1999_4_sexual and reproductive rights

Sexual and reproductive rights of young people

Doortje Braeken

"Youth is a golden age, and it should be enjoyed to the maximum." This quote from a 17-year-old young man from Mauritius expresses the way many young people feel about being young. For them it is a time of optimism. Whatever their circumstances, young people genuinely believe they can make the world a better place. Instead of viewing the needs of young people from an adult perspective, health workers and policymakers should let go of their control over young people and work with them to help them realise their sexual and reproductive rights.

Being young, a time of transition and transformation

More than half a billion people are between the ages of 10 and 24. 85% of them live in developing countries, making up nearly 30% of their total populations. By 2025, an estimated 2 billion people are expected to be in this age group. About half the young people live in cities, and although they live in different cultures, they all go through the same physical changes in becoming adults. For many this is also a time of emotional change, as they are in transition from the dependency of childhood to the relative independence of adulthood.

you299-4 In thinking about the sexual health of young people, the key concern is the extent to which they have access to resources that promote their development. In the sense of sexual and reproductive health, resources can mean different things:

access to education, information and services;
resources that reside in a stable and supportive (family) structure;
resources contained within policy-making and decision-making processes to which young people do, or do not, have access.

To improve young people's access to these resources, new strategies are needed that make use of their power, creativity and enthusiasm, rather than strategies that try to exert control over them.

Participation is a basic right

In recent years, young people's sexual and reproductive rights have been recognised by international fora. The International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD 1994, Cairo), the ICPD+5 conference in 1999, and the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, 1995, all recognised the need to protect young people's reproductive rights. They recommended that young people be involved and participate in the activities that affect their lives.

Participation, one of the key elements of rights, is also the most difficult and confusing. At one level, the argument for promoting young people's participation in development and planning is the same as that for any other group: no one would argue that women or ethnic minorities should be excluded from participating in decisions that affect them. Commitment to promoting participation of these groups in development planning programmes is now widespread. Young people, however, are still regularly denied these opportunities. Although most adults believe that young people have the right to access to health care and information, they do not think that young people have the right to participate in decisions about these issues. But participation is not a luxury: excluding young people from participating in decisions deprives them of opportunities for personal growth and socialisation.

From theory to practice

Reflecting on the rights of young people, on the recommendations made on access to services and on participation, new questions arise as to how each complicated set of rights can be applied. The definition of rights may be universal, but the implementation of rights needs to be adapted according to cultural and societal settings.

Young people and adults need to be made aware of the existence of rights and what these rights mean in their daily lives. In 1996, the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) established a Youth Committee to involve young people at policy and decision-making levels. Its members were all under 25 and came from all regions of the world. Their first task was to discuss the sexual and reproductive rights most relevant to them and to young people worldwide. Their discussions resulted in the creation of a poster, entitled "Sexual and reproductive rights of young people". Realising that making young people aware of their rights is not enough, they decided to make a poster for health professionals too: "How to treat us young people". This poster informs adults of the rights of young people to information and health care, and it suggests how they want to be treated by service providers. This year, the IPPF Youth Committee is developing guidelines and a checklist for health professionals to make their services youth friendly and accessible to all young people.

you399-4 Challenges

The real challenge for adults is to let go of the control they exercise over young people, directly and indirectly through educators, and to involve young people at all levels of research, programme development and implementation. It is difficult for someone with a great deal of experience to turn to a young inexperienced colleague and say: "you do it". When young people are working with adults as colleagues, they should not have participation imposed on them: they should have the choice to participate or not. Nor should they be made into "little adults" or "probationary grown-ups". Rather, their limitations must be respected and their enthusiasm appreciated. Adults should not expect endless and tireless devotion and dedication from them.

Doortje Braeken, Rutgers Consult International Division, P.O. Box 9663, 3506 GR Utrecht, The Netherlands; Tel: +31-30-2313431; Fax: +31-30-2364665; e-mail: intdiv@rutgers.nl

IPPF "Generation ‘97 Survey"

In 1997, a group of young people in IPPF designed the Generation ‘97 survey, which gave young people an opportunity to express their views on issues relating to their sexual health needs and rights. The survey covered issues like love, friendship, sexuality and risk behaviour, and young people's opinions on their right to services and information, education and youth involvement. Young people from more than 50 countries participated in the survey. In general, the results show strong similarities among young people's opinions on sexual and reproductive rights in countries with different socio-cultural backgrounds.

A selection of young people's feedback:

On access to services:

" I would like to have guaranteed anonymity and confidentiality. Of course I would also like to be told the truth." (19, male, Lesotho)
"I would like them to treat me with respect. They should respect my opinion and my problems; they should not neglect or underestimate any problem that might seem trivial to them." (21, female, Iraq)

On education:

"I think all the sex education that is going on right now, like on STIs and contraceptives, is a good idea, but I think something else should be taught too. Sex is not a game, it is something special; they should teach how it is different for each individual." (18, female, USA)
"I think the people who need to be educated are parents and teachers. They should discard their old beliefs and start informing their kids about sex and its complexities. To talk to a kid about sex doesn't mean that you are encouraging them to have sex." (18, female, Cameroon)

On participation and involvement:

"I sometimes feel like a know-it-all. Adults have got this ideology that young people are being rude if they express their thoughts, so sometimes I just feel like a stray, an alien." (21, male, Botswana)
"There is a Chinese saying that goes: the older the ginger, the hotter it is (meaning: the older they are, the wiser). When we start talking about sex, adults reject us." (23, male, Singapore)

SEXUAL AND REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS OF YOUNG PEOPLE

1.The right to be yourself – free to make your own decisions, to express yourself, to enjoy sex, to be safe, to choose to marry (or not to marry) and plan a family.

2.The right to know – about sex, contraceptives, STDs/HIV, and about your rights.

3.The right to protect yourself and be protected – from unplanned pregnancies, STDs/HIV and sexual abuse.

4.The right to have health care – which is confidential, affordable, of good quality and given with due to respect.

5.The right to be involved – in planning programmes with and for youth, attending meetings/seminars etc. at all level and trying to influence governments through appropriate means.

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