressed in hijabs and crisp white uniforms. A young female student training to as a midwife. A woman operating the controls at a radio station. A modernly-dressed fashion designer directing models. Young girls sitting in a tented school, small chalkboards perched on their laps.
These are some of the images from a photo gallery published on Foreign Policy’s website. The gallery is aptly subtitled “Don’t tell these women nothing’s changed in Afghanistan”. Indeed, these photos show the best of modernity in Afghanistan. An all-female Olympic basketball team. A woman campaigning for the presidency. But behind these photos, there is a larger question: will any of it last?
Before the Taliban came into power in the early 1990s, women still suffered in Afghanistan. Female literacy was low and child and maternal mortality were high, much as they are today. However, something else was different. Women were able to participate in society. They helped to draft the 1964 Constitution. They were members of Parliament. They worked as teachers, lawyers, judges, writers, and doctors.
As we all know, all of that changed when the Taliban came into power. Women and girls faced severe restrictions; only about 3 percent of girls received any education. Women could only travel when accompanied by a male relative.
When the Taliban were overthrown by U.S. forces in 2001, it was seen as a new dawn for Afghani women. However, the problems that existed before and during Taliban rule persisted. Today, Afghanistan ranks 147 out of 148 on the Gender Inequality Index (GII), a measure used by the UN alongside the Human Development Index (HDI) to capture the loss of achievement due to gender inequality. Such inequality is measured in three domains: reproductive health, empowerment, and labor market participation. In Afghanistan, gender inequality can be portrayed when broken down into separate statistics:
While these figures are still dismal, they do not entirely reflect the other gains that have been made in Afghanistan. As the photo gallery from Foreign Policy magazine shows, women are making gains in other areas. Legally, they are allowed to participate in sports, leave their homes unaccompanied by a male relative, have a career, and even run for president (I refer to Fawzia Koofi, an inspiring woman who has served as a member of Parliament for seven years while raising two daughters on her own).
Yet the gains that have been made and the hope that has been instilled by development agencies and Western governments who have flocked to Afghanistan from 2001 may only be fleeting. While the invasion of 2001 may not be viewed in a positive light by many Westerners, it is clear that it is viewed favorably by Afghanis, or at least Afghani women. It has given them schools, health care, and freedom. However, as described in this article on Guardian, Afghani women fear that their situation could drastically change after the Western powers depart next year and Hamid Karzai leaves the presidency. This power vacuum may invite the Taliban to step back in, and send Afghanistan quickly back to the dark days of the 1990s. And then what? Will U.S. forces intervene militarily? Will they let Afghanistan sort out its own problems? For Afghani women, this is the ultimate – and most terrifying – question.
I have seen this post circulate on Facebook and loved its message. I apologizing for not crediting it since I am not sure who put it together. There is absolutely no way to sugar coat the rape stories that are happening today and we should keep doing our great work loud and proud until we no longer hear about these savage crimes happening in our world. It is about time we teach our fellow humans NOT TO RAPE. Full Stop.
Being in a conference with a delegation from China to talk about youth engagement model of Advocates two weeks ago made me to reflect on the work of Advocates from another angle. As an activist, I usually appreciate the actual work piece of Advocates, however, after discussing with the delegation, I was also amazed by AFY’s model of youth engagement which I haven’t really thought about before.
There are three parts of Advocates’ youth engagement model that I really appreciate as a young activist. First of all, I appreciate its recognition and belief in young people’s creativity as well as our power. Traditionally, societies around the world equal young people as irrational and with crazy ideas. Remembering always being asked to think again, I was amazed by the encouragement I got from Advocates. Secondly, I really appreciate the support I can get from Advocates. Not only being recognized for my creativity, Advocates actually provide me means to achieve them. In fact, come from a background almost has nothing to do with sexual and reproductive health and justice, although I could have ambitious plan as well as creative ideas, I was worrying at first about my ability to work on international issues. However, Advocates is really supportive and helpful. While Urban Retreat and One Voice Summit as well as other small training sessions provide me with better understanding of issues, staff members are so welcome for me to discuss with them. Also, Advocates is so willing to share recourses with its youth activists: I can not only receive material supports such as wonderful fact sheets and documents, I am also able to build up my personal network. Last but not least, I appreciate the encouragement from Advocates on initiative. Although sometimes I feel the pressure from other wonderful young activists to be the change, I enjoy continuously growing up as a strong young leader.
So I really enjoy my work with Advocates and hope for every organization that works with young people can first trust young people’s potential and support us–because we will be the change!
If you haven’t heard already, the law makers in North Dakota are pushing for another anti-choice bill. This time it’s an abortion ban on the basis of personhood. If passed, this would effectively give fertilized eggs all the rights of U.S. citizens. And it would cut off abortion care completely. Beyond abortion this bill would also charge doctors who damage embryos in any way with criminal negligence. It also prevents doctors from being able to perform in vitro fertilizations. Now you might be thinking an unconstitutional bill like this couldn’t possibly get passed by Senate or the House, but it did. Shockingly, it passed the House by a vote of 57-35 and it’s currently making its way to the Governor’s desk.
The state’s recent six-week abortion ban is already in direct violation of Roe v. Wade and will bring about several legal costs for taxpayers when challenged. This next measure of a total abortion ban will surely cause North Dakota to face the same results, costing the state more than they bargained for. And how will they pay for these litigations?
During a recent debate between Senator Margaret Sitte and Dr. Kristen Cain about the abortion restrictions and pending abortion ban, Senator Sitte accidentally lets something slip. When asked if these bills will cost taxpayers possibly millions, Senator Sitte unintentionally admits that there are outside interests behind the unconstitutional abortion bans who are willing to spend those millions to make sure people in North Dakota will not have access to reproductive healthcare and rights. Watch as Senator Sitte tries to lie her way out of it.
Watch the debate between Senator Sitte and Dr. Cain!
This abortion ban won’t be a law until Governor Jack Darlymple of North Dakota signs it, and it’s unclear if he will or won’t.
To contact Governor Jack Darlymple:
Office of Governor
State of North Dakota
600 East Boulevard Avenue
Bismarck, ND 58505-0100
701.328.2200: phone
701.328.2205: fax
Two personhood bills — Senate Bill 2303 and Senate Concurrent Resolution 4009 — have already passed the Senate, and the GOP-controlled House is expected to take them upsometime this week. But if North Dakota successfully enacts a total abortion ban, there will be serious consequences for the state that extend even beyond women’s reproductive freedom. Here are five ways the state will suffer under personhood:
1. There will be fewer doctors in the state available to provide medical care. In a historic move for the North Dakota Medical Association, the nonpartisan organization has come out againstpersonhood. The group points out that the anti-abortion measures go too far to “interfere with the physician practice,” and they suspect it will be harder to find qualified medical professionals willing to practice in North Dakota if the state imposes so many complicated restrictions on doctors. Some doctors have already testified before state lawmakersto say they will leave North Dakota if the abortion bans pass.
2. Maternal health care will be compromised. Doctors could becharged with criminal negligence if anything happens to an embryo — which could prevent them from making quick decisions that could help save women’s lives. The tragic case of Savita Halappanavar, a woman who died after being denied an abortion in a Catholic hospital because her doctors were reluctant to provide care that could get them in trouble with the law, highlights the serious consequences of state lawmakers coming between a woman and her doctor.
3. Women could be forced to resort to illegal abortion procedures.Under a personhood law, women will end up resorting to dangerous “backroom” abortions, one former pediatrician warned North Dakota lawmakers last week. That Fargo-area doctor did his medical training before Roe v. Wade, when women were dying of bacterial infections after botched abortion procedures — and he warns that the passage of the proposed personhood measures would pull North Dakota back into “the stone age of medicine.” There’s evidence to back up that claim. According to the Guttmacher Institute, the legality of abortion hasabsolutely no correlation to abortion rates around the world, because women will continue to seek to terminate pregnancies regardless of the law.
4. Women won’t be able to use in vitro fertilization to try to have a family. Ironically, in addition to compromising medical procedures for the women seeking to terminate a pregnancy, personhood measures also place restrictions on the women who are trying to get pregnant. “These bills will stop the practice of in vitro fertilization in this state,” Dr. Stephanie Dahl, an obstetrician-gynecologist and reproductive medicine specialist in Fargo, explained to lawmakers. Doctors wouldn’t be able to perform any procedure that carries the risk of damaging some embryos, so women would be forced to travel to South Dakota or Minnesota for in vitro treatment, a six-week process that requires multiple sonograms and up to 12 visits to the doctor.
