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Adolescent girls and young women should boldly and unabashedly seek information and services on sexual and reproductive health and rights. The stigma and harmful gender norms associated with sexual and reproductive health and rights are not going anywhere, says Nyasha Phanisa Sithole, a Zimbabwean sexual and reproductive health and rights leader.
“If you’re afraid of stigma, you won’t be able to access these services because we’re not going to have a stigma-free environment anytime soon,” she says.
Working as a sexual and reproductive health and rights advocate and regional leader for advocacy, leadership and training for young women at the Athena Network, Ms. Sithole believes that everyone has a role to play in changing the status quo and influencing decision making.
“My story is common. This is a 16 year old teenage girl who needed access to HIV prevention commodities, but had only condoms available and, in rare cases, pre-exposure prophylaxis, ”says Sithole. , reflecting on her experience as a teenager.
Despite this shared history, the need for comprehensive services to address HIV, sexual and reproductive health and rights, and sexual and gender-based violence in the East and Southern Africa region is critical.
Adolescent girls and young women aged 15 to 24 account for 29% of new HIV infections among adults aged 15 and over in the Eastern and Southern Africa region, despite accounting for only 10% of the population. population. This means that there are 3,600 new HIV infections per week among adolescent girls and young women in the region, more than double that of their male peers (1,700 per week).
The stigma and discrimination that young people, especially adolescent girls and young women, face in accessing sexual and reproductive health and rights services create barriers at various levels, including individual, interpersonal, community and societal levels.
In addition, documented health rights violations include unauthorized disclosure of health status, denial of sexual and reproductive health and rights services, and associated psychological violence.
In 2014, Ms Sithole infiltrated as a secret client at a youth-friendly health center in Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe, in a neighborhood with residential quarters and schools. The first person she met at the center was a curious security guard.
“He asked me, ‘What do you need?’ A health exam, I replied. Then he asked: “Asi wakarumwa?” Meaning, “Have you been bitten?” In Shona, it is the language of the streets for someone with a sexually transmitted infection, ”she recalls.
If she hadn’t been well informed, Mrs. Sithole says she would have been afraid. “It’s something that can scare or discourage you to say, ‘He’s just a security guard, why are they laughing at me or my situation? Because imagine if I really had a condition that I wanted to manage, what would happen then?
Ms Sithole said health workers sometimes look at adolescent girls and young women who have access to sexual and reproductive health and rights services with contempt and judgment and ask, ‘How old are you and why do you need it. condom or contraception? ”
Given the stigma attached to accessing sexual and reproductive health and rights services, community-based organizations play a critical role for adolescent girls and young women. Organizations give them information on sexual and reproductive health and rights and referrals for services.
However, COVID-19 has had a dramatic impact on the functioning of these organizations in Zimbabwe, which has imposed lockdown restrictions to curb the spread of the virus.
“I think all governments were not fair when they cracked down on restrictions on every organization that worked in communities,” says Ms Sithole, adding that this negatively impacts young people’s access to health services. and sexual and reproductive rights.
To mitigate these risks, the Global HIV Prevention Coalition, co-convened by UNAIDS and the United Nations Population Fund, joined him to provide financial and technical support to the Athena network in 10 countries. , including Zimbabwe, to create What Girls Want focal points in each country. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the focal people, who are adolescents and young women, mobilized their peers to conduct dialogues via WhatsApp to discuss the issues they face and seek peer support.
Ms Sithole said governments should invest in change and policy development to create an enabling environment in which adolescent girls and young women can access sexual and reproductive health and rights, as well as information and services on HIV.
Despite the stigma and discrimination associated with seeking sexual and reproductive health and rights services, Ms Sithole says adolescent girls and young women should realize their power and use their agency to get what they need.
“Think about your life because your life is more important than anything else. So whatever happens, if you know there’s a service you can access, go for it, ”she advises.
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