5. The state will become embroiled in expensive lawsuits. North Dakota’s six-week abortion ban already runs afoul of Roe v. Wade, and will certainly invite several costly legal challenges. A total abortion ban would lead to similar consequences. Two personhood bills were recentlystruck down in Oklahoma, suggesting that the courts won’t take kindly to North Dakota’s push to restrict women’s constitutional rights, either. Nevertheless, even the self-proclaimed “fiscally conservative” Republicans in the state are willing to defend their abortion bans on the state’s dime.
http://thinkprogress.org/health/2013/03/19/1738321/north-dakota-suffer-personhood/
PS – Help us share the news about National Youth HIV & AIDS Awareness Day by liking us on Facebook. And tell your friends!
Kansas House rejects rape and incest exceptions for abortion
Kansas House members on Tuesday gave first-round approval to sweeping new restrictions on abortion after refusing to add exceptions that would allow victims of incest or rape — including children who are raped — to get late-term abortions.
— Jessica Gonzalez-Rojas and Kierra Johnson, Beyond Choice: How We Learned to Stop Labeling and Love Reproductive Justice
Let’s face the facts: We live in a victim blaming society when it comes to sexual assault and rape.
After the guilty verdict was announced following the Steubenville rape case in Ohio, my initial thought was worry.
I worry about the victim who spoke out against her rapists, condemning two boys who were the pride of the town for being star players on the football team. I worry not only for the trauma she faced during the rape act and the humiliating physical evidence via tweets, instagram, and video posts, but also for the aftermath she will face following the trial…
I worry for her safety because people don’t quite understand what rape is and will condemn her for it because she was drunk.
I worry that she will not have a much needed support system from peers or members of the community following the trial.
I worry if she will have a counselor to talk to in the upcoming months she will try to get back to living a “normal life”.
I worry that those two boys will never learn their lesson about what rape actually is. Being that mainstream media has taken their side and glorified them as victims because they were promising football players and students who got good grades. They just got caught up in a regrettable act (not regretting the rape, but the regretting the fact that it was recorded with photos).
The two young men will have to register as sex offenders and spend one to two years in juvenile detention, but that is not what I am concerned about, unlike other mainstream media outlets.
Instead of feeling sympathy that their promising football careers are essentially over, I feel actual sympathy for the victim of being raped without her consent and how she will cope and deal with the consequences living in a town that cares more about their football team than the well being of a 16 year old girl who was taken advantage of.
The rape victim, a 16 year old girl, should be our main concern. Not the future of rapists, but the future of a young girl, who has to deal with being a rape survivor in a patriarchal, misogynistic, sexist, victim-blaming society.
I shouldn’t have to worry about the well-being of a rape victim. She should know that this entire ordeal is not her fault. She should expect counseling and psychological services to help her cope with trauma. She should have support instead of backlash from her community of peers and adults.
That’s how it should be…but we live in a society that blames rape victims instead of sympathizing with them. And that is a shame.
Technology has become more integral to our daily lives, so it’s no surprise that millions use online dating websites and social apps in search of friendships, romance, and sex. This reality continues to bring individuals closer while removing personal communication as well as creating controversial news headlines.
For many LGBTQ youth, using their internet devices to interact with others is both convenient and comfortable, especially for those who are in the closet about their sexual or gender identity. While most of these youths are skilled at using electronics and social media networks, they are also unaware of the potential risks that come with meeting strangers and sharing extremely personal information.
Just recently, a 16-year-old Broward County student contracted HIV after having unprotected sex with two older men he met through a social app. Stories like this as well as rapes, abductions, and murders have been in the news, where young teens meet unknown persons through websites as popular as Myspace and Facebook, yet end in tragedy.
More than ever, it’s become a necessity for teens and adults to become informed about bullying, privacy, and sexuality so they can actively defend themselves from cyberbullying, predators, and sexually transmitted diseases.
As a young queer male, I’ve studied the habits of friends and pop culture trends. While South Florida has a rich network of resources for the LGBTQ population, a large portion prefer to join websites like Craigslist, Manhunt, Plenty Of Fish, BGCLive or download apps like Adam4Adam, Grindr, and Jack’d seeking a new friend, love, or a one night stand.
These websites and apps (especially those catering to LGBTQ persons) emphasize shallowness (you can filter users based their physical appearance, age, and ethnicity) and reinforce unrealistic social standards (many profiles will write phrases like “No Fats, No Fems, No Blacks, No Old”).
I don’t suffer from social anxiety or instant gratification and declare myself an online dating skeptic. In the past, I browsed these websites to understand the psychology of online dating and was shocked at how the members had no hesitation in revealing their partially or fully nude bodies and used explicit or unintelligent language in messages.
When I downloaded an app 2 weeks ago, I revisited the same behaviors I encountered on those sites, except it’s more invasive: you can see how many miles each user is from you. I was messaged daily from users aged 18 to 45, of various racial groups, hobbies, and intentions.
Not only did these last 2 weeks teach me that we’re too dependent on technology, but that it’s important to maintain meaningful and personal contact with each other. Online dating has its upside, but with the increasing lack of privacy and dangers associated with chatting to strangers, you never know who is on the other side of that laptop or iPhone.
We may be more connected than ever, but we must be more safe and protected than ever.
As a former teen mom and human I could not help but address the questions and worries of the discontent toddlers in the New York City’s controversial anti-teenage pregnancy ads.
Just because I had you as a teen does not mean that you are not capable of doing well in school and graduating high school with honors just as I did.
BREAKING: North Dakota legislature passes nation’s most restrictive abortion law, bans all abortions after 6 weeks
http://thinkprogress.org/health/2013/03/15/1724911/north-dakota-six-week-heartbeat-ban/
Steubenville “Rape Crew” Lawyers Argue that Silence is Consent
Anyone who hasn’t been living under a rock knows a few details about this case. A teenage girl was drinking at a party, was drugged, became unconscious, and now two guys are on trial for “allegedly” raping her. (Man, I hate that word.) This particular case caught national attention after the internet crew Anonymous unveiled some of the shady business surrounding the actual case. The self-proclaimed Steubenville “Rape Crew” recorded themselves after the alleged rape, describing that the victim had been drugged, urinated on, and raped. They also took photos of themselves with the victim and tweeted before and after the crime, implying that this assault was premeditated. But apparently being on the Steubenville high school football team puts you on a pedestal, and being the alleged rape victim is a greenlight for a slew of death threats and attacks. It’s another case in which we get a glaring view into sports and rape culture, and how blurred the line can be sometimes.
Originally, the attackers (Trent Mays and Ma’lik Richmond) were charged with kidnapping. They had been moving the victim from party to party without her consent. I’m sorry to say that those charges were now dropped. In response to the rape charges, the attackers’ lawyers have decided to argue that silence is consent even though the victim didn’t have the ability to say no or yes since she was drugged by her alleged rapists and was unconscious. The lawyers of course wanted the charges dropped completely, but the attempt failed. So, they decided that this was the next best course of action: to argue that she didn’t affirmatively say no. It’s okay. Take the time to move away from the computer and scream.
Here’s a bit of light in this situation: protesters have gathered outside the courthouse, local or otherwise, for #OccupySteubenville and Operation RollRedRoll to support “Jane Doe” and other victims of abuse. They describe their occupation for March 13-15:
This will be a SILENT OCCUPY. There will be NO sound system, NO microphones, NO music, and NO guest speaking. ALL attempts from anyone trying to set up equipment will be immediately shut down. WE must now give Lady Justice, who stands on top of the Jefferson County Courthouse, her chance to speak the VERDICT. In doing so, WE will allow our voices to become…SILENT. Only our signs and banners will speak what’s on our minds. Imagine…hundreds possibly thousands of masks, dressed up, remaining peaceful, while occupying in silence. This will be a MASSIVE Anonymous presence that will speak VOLUMES.
This will be a time of standing united, in our support of Jane Doe, with our Anonymous family. We will enjoy each other’s company and act like family.
This is YOUR chance to be creative and artistic in support for Jane Doe. Let your signs, banners, and shirts speak what’s on your mind. Be Creative. Be Positive. Make the statement that YOU want the world to READ. Imagery is worth a thousand words. Let us not forget that we are a peaceful people and we are here to respectfully and peacefully support Jane Doe. Regardless of the verdict…we will remain calm and we will remain peaceful.
Though some media responses to this trial has brought this case forward and revealed tons of supporters out there, other responses haven’t been the most helpful in ensuring true justice for the victim with headlines and descriptions of the attackers like “the almost-certain demise of their dreams of playing football” and articles like this, heavy with sports glorification and victim blaming.
In the words of SPARK activist Carmen Rios:
“When athletes are accused of rape – and this is not the first or, unfortunately, the last time – often their teammates and coaches will scramble to defend them. That’s wrong. Athletes receiving preferential treatment is not uncommon and is undeniable at schools across this country, and in the case of Steubenville the safe haven of a team ready to go up to bat to defend two rapists has effectively squashed discussion around the central problem of the case: it doesn’t matter who rapes, or who is raped. It matters that a rape has occurred and that it occurred on camera and on the Internet and with great pride and joy from those allegedly involved. It matters that when these boys were publicly scrutinized for this behavior, which is undeniably tasteless and violent behavior stemming from probably equally tasteless and violent attitudes toward women, their teammates and coaches defended them publicly and privately. It matters because the only way people learn is by being told the truth – and the truth is that Coach Saccoccia and all of the Steubenville Big Red team should have stood in solidarity with what is right, and not who they know.”
Let’s hope this trial ends fairly and with great justice for those who deserve it.
The ‘Harlem Shake’ phenomenon seems to be the new ‘Gangnam Style’. Everyone and their Gran is making one. We’ve seen the college versions, office versions, and others. Everyone tries to make theirs a little more creative. So far my favorites are the ‘Slender Shake’ and the DramaFever version. But I digress.
You know when everyone’s carrying on and having fun then someone comes and ruins it all? Y’know, the party pooper. We have a ‘Harlem Shake’ party pooper. The shake, albeit completely different from the original hip-hop version, has been about camaraderie and the jollies. Friends and co-workers gather to make a 30-second video which starts off with one person in the group dancing and is followed by a complete change in the atmosphere – usually costumed dance frenzies. Love March Movement, a Jamaican group “…of Christians who will fast and pray and speak out publicly about things concerning the kingdom of God…”, has taken it to a whole new level of sad wet blanketry. They posted their own version of the shake, during which they held up signs advocating the retention of the “Buggery Law”.
Now I’m no stranger to homophobia, and even though the bigotry enrages me, it’s even worse when there are claims of possible damage. Here are their reasons for upholding the anti-homosexuality law.
The Buggery Law is important for protecting our country from several undesirable outcomes:
1. The Buggery Law guides the educational institutions of our nation. It is the law preventing children of all ages from being taught that homosexuality is normal behaviour; this being a serious concern especially for parents that disagree. In nations like Canada such classes are mandatory and parents have been told that they cannot remove their children from them.
2. It naturally follows that eventually, just like how we have Inter-School’s Christian Fellowship (ISCF) in high schools, that we would possibe have a Lesbian-Gay-Bisexua-Transgender-Fellowship in the schools.
3. Pedophilia – is a concern because scientists have presented to the government in Canada that pedophilia is just another sexual orientation. The train of thought is that just as the homosexuals have argued saying “I can’t control my feelings for.. men.. it is natural”… in the same way Pedophile have the same “natural attractions”.
4. Zoophilia – this is where one expresses sexual desire for animals. The law serves to declare to society what behaviour is acceptable. The buggery law also criminalizes anal sex between a man and an animal. Repealing it would actually be saying that this behviour is acceptable. Additionally, in the States there has been a legal defense for a man that has had sex with his donkey, again on the basis that ““I can’t control my feelings for.. my donkey.. it is natural”. This is the reality of the world we live in.
5. Loss of Freedom of Speech – In Canada Dr. Kris Kepling was sued for writing to the newspaper saying that he doesn’t think that homosexual material should be included in schools. He was fined Canadian $10,000. Even more recently, a pro-family activist has been charged for hate speech, because he was distributing a flyer that spoke vehemently about homosexuality. The Supreme Court of Canada ruled that where the act (anal sex), was characteristic of the group (homosexuals) then speaking against the behaviour is equivalent to speaking against the vulnerable group. He was ordered to pay court fees and a gay couple who were offended. This is the serious breakdown of democracy that is taking place at the hands of the homosexual agenda world-wide.
6. Loss of Freedom of Religion – In England, Lilian Lydale, a Christian marriage officer was fired because she refused to marry a gay couple, on the basis of her religious beliefs. She even offered to have a co-worker fill the shift for her, but she was turned down. The court ruled that she did not have that right to decline the clients,a nd that she should lose her job.
7. Gay Marriage – This would cause serious damage to the family structure and is of serious concern. Though down the line, we can see easily that this is on the road of the repeal of the Buggery Law. Gays in France understand how destructive this is, and have their own campaign against gay marriage.
All in all, we are protecting the nation from death and destruction, the fruits of the secularist, homosexual agenda. [sic]
This is a clear example of the ways in which hate infiltrates every aspect of our lives. For how long will our actions and thoughts continue to be fueled by fear, ignorance and rejection of “westernization”. While the acknowledgement of pedophilia as a sexual orientation is a bit much, it’s unfair to insinuate that same-sex relationships are the wellspring of all sexual behavior that is deemed immoral. It’s all fine as long as they don’t take away the guns and 21 ounce sodas right?
My name is Lesley Del Rio and I am a CREATE council member. I was disappointed to learn that after all the hard work we put into Youth Action Day, a group of people who oppose our message took it as a joke and intruded and tried to silence our voices. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but Youth Action Day was about Comprehensive Sex Ed and showing our support for HB 1081, not opposing it and bringing it down. We don’t want to give them any more attention because they don’t deserve it. This is an example of why we need to stand together and advocate for what we want and need in spite of opposition.
Last week I posted a blog responding to the New York City Human Resource Administration’s Teen Pregnancy Prevention Campaign. With much hard work, The New York Coalition for Reproductive Justice has launched its No Stigma! No Shame! Campaign in response to the Human Resource Administration’s,“Think Being A Teen Parent Won’t Cost You?”campaign. A collective of women of color, teen parents, community organizers, young people and myself have organized this campaign. We need you help with this push back. We are standing up and letting people know that our young people, especially young parents deserve better!
We ask that you stand with us and sign on listing your affiliation, organization and state. Please send that information and sign on at nyc4rj[at]gmail[dot]com. Support us in getting the word out and pushing for a teen pregnancy prevention campaign that DOES NOT shame and blame teen parents, particularly teen parents of color.
To find the Sign On Letter please visit nyc4rj.tumblr.com
Here are ALL the ways you can support the “No Stigma! No Shame!” Campaign (via Nicole Clark Consulting):
1. Stand with us and sign on to our letter by contacting Jasmine Burnett, founder of NYC4RJ, at nyc4rj[at]gmail[dot]com. Please listyour name, any academic or professional affiliations, and state. Your information will be added to this letter, and this letter will be sent to Robert Doar, commissioner of HRA’s Department of Social Services, and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
2. Join us on social media! Follow NYC4RJ on Twitter (and follow our hashtag #NoStigmaNoShame ) and like the NYC4RJ Facebook page to keep up with the latest updates on the No Stigma! No Shame! Campaign.
3. Share the opinion blogs posts from other bloggers about the HRA campaign. Check out these responses from Miriam Perez, Natasha Vianna, Gloria Malone, myself, and Brittany Brathwaite.
4. Share this blog post and the NYC4RJ No Stigma! No Shame! Campaign sign-on letter with others and encourage them contact Jasmine Burnett to sign on with their support.
This sign on letter is just the beginning. We plan to incorporate a campaign that infuses policy advocacy, arts, and education that will make sure that all teens in New York City are able to make the best decisions for their health and lives. Support us in getting the word out and pushing for a teen pregnancy prevention and parenting campaign that DOES NOT shame and blame teen parents.
Deborah Paz is a senior at the University of Texas at El Paso. She has been a member of Advocates for Youth’s Cultural Advocacy Mobilization Initiative since 2011. She serves as the Vice President of the Texas Freedom Network Student Chapter on her campus.
Growing up at the turn of the millennium has its privileges. As young people, we take for granted many technologies that have changed the way we live and connect with each other (this blog included!) We simply have so many things that our parents’ and grandparents’ generations did not have.
Besides having different standards of living, I also live in a different social environment where bigotry is still present and real, yet progressive action and the idea of equality is constantly expanding because of our work. The notion that we should all be treated with dignity and respect is more widely appreciated and given the opportunity to reach public attention. It is helping to teach us a new way of extending acceptance towards one another.
In El Paso, Texas the city council voted to include lesbian and gay people in its nondiscrimination policy, strengthening the city’s decision to provide benefits to LGBTQ and unmarried partners of city employees. This important vote creates a whole new set of rights for people in my community.
I love seeing this progressive shift and that the El Paso city council is finally recognizing the LGBTQ community in a positive way. Everyone deserves fair and equal benefits. Period.
Things change all the time – and while we change socially along with time, it only happens because of our efforts. I enjoy hearing stories of increasing LGBTQ acceptance, equality for women, healthy and educated young people, and even a broader awareness of our impact on animals and the environment. While we work on a select number of issues here at Amplify, it is important to remember that our movement is interconnected and that as activists we are multi-faceted.
Bob Dylan’s song “The Times they are A-changin”, was ahead of its time in describing how improved ways of treating each other can prevail. Dylan describes how there is no telling what the future holds and who will claim victory or failure. Society is changing and bigotry is appearing more and more out of date. As long as the millennial generation keeps active and pursues equality and progressive change in all sections of society we’ll endure current challenges and leave a better legacy for those yet to be.
“Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don’t criticize
What you can’t understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is
Rapidly agin’” -Bob Dylan
The comic below has been circulating on Tumblr for a few days. It appeared on my dashboard so many times and I reblogged it because I felt that Malala’s story should be shared. But then, there came posts indicating that the comic was perhaps a danger to Malala’s life, and that she herself had requested not to be the face of empowerment for Muslim women.
You can read the rest of the comic here
Even though Malala survived the shooting and is in recovery, there is still much fear; for the other young women and girls she left behind, as well as herself. After girls expressed their fear of attending the ‘Malala Yousafzai Post Graduate College for Women’, she asked for the school not to be named after her. They were scared that they would suffer the same fate as she, and worse, would not live to survive it as she did. This does not mean that she is shying away from the cause that has made her a hero to women and girls everywhere. On the contrary, it makes her even more of a responsible leader. She has chosen to acknowledge the possible casualties in this war against the misogyny and sexism. Would you want a leader to disregard your lives just as long as she got what she needed in the end?
Tumblr people being the weirdos that they are (Yes I know I am one of them. I speak from a place of affection you guys), all have their knickers in a twist and are as cross as a bag of weasels. How dare anyone disregard Malala’s safety? “Don’t make her the icon of the empowered Muslim woman!” I get that. But how many people actually knew about her plea for an anonymity of sorts? Or thought about the fact that she might still be in danger even if she did survive the attack. Heck one Taliban spokesman said he’d come after her if she survived.
So folks, now you know. We might want a poster girl to rally around, but we all have to think about the women and girls who are not as privileged as we are. The freedoms we take for granted are not readily available to all women and girls. And even though we must work to combat this, there have got to be other ways aside from putting others in danger.
Hello Sistahs!
I apologize for the late post, but the day is not over yet! Today is National Women & Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day! March 10th is a day women and girls come together in solidarity and raise awareness about HIV/AIDS in our community!
Here are some stats from the CDC (2011) about HIV among women & girls:
http://www.cdc.gov/Features/WomenGirlsHIVAIDS/
While these statistics are alarming, it is imperative to know the facts on HIV/AIDS in women & girls in order to raise awareness and hopefully lower the rates of HIV.
How can we protect ourselves from HIV/AIDS as women?
If you engage in sexual contact, use a condom every time. Women & girls often do not feel obligated to carry condoms because of the stigma that it is a man’s responsibility to have protection. While carrying condoms may be intimidating, it is extremely empowering to know that you have the option to be safe while engaging in consensual sex.
* I highly recommend that women try the female condom 2, which you can purchase at your local Walgreen’s. You can check out more information on the female condom here: http://www.fc2femalecondom.com/home.html
Have conversations with your partner about safe sex and HIV. Get tested together and share your results. One of the most important assets to a healthy relationship is healthy communication.
Do your best not to engage in risky behavior that may inhibit your decision making skills, such as drinking or partaking in other drugs. Being intoxicated can make you more likely to engage in risky, unsafe sex.
GET TESTED!!! Always be aware of your status. If you are sexually active, it is recommended that you get tested every 6 months. You can find out where to get tested in your city here: http://hivtest.cdc.gov/Default.aspx
GO FORTH AND SPREAD THIS INFORMATION!!! Remember sistahs, our work to create an HIV/AIDS free environment in NOT finished! It all begins with you.
Here is a nice video from Facing AIDS that I found: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9jtweKQOX0
A fellow Amplify Blogger, Twittersister and founder of TeenMomNYC.com, a website offering support and incite of the day to day life of what it means to be a teenage mother, recently posted a blog (like many of us) about the New York City Teen Pregnancy “Prevention” Campaign that launched last week by the NYC Human Resources Administration. Reading through my newsfeed last night, I caught a glimpse of her responding to the hateful comments she was receiving on this particular blog post. This morning, I decided to visit her blog for myself. There were a whopping 38 comments attached to what I thought was a brilliantly written blog laced with veracity and Gloria’s situated knowledges as a teen parent. I guess the others did not think so. Let me first say that I was not a teen mother and I cannot, will not and do not wish to speak from that perspective. However, I am a young woman of color who was born and raised in a hypersegregated medically “underserved” area, attended sub-standard schools, and was in and out of kinship care my entire life. All of these experiences influence my analysis of this situation (outside of my work with young people and pregnant and parenting teens).
This blog is also not meant to come to anyone’s rescue (we advocates/activists are not saving teen moms from these egregious, shameful ads) because they do not need us to rescue them or step in and give them a voice. These brave young women already have them! This is to show my solidarity with them and express why I feel so strongly about the attacks on them. As if the ads were not enough, you have people offering their empty “advice” on their blogs, ranging from “been there, done that” to “you should have kept your legs closed.” Uhh no that’s not about to happen. So you want to come for teen moms? Let me come for your train of thought. Allow me to deconstruct your notions of young people and teen pregnancy prevention.
Wait, be patient, love yourself!
I recommend young people keep a journal of their childhood that way when they grow up and catch a sudden case of dementia when it comes to sexuality and sexual activity they can “remember” their teen years. An “older wiser woman” commented that there is in fact no positive side to teen sexual activity. Hmmm well that’s strange considering teens are pretty much still keep having sex (something has to be positive there). While we all hope that young people delay sexual activity, lets face the music TEENS ARE HAVING SEX! Just because young people make decisions to have sex, doesn’t mean we don’t love ourselves. I’m pretty sure we’d love ourselves more if society showed us some love too!
I didn’t know lived in a society in which CULTURE does not play a significant role in how we raise our children!
An anonymous added that young people have an “unlimited” amount of resources including our moms, aunts, sisters, friends… Okay, so where I come from my family doesn’t talk about sex. Outside of the fact that most parents don’t feel comfortable talking to their kids about sex, I know first hand that some families are not about to talk about sex! As a person of the African Diaspora, sex was not talked about in my house. I was told not to get pregnant, but NEVER how to go about preventing pregnancy. And when I did receive some ‘sex education”, it definitely didn’t apply to me. No one met me where I was. No one wanted to speak my language. Then and now youth need Culturally and Linguistically relevant (along with medically accurate, age-appropriate) sexual education. Because all that other stuff…Ain’t nobody got time for that!
Just close your legs that way we don’t have to provide you with comprehensive sexual education, access to birth control and all the other things you need to lead healthy lives!
Telling someone to keep their legs closed is not okay! First of all opening your legs does not cause pregnancy (if that was the case I’d be with child every time a rode a bike, danced, and did jumping jacks.).Secondly, most women don’t get pregnant by themselves unless we are talking about the Immaculate Conception. The notion of “keeping your legs closed” is not only sexist and misogynist but just plain ignorant. And lets think about resources, is birth control accessible? I saw comments on other blogs about the Affordable Care Act and how teens could purchase birth control on their parent’s health insurance because it would be free. Well some insurance companies, have these cool things called EOBs (Explanation of Benefits). They basically tell you all the stuff you just got done at your doctors visit. Until we get that fixed I don’t know how accessible Birth Control under the ACA is for young people. That’s the ish I don’t like!
Society doesn’t owe you anything its all about “choice.” (This is where you laugh hysterically.)
Oh please. This kills me because some people are so scared of the word “choice.” It kills me because people throw around the word choice and “decision making” when we aren’t really handing out the tools for young people to make choices. Yes society has a responsibility to equip young people with these tools, but that does not excuse the fact that young people have individual responsibilities too. We contribute to society (so stop acting like you don’t know). We don’t need shaming ads to tell us that parenting is hard. We don’t need people telling us that we are WIC/EBT/Medicaid/Government Assistance users and that the older generation needs not be responsible for us. Well last I checked Social Security and Medicare are government programs and every McDonalds minimum-wage check goes to fund the older generation.
If you are going to come for young moms, young people, young people of color I just ask one thing….. COME CORRECT or go home.
Tom Palmer (Dr.) as known to many young libertarians represents an iconic figure of the ideal libertarian mentor. From tireless trips around the world in the advocacy of the ideals of freedom to a charismatic personality with a complementing mixture of academic, passion and humorous inferences, a meeting with someone in the frame of Tom Palmer presents a potent renewal and belief in the future of liberty.
In a recent talk marking the beginning of the second day in the ongoing European Students For Liberty Conference being held in Leuven, Belgium, the ever amiable Tom Palmer was not only in his eloquent best as usual, but worth remembering for many years to come is the spirited commendation and charge the talk presents to young advocates of the ideas of human freedom and justice.
From the talk under the title, “Why We Fight For Liberty, Peace and Justice”, Tom Palmer devoted the early part of his talk demystifying certain myths about the inferred dependence on the state and its welfare system, and outlining the diverse cultural definition and application of freedom and being liberal, saying “every culture has a narrative of liberty and a narrative of power.” He allays the importance of individuals taking charge of their life as a lifelong individual responsibility and the complexity obtained in governance which could potentially be made easier by enacting simple rules for the increasingly complex world.
Itemizing the key elements to freedom vis-à-vis voluntary social coordination, the rule of law to protect and preserve Individual rights, spontaneous order, and a limited government … Tom Palmer reiterates the importance of the rule of law in the society as necessary for the security of rights and freedom, and also protects individuals from the arbitrary commands of other people.
Citing the words Cicero, Dr. Palmer reckons with the law of nature as forbidding of acts of violence against another person, while also calling for a limited and responsible government by echoing the words Lao Tse which reveals that the more laws and edicts proclaimed, the more thieves and bandits there will be in the society and the poorer the people will be.
Still reflecting on the ideal role of government in society as against its current overbearing influence and misguided policies, Tom Palmer reviews the relationship between property and rights according to liberal value, and the relationship between Law and liberty, maintaining that you need law to have a market economy, and also echoing the words of John Locke that “where there is no Law, there is no freedom.”
On Bastiat’s popular essay on “The Seen and the Unseen”, he reitrates on the importance of what is unseen but must be foreseen when making policies that relate to individuals and their economic wellbeing, while he also took a reference to Hayek’s “Limitations of Knowledge” where he echoed the necessity of individuals being given the freedom to take charge of their lives as no one is given an absolute knowledge to manage someone else’s life. He summarized the role of government a saying “Do Nothing” or “Inactive Activity”, requiring of the government to create the frame work (for people to live their independent lives as they deem fit) and step back.
Speaking of both researched and obvious statistics regarding the interrelation between economically free countries and their non- economically free counterparts, he maintains that countries which adopt policies of economic freedom consequently becomes rich, citing the host country, Belgium’s rise to prosperity through the spate of a century, as enhanced by the Great Fact period of the 1800’s when people started acting differently and responsibly, notably by respecting the rights of others to their freedom.
Economically freer countries are richer, have more civil liberties and political rights and are also less corrupt, maintained Dr. Palmer, concluding that when the state has fewer opportunities to deny you freedom, it has fewer opportunities to demand money from you.
Rounding off his talk, he encouraged the audience to educate themselves in the love of the liberty of others as only then can they truly appreciate their own liberties. He states that the fight for liberty is a lifetime project, and charges students to take up the ideological challenge of providing logical alternatives to young people especially in regions where economic and civil liberties are being repressed.
He however concluded, in commendation of the excellent efforts of the international network of Students For Liberty, stating in his own words… “I know that where there is tyranny, injustice and war, Students For Liberty will be there.”
The lecture fully lived to its billing, reflecting from a tweet from a participant at the start of the lecture (@DavyDirix Every lecture of Tom Palmer is a moment of instant happiness) and likewise, strongly provided a truly reflective point for participants to rise even higher and stronger in the fight for human liberty, peace and justice.
Tom G. Palmer is a Senior Fellow at the CATO Institute and Vice President for International Programs at the Atlas Economic Research Foundation, Washington DC
This article by the same author (Fiyinfoluwa Elegbede) was originally published by The Libertarian, a UK Based Libertarian Magazine under the title “Expanding the Discussion For A Logical Alternative: Libertarian Students Commended, Charged
Malala Yousafzai is the youngest nominee for a Nobel Peace Prize ever.
In her hometown, the Taliban banned education for women. Malala Yousafzai started writing under a pen name for BBC when she was around 11 or 12 years old, describing the inequities. She appeared on television, has done interviews, has done whatever she could to promote her beliefs, that everyone has a right to an education. Now she’s known as an activist for education and women.
This comic serves as a short summary of what Malala Yousafzai is internationally known for: her courage.
[source: watermarked in image]
From a simple Wikipedia search:
On 9 October 2012, Yousafzai was shot in the head and neck in an assassination attempt by Taliban gunmen while returning home on a school bus.[17] In the days immediately following the attack, she remained unconscious and in critical condition,[18] but later her condition improved enough for her to be sent to a hospital in the United Kingdom for intensive rehabilitation. On 12 October, a group of 50 Islamic clerics in Pakistan issued a fatwā against those who tried to kill her,[19] but the Taliban reiterated its intent to kill Yousafzai and her father, Ziauddin.[20]
Former British Prime Minister and current U.N. Special Envoy for Global Education Gordon Brown launched a United Nations petition[21] in Yousafzai’s name, using the slogan “I am Malala” and demanding that all children worldwide be in school by the end of 2015. Brown said he would hand the petition to Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari in November. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon has announced that 10 November will be celebrated as Malala Day.[22]
Mama’ Hip-Hop Kitchen 2013
Mama’s Hip-Hop Kitchen (MHHK) is an event held annually by the creators Lah Tierre and Kathleen Adams. This event allows for female educators, students, activists, DJs, emcees, b-girls, poets, visual artists and dancers to convene together advocating for comprehensive sexual education curriculum in all school districts, smaller class sizes and educational opportunities for all children. People come from all around the United States to be a part of this monumental event.
What separates MHHK from other similar events is that the focus is on promoting autonomy, confidence, and pride not only in our gender but our own respective cultures. MHHK gives young adolescent girls the chance to organize and construct an event focused around exigent issues pertaining to their age group.
Not only are young adolescent girls organizing the event, but they are also given the opportunity to show case their talents and use their talents to illustrate a point. Some of the issues that the young girls discussed and portrayed were misogyny in society, violence against women, equal and quality education, comprehensive sex education, learning of one’s heritage, and confidence.
Mama’s Hip-Hop Kitchen has not only created a platform for young girls and women to convene to discuss pertinent issues, but also creates an avenue for young girls and women to continue to advocate for change and equality.
I felt a great sense of empowerment, inspiration, and admiration for women. Often times when doing work around advocacy for women and youth, a person can begin to feel exhausted and frustrated. Attending Mama’s Hip Hop Kitchen not only gave me the boost I needed, but it also revved up my enthusiasm and passion around this work. I left the event with enlightenment, thoughts, and dreams to continue this work in my own community.
The issue of adolescent and young people youth friendly services has become a major concern in Nigeria as a whole. The absence of youth friendly services in our communities and even beyond has made great impacts on the minds of the young ones. There are several challenges attached to the establishment of an adolescent and young people youth friendly services in Nigeria. Many of the facilities’ working environments are not youth friendly, and services for adolescents are poorly publicized and without publicity, the young people cannot be aware of the facilities that are available to them. The attitudes of the service providers are a great barrier to adolescent and young people youth friendly services. Service providers do not have access to any policies, protocols or standards/guidelines related to providing quality youth-friendly sexual and reproductive health services. Another major challenge is that and all services are Designed, implemented, and evaluated without the involvement of youth and there is also lack of adequate IEC materials.
Another issue which was lacking is Privacy and confidentiality. Adolescents will definitely find it difficult to go to a health center where the service provider is not reliable and cannot keep secrets. Young people are often secretive especially when it comes to sexual and reproductive health, so they will need someone they can confide in.
In as much as there are challenges in developing adolescents and youth friendly centers, there are also various opportunities available if only it can be maximized. For instance, Service Delivery Points (SDPs) should use resources within their reach to make their facilities more youth friendly by allocating specific times and/or space to serve youths. All Service delivery providers should offer a range of services to young people, so that they are able to address multiple sexual and reproductive health needs in one place. Also, Counseling on sexuality and safer sex are needed to empower youth to make healthy decisions, including protecting themselves from unwanted pregnancy and STI/HIV. IEC materials on adolescent SRH issues should also be available at the service delivery points to complement sexual and reproductive health services.
Availability of peer education through trained peer educators (PEs) is an added advantage in offering youth-friendly services. Therefore programme managers should be encouraged to include peer education services in their programmes. SDPs and other interested parties should effectively involve youth in planning, implementation, and evaluation of their youth-friendly SRH programs.
Looking at the challenges and the opportunities of the access to youth friendly services, however, there is an urgent need to build on the opportunities and address the challenges before us.
While browsing through my twitter page I came across an ad directed at teen mothers in NYC. While seeing this ad disgusted me; I was a little relieved that I had not seen it person in my city, Brooklyn. Not only is this ad extremely offensive (the Post calls it a “Tad” offensive), it has racist, classist and sexist undertones. The ad I saw featured a beautiful brown girl with big brown eyes and read “Honestly Mom… chances are he won’t stay with you. What happens to me?” It also quoted a statistic that 90% of teen parents do not marry each other. While this statistic can be shocking to most it also seems to continue to push the agenda of marriage and “nuclear” families among young people, something I wish this country would have let go of in the 1976 Reagan “Welfare Queen” era.
After further research, I discovered that this ad was part of a larger campaign created by the NYC Human Resources Administration. For an agency with the word “resources” in its name, it appears that they do not know how to use them very well. Especially considering the fact that the United States is preparing to undergo sequestration and they thought it wise to use government funding to disseminate disturbing, stigmatizing and shameful ads about teen mothers. Also considering the fact they are a “Human Resources” agency, I would think funds would be better allocated to real initiatives to help young mothers, such as creating real job opportunities for young moms and working with other agencies and organizations to provide childcare so that young women could support their families. It is resourceful to create life-size ads that basically say “Mom you suck for having me.”
While NYC has taken steps to improve the lives of young parents, like closing Pregnancy Schools after advocates insisted these institutions were in violation of Title IX, this initiative seems backwards. This is the same city responsible for the Living for the Young Family through Education program which provides free childcare around the city to help teen parents graduate from high school. In addition to these efforts, the NYC Department of Education mandated Comprehensive Sexuality Education in schools in 2011 to decrease the rate of teen pregnancies, HIV and STIs among young people. However, many of the youth that I work with in Brooklyn still report receiving little to no sex education even after the mandate was placed into effect. Having grown up in Brooklyn my entire life and having never received formal sexual education, I know they are telling the truth.
So if you think scare tactics and shameful ads are going to work, think again. In fact it is just making the situation worse. I’m mostly concerned with who the agency talked to before creating these controversial ads. It definitely was not teen parents!! I wonder how agencies feel they can solve a problem without consulting the people on the ground and the young people with the “situated knowledge.” As a millennial of color, research shows that although my peers would like to decrease the rate of teen pregnancies, they also feel that society has a responsibility to provide young parents with the necessary resources and opportunities to lead healthy lives.
Lastly, I think these ads should be taken down, and the funding for this so-called Teenage Pregnancy Prevention Initiative should be redirected to organizations working to provide real comprehensive sexual education, access to contraception, teen parenting programs, affordable childcare and job opportunities for young people. Education, inclusion and empowerment is how we solve real issues not by attaching stigma to young people, especially young women!
Few years ago when social networking had just started to create a niche in the urban Nepalese society, newspapers were flooded with advertisements that offered money for spending certain time on the internet by doing the assigned work. Having recently finished my grade 12 exam and with nothing constructive to , the offer sounded lucrative at that time .I and other two of my friends went over to the address mentioned in the advertisement to learn more. For a menial amount of money they said they would open a blog account for us on which we needed to post on regular basis and make it popular and we would be remunerated as per our activity and its popularity. This was how I first heard the word ‘blogging’. I found it least interesting and never went back to that place again so I don’t know if my blog username was ever created or not. Since then I kept hearing now and then about blogging and its maximum use all over the world but could never understand why it was so popular. Frankly speaking, blogging has always been a neglected activity for me and it kind of irritated me hearing ‘blogs, blogging, blogs, blogging’ everywhere. Every other person from teenagers to adults in the western world seemed to have a blog and I wondered who would be interested in reading a write up that said ‘I wore a red dress yesterday and everybody said I looked beautiful’??
My concept of blogging was that it was a recreational activity done by people who had absolutely nothing better to do (For e.g. Housewives with husband issues, teenagers with boyfriend issues, rich women showing off their luxury goods etc) and the people who actually followed the blogs and commented were no different. I also kept seeing so many blog links on my facebook newsfeed which actually affirmed my previous view on blogging and I thought I had better things to do than write ‘how I loved the way that boy looked at me that day.’
But very recently I was watching CNN news where a big discussion was going on about the Fiscal Cliff in US. And One of the participant in discussion was introduced as a very popular blogger for economic issues and I wondered how come a ‘blogger’s’ opinion be so important that it made to US national news agency? This was the first time I realized that blog could actually be more than a ‘time pass’ and it started catching my interest. My curiosity of the blogging world was finally addressed when I was selected as a member for the Youth Activist Leadership Council (YALC)-2013. My first impression when I heard that regular blogging would be a fundamental activity of all the members of the council was ‘What?? Blogging?? Even here??” But then I smiled and said, “Of course! I would love to do it (Sigh!)” .
Finally, YALC Inception training was the real eye-opener when I understood how blogging could be an excellent tool for advocacy and an effective medium to share and hear about various people’s views on the issues of our concern. Also, it actually was interesting to read how people put their heart into writing every sentence and making people who read it feel like it was their own story.
I had definitely formed an ignorant view on blogging. Everyone who blogs does not do it just for killing time (it isn’t wrong either) but shares a piece of his/her story for people to feel that they are not alone out there. My inadvertence was shutting me from a greater form of globalization and from the roots of global change. But as it is rightly said that everything happens when the time is right and better late than never! 
Here I am finally taking my first step into the world of blogging. I apologize to all the bloggers for my ignorant views. Please accept me into your community with love and kindness. I hope this will be fun and informative at the same time!
Let the journey Begin!!
Aim for the grand future; it’s the phrase it always used to poke me regular since my childhood. The way hope and chance/opportunities used to surround me made me a lucky one to move ahead with the leap in every stage of my life. Bold, decisive, open minded and extrovert nature helped me to be in front line in each and every moment I lived. Thrust of being a leader and contribute to the society and nation it motivated me each and every time to lead and grab every opportunities that strikes me. Leading the school clubs, representing the student’s voice in school age were the prime designation that gave me bulk learning’s. Similar were the conditions in college life. May be the luck it was primly I was aiming for being a graduate of medicine but by turnings and upheavals I got to be enrolled in the field of public health. I was free from inner soul in speaking out the issue to be brought up from my level as the public health learners. I am the “ACE”. This is my simple description. I want say myself an active, confident and empowered person. This thematic description of me motivated me to lead the different radical issue in college political scenario and gave me the way-out to build the different identity among the college administration and students ground. Using the same backup I tried to carry on with the equity and equality in the health field. After then I stepped to advocate for universal access to health with the main principle “Health For All” of People’s Health Movement organizing the friends of similarity in issue to be gathered together and formed People’s Health Movement Nepal Students Circle. This platform gave me the chance of applying the theoretical knowledge to be applied in practical base. We started the discussion forum, theater and lecture series under our move. This gave me the national work site and international networking.
Following the move I turned my tide out my college arena and started to engage myself in the various youth lead organizations and groups grabbing the youth and health issue. Discussing the national status on youth and health then connecting with international scenario. It was the year of 2012 I totally devoted myself to work selflessly and develop and explore the network or group matching my interest, issue and supporting my hope to hike high. I came in contact with different organization like Association of youth organization Nepal (AYON), Youth Initiative, Y-Peer, YUWA etc. I worked learned and in parallel explored the forum and group suitable for me. As conclusion I hovered around the energetic and enthusiastic Youth lead organization YUWA. The mid of 2012 I came in to its close loop and joined hand in hand. Thus started working in group supporting issue of SRHR and HIV/AIDS. Friendly environment, supportive group, place of enjoyment and huge area to trial your own idea in every chance is the main thing I couldn’t separate myself out of it. So I kept on learning and working with it.
Its 2013 and I am here along with it now. It’s the new identity I had achieved from YUWA as Member of Youth activists Leadership Council since last February. Being a youth, working for the same group then raising their voice in national-international circle. It’s very great chance for me to hike high to surmount my aim to lead the public health field in near future. Being own self aware about the global and local context of SRHR and HIV/AIDS after then advocating for erasing the gaps on them, generating the new ideas and initiative is really a great job for next seven month. So I am aiming to hike high with YUWA, Youth Activists Leadership Council and Advocates For Youth in the days to come ahead.
“Stand for yourself, speak it out” somebody in the crowd shouted. I stood there under the bright scorching sun still seeking for the cool shade. I was confused. I don’t find my place on those cheesy slogans of leaders neither on the development issues nor any priority as a citizen of the nation still they call me “pillars of the nation”, “future of the nation”. I am YOUth. They say I have potential, energy, charisma but if that so why I find youth around me in despair. Why youth today are dying in foreign land just for the sake of livelihood? Why youth are alienated? Why pillars of tomorrow not given strong base for foundation? Just Why ??? And believe me my queries just don’t end here.
Fortunate enough I somehow collided with some answers to the questions through Youth Activist Leadership Council 2013. I don’t say I have quenched my thirst for these issues but I am among those people who have similar questions like mine, confused like me, yet determined like me to find the way out, work together and unite for the one common goal of reaching those young minds and secure their rights through advocacy.
During the training session of council I am nicknamed as “Ms. Chupchap” i.e. the silent one but something inside me is shouting it loud and clear that I have a reason to fight and stand for. I have a platform to find my answers. I have a platform to raise more queries. I have a platform to speak for those who can’t speak for themselves. I am strengthening myself, sensitizing the concern sectors and simply amplifying my voice for better future of youths like me.
Being a youth has its own charm and values, ego, challenges, courage to fight, to bring out the best of oneself and the rule breaker…… Always has been defined as many things but there comes a point in life when everything seems to actually fall in place and seems like happening for own self. You need to figure out things of your own and have that courage to face it. Being a youth of that age feels good. The courage of overcoming was always within but it really does not come out until and unless one self does not think it as right. So have the courage and face it……. Life gives challenge… stand up and face it… face it for yourself… face it for every time!!!! levels are different
SEE COMPLETE IMAGE:
http://stfuprolifers.tumblr.com/image/44301669632
Anti-choice activist Jill Stanek recently published online the name and photo of a woman who passed away following a late abortion at the Maryland clinic of Dr. Leroy Carhart. The name and picture of the woman, I’ll call her Marie, along with information about her job, marriage, and pregnancy were soon all over the internet. Protesters plastered Marie’s picture on signs and marched outside Dr. Carhart’s clinic and held a “vigil” outside the emergency room where she was treated. Internet commentators characterized Marie’s husband, parents, and sister, who traveled with her from out-of-state for the three-day procedure, as everything from bad Catholics to killers. Beyond being immoral, unethical and unbelievably cruel, making the family’s tragedy public without their consent was likely illegal.-See more at: http://rhrealitycheck.org/article/2013/02/28/unethical-cruel-and-likely-illegal-anti-choicers-make-familys-tragedy-public-without-their-consent/#sthash.qKSJmEww.dpuf
The Arkansas Legislature has approved the earliest abortion ban in the nation.
And it’s now up to Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe to decide what to do next. If he vetoes the bill, his veto could be overridden by a simple majority in the Republican Legislature as it was earlier Thursday on a similar 20-week abortion ban bill.
The Arkansas Senate gave final approval Thursday morning to the Human Heartbeat Protection Act, which would ban abortions at 12 weeks into pregnancy if a heartbeat is detected, with exceptions for cases of rape or incest, to save the life of the mother or for a lethal fetal condition. The bill now goes directly to Beebe.
Through “fetal pain” laws, other states have begun approving abortion bans at around 20 weeks into pregnancy — such a ban became law in Arkansas with the veto override early Thursday — but this bill would go further, turning Arkansas into the only state to ban abortions that early in a pregnancy.
Abortion rights groups immediately urged Beebe to reject the bill. “This extreme legislation would insert politics into women’s personal medical decisions, and we urge Gov. Beebe to veto it immediately,” Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Action Fund, said in a statement.
“Lawmakers in Arkansas are placing women’s lives on the line by passing the most severe ban on access to safe, legal medical care this country has seen in recent years,” said Talcott Camp, deputy director of the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project.
In vetoing the 20-week ban on Tuesday, Beebe said the bill violated Supreme Court precedent that establishes states cannot limit abortions before viability. That was one of 10 “fetal pain” laws that have been enacted in 10 states, based on the assertion that the fetus can experience pain after 20 weeks. Cases have been filed against such laws in Arizona and Georgia.
http://www.politico.com/story/2013/02/arkansas-legislature-passes-12-week-abortion-ban-88245.html
I have had an abortion. Most people who know me know that. I’m very open about it and fervently pro-choice. I had to start my piece like this, so you’ll understand where I’m coming from. I’m not writing this post out of malice, but for educational purposes. I haven’t been able to find any other pieces on this subject, so maybe I’m wrong. If I am I would appreciate any readers to provide me with some cold hard medical facts. Okay?
Before my abortion I had a transvaginal ultrasound. This was in mid-2011, so before TVUs got famous. When I saw the device I was wary and my reaction was something along the lines of “woah what’s that? Do I have to have that because I don’t want it.” The woman said yes it was necessary for the procedure and she’s sorry. She didn’t say it was required by law or whatever, but that it was necessary. She didn’t show me the ultrasound or talk about it or even offer to. The whole thing was over in about two minutes. I had a surgical abortion at nine weeks and I was assured this was needed for my procedure.
Then eventually the TVU law proposals starting arriving and I was incredibly confused and hurt. Had something wrong been done to me? By that clinic? That clinic that saved my future? That clinic I was eternally grateful to? That clinic that advertises “comprehensive reproductive services in a supportive, nonjudgmental, knowledge-based environment?” That clinic that boasts that it has “the most experienced clinic staff in the region?” That clinic which is part of the National Abortion Federation?
All of these activists were and still are posting images of ultrasound wands with captions like “up mine? Up yours?” and talking about TVUs being a violation and comparing them to rape. This was/is really upsetting to me. I felt weirdly betrayed by my savior clinic. So I called them. I just briefly asked why they do TVUs and the clinic worker said because it was needed for the procedure. I felt pretty satisfied with that answer.
Of course I think this mandatory TVU legislation is terrible and wrong. It’s unethical for legislators with no medical expertise to be putting this into law. Since when are bills about medical procedure? Those are two entirely different fields. Where are the laws going into detail about thermometer or blood drawing procedure? Why is abortion any different? Why would a bill by those with no medical degree be dictating what practitioners do? Also, are states competing for the most ridiculous TVU bill? Now apparently there are bills requiring two TVUs.
Honestly I have not take part in this debate because it made me uncomfortable. The anti-choice side was clearly wrong, but for the first time I also felt the pro-choice side was wrong. They weren’t being outraged about the right things. They weren’t being outraged about why specifically this legislation was terrible instead they were just proclaiming TVUs were terrible. I don’t know why I’m talking in past tense. This is still going on. So, pro-choice activists are proclaiming that what is in some clinics vital to abortion is a violation and basically a desecration of human rights. They’re starting to sound like the anti-choicers to me. I mean what if legislators start listening? What if they start believing TVUs are a violation and try to ban them? What does that mean for the clinics that use them? Will abortion access become more difficult and expensive? Are these pro-choicers hurting the movement?
I’m working on expanding my knowledge. Nowhere on prochoice.org does it say TVUs are “medically unnecessary” like so many pro-choicers are claiming. This week I asked my abortion clinic for more in depth reasoning into their usage of TVUs. This was their response:
“There is no mandated law in TN that requires a vaginal ultrasound although they are trying to pass a law currently to require an ultrasound 24 – 72 hours before an abortion with the sound of a heart beat, verbal description of the u/s picture and a copy of the picture given to the patient. Here at [name removed] we routinely perform a vaginal ultrasound for patients who may be under 12 weeks and an abdominal ultrasound for patient who may be over 12 weeks. Because a patient can have missed a period and not be pregnant or can have a period and be pregnant, (it is possible to have periods all the way up until delivery) until we do an ultrasound we do not know for sure her gestational age. An accurate gestational age supports providing the best possible care for our patients. We do not however show her a picture, hear a heartbeat (which we don’t have the equipment for) or describe the u/s to the patient unless she requests it.”
Basically I’m demanding more education on this issue for everyone. Because honestly I’m offended that my supposed allies are telling me I was violated. It almost feels like they’re belittling rape. Why is it so difficult to find resources on this? Why can’t I find other articles with this viewpoint? Is it the abortion stigma? Are women not talking about it because they don’t feel comfortable talking about their abortion? Are abortion providers not coming forward so that they don’t disclose their profession and put themselves at risk? I’m concerned and I demand more information.
It passed with votes of 286 to 138.
The NY Times describes the legislation:
The newly passed legislation creates and expands federal programs to assist local communities with law enforcement and aiding victims of domestic and sexual abuse. Most notably, the bill goes further by offering protections for gay, bisexual or transgender victims of domestic abuse, as well as allowing American Indian women who are assaulted on reservations by non-Indians to take their case to tribal courts, which otherwise would not have jurisdiction over assailants who do not live on tribal land.
And who are the 138 representatives who voted against this?
Here’s the name and shame:
Aderholt
Amash
Bachmann
Barton
Bentivolio
Bilirakis
Bishop (UT)
Black
Blackburn
Bonner
Brady (TX)
Bridenstine
Brooks (AL)
Broun (GA)
Burgess
Campbell
Cantor
Carter
Cassidy
Chabot
Chaffetz
Collins (GA)
Conaway
Cotton
Crawford
Culberson
DeSantis
DesJarlais
Duncan (SC)
Duncan (TN)
Ellmers
Fincher
Fleischmann
Fleming
Flores
Forbes
Fortenberry
Foxx
Franks (AZ)
Garrett
Gingrey (GA)
Gohmert
Goodlatte
Gosar
Gowdy
Graves (GA)
Graves (MO)
Griffin (AR)
Griffith (VA)
Guthrie
Hall
Harris
Hartzler
Hastings (WA)
Hensarling
Holding
Hudson
Huelskamp
Huizenga (MI)
Hultgren
Hurt
Johnson (OH)
Jones
Jordan
Kelly
King (IA)
Kingston
Labrador
LaMalfa
Lamborn
Lankford
Latta
Long
Lucas
Luetkemeyer
Lummis
Marchant
Marino
Massie
McCaul
McClintock
Meadows
Mica
Miller (FL)
Mullin
Mulvaney
Murphy (PA)
Neugebauer
Noem
Nunnelee
Olson
Palazzo
Perry
Petri
Pittenger
Pitts
Pompeo
Posey
Price (GA)
Radel
Ribble
Rice (SC)
Roby
Roe (TN)
Rogers (AL)
Rogers (KY)
Rohrabacher
Rooney
Roskam
Ross
Rothfus
Salmon
Scalise
Schweikert
Scott, Austin
Sensenbrenner
Sessions
Smith (NE)
Smith (NJ)
Smith (TX)
Southerland
Stewart
Stockman
Stutzman
Thornberry
Wagner
Walberg
Weber (TX)
Wenstrup
Westmoreland
Whitfield
Williams
Wilson (SC)
Wittman
Wolf
Womack
Woodall
Yoho
This is a post by a fellow blogger called BrashBlackNonBeliever. These are her words and feelings about how “pro-life” advocates use PoC, specifically Black women and children, to further their agenda. Some of it will be edited for language censorship.
“I am beyond f****** SICK of these so-called “pro-life” advocates using Black women and children to further their agenda.
Those conservative assholes don’t give a F*** about us when we’re walking this earth, but I’m supposed to believe they give a f*** about Black babies? I’m supposed to believe these motherfuckers actually care about pregnant Black women?!
They don’t give a f*** about Black families in the hood, struggling to live.
They don’t give a f*** about the single Black mothers doing everything they can for their kids.
They really don’t give a f*** about the Black parents on welfare.
No, to them, we’re nothing but welfare queens and wh**** who never should have spread their legs.
Our children are nothing but drug dealers, thugs, or future drug addicts and prostitutes who need to be put down like dogs.
That is, until one of us gets pregnant and they need a new face for their “pro-life” campaign.
Then our babies are “precious children.”
Then they pretend to be worried about the future of the Black race.
Only then do we need to protect ourselves against “extinction” by never having abortions.
Only then do they care oh so much about racism and they seek to warn us about how racist Planned Parenthood and abortions are.
Well I, for one, am completely fed up with their BS. I can see right through them. They don’t give a f*** about Black people and they never have.
Stop using Black bodies as props and pawns.”
http://stfuprolife.tumblr.com/post/43324196733/brashblacknonbeliever-i-am-beyond-fucking-sick
“When I introduce the concept of reproductive justice to new audiences, at lectures or workshops, I always frame it in the same way. I use a really simple exercise, where I draw a stick figure on a piece of butcher paper, or an easel, or a chalkboard. Then I ask the question: “What things in this person’s life will impact their ability to create the family they want to create?” Usually it takes a few minutes for the audience to get going, but within five or ten minutes the result is a stick figure with many, many issues written in bubbles around them. Things like religion, money, environment, language, race, gender, sexuality, laws, incarceration end up surrounding the person.
This activity is a pretty decent illustration of my definition of reproductive justice—it’s working to build a world where everyone has what they need to create the family they want to create. And that work requires incorporating and taking into account all of those items written in bubbles on the diagram, as well as many we probably leave out. Almost always this exercise results in “ah ha” moments, and it’s had a striking universality—from using it with college students to using it in Latina immigrant communities on the border. Reproductive justice is an easier concept to explain in ten minutes than in a two-word soundbite, like pro-choice, but that additional context also allows for so many more of the issues and challenges or our every day lives to be made visible and explicitly included in our work.”
http://rhrealitycheck.org/article/2013/02/08/communicating-complexity-reproductive-justice/
“I suspect it’s difficult for men to imagine a world in which their bodies have long been inextricably linked to their value as an individual, and that no matter how encouraging your parents were or how many positive female role models you had or how self-confident you feel, there is an ever-present pressure that creeps in from all sides, whispering in your ear that you are your body and your body defines you. A world where, from the time of pubescence on, you can feel the constant and palpable weight of the male gaze, and not just from your male peers but from teachers and sports coaches and the fathers of the children you baby-sit, people you’re supposed to respect and trust and look up to, and that first realization that you are being looked at in that way is the beginning of a self-consciousness that you will be unable to shake for the rest of your life. Even if they are never verbalized, the rules of bodily conduct for females become clear early on: when school administrators reprimand you for the inch of midriff that shows when you lift your hands straight in the air or youth group leaders tell you that the sight of your unintentional cleavage is what causes godly young men to fall, you learn that your body is dangerous and shameful and that it’s your responsibility to cloister it in a way that is acceptable to everyone else. You learn that your body is a topic of public debate that everyone is entitled to weigh in on, from a male classmate telling you that those jeans make your ass look huge to the male-dominated United States Congress dictating the parameters that rape must fall within to be considered legitimate. To be a woman, and to live life in a woman’s body, is to be held to a set of comically paradoxical standards that make you constantly second-guess yourself and jump through a million hoops in pursuit of an impossible perfection.”
As someone who is Vietnamese and also identifies as being queer, these images really struck a chord with me. I rarely really see backgrounds or faces like my own in the LGBTQ or mainstream feminist/reproductive & sexual healthcare and rights movement, due to lack of representation and exclusion.
So, I’m sharing a few images of queer folks in Vietnam.
This couple of one year (Phat & Minh) are grooming their dogs.
This couple of one year (Vy & Bay) are just relaxing at home, watching TV and snacking.
This couple (Thien and Vuong) works at a wedding studio together and are having some lunch.
They’ve been together for more than five years now. Ly is drying her cat after a bath, and Huyen is trying her new blades.
Hung and Ngan are relaxing at home, listening to some music. They’ve been together for six years.
Consider this a lens into another culture. They’re real people who are experiencing love. They’re just ordinary people doing ordinary things.
Beyond aesthetics, I find these images to be great political statements given the social context.
Check out the photographer responsible for these images!
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