Sexual reproductive health right advocacy by CWIDI

September 16th of every year is called the day of the female condom. This day is set aside to create awareness and increase the discussion on access and use of the female condom as well as break the barriers surrounding the access to the female condom. Adolescents and young people especially girls and women have an unmet sexual health need requiring advocates to raise their voices and increase awareness. It is the right of young people to make choices of which method of contraceptives and protection they prefer and are suitable for them. This choices should be healthy and informed by access to the right information. In order to prevent HIV and other sexually transmitted, girls and women should be able to have access to needed protection irrespective of their socioeconomic class or sexual orientation. Girls and women experience a lot of sexual and reproductive health issues thus, it is crucial that they are included in policies, plans and preventive measures against STI’s.

Young people need access to a variety of sexual reproductive health services and information regardless of their being sexually active or not. Sexual and reproductive health interventions and program planned for adolescents and young people do not reach them and meet their needs because of the barriers and infidelity in delivering and implementing these programs. Program plans and interventions for young people should provide adequate sexual and reproductive services without any form of discrimination. It should also aim to improve the sexual health of young people and girls; improving access to comprehensive reproductive health services. COMPREHENSIVE SEXUALITY EDUCATION. For an intervention to meet the needs of adolescents and young people, programs developed for the interventions must be implemented effectively. Comprehensive sexuality education has been adopted by some countries and states but there is lack of fidelity in provision of sexuality education to adolescents

The world contraception day is commemorated on the 26th of September every year. All stakeholders including civil societies, youth structures, government ministries and young people are encouraged to commemorate and celebrate in order to highlight the health and development of young people especially girls and women of reproductive age. The goal of the world contraception day is to create awareness of all contraceptive methods available and enable young people to make informed choices on their sexual and reproductive health. It is obvious that the awareness about contraception is high but there is still low usage of contraceptives due to barriers like: •    Myths and effects of using contraceptives •    Low awareness of emergency contraceptives. •    Poor access to information about contraceptives which most times, is given by peer educator, mass media and friends. •    The patriarchal nature of our society. •    Inadequate access to sexual and reproductive health s

Nigerian political history and studies (for instance, Ejukonemu and Akintola, 2013; Akintola, 2016) have demonstrated that Nigeria is only good at formulating good policies but fail in implementation. Most policies in the country are either partially implemented or not implemented at all. Pitiably, most Nigerians are unaware of the existence of some of these policies. The 2006 National Gender Policy is a good example. The 2006 National Gender Policy was built upon the National Policy on Women which made little or no impact on gender equality in Nigeria. Among other things, National Gender Policy was formulated to build a just society devoid of discrimination that harnesses the full potentials of all social groups regardless of sex or circumstance. To achieve this, and especially to guarantee gender inclusion in Nigeria, the Policy was set to “adopt special measures, quotas and mechanisms for achieving minimum critical threshold of women in political offices, party organs and publ

Introduction Sex is a normal human function that can involve the expression of love and emotional feelings, and does provide a means for reproduction. Sexual intercourse, however, is not without potential harmful or unintended consequences. Two major potential health consequences of sexual intercourse are unintentional pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), including HIV infection. STIs means sexually transmitted infections that are spread from one person to person through sexual contact including anal, oral or vagina sex. Causes Sexually transmitted infections are caused by: •    Bacteria (gonorrhea, syphilis, chlamydia) •    Parasites (trichomoniasis) •    Viruses (HIV, genital herpes, humanpapilomavirus) Most common types of STIs, their common symptoms, diagnosis and treatment are: Chlamydia Symptoms: unusual discharge, painful urination, abdominal pain, pain in rectum. Diagnosed by: swab or urine sample. Treatment: antibiot

Another area women are globally discriminated against is gender-based stereotypes. According to the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (UN OHCHR) , gender-based stereotype is defined as a generalised view or preconception about attributes or characteristics, or the roles that are or ought to be possessed by, or performed by women and men. It is said to be harmful when it limits the capacity of women or men to develop their personal abilities, pursue their professional careers and make choice about their lives. Even though a gender-stereotype can be positive and psychologically gratifying (for instance, women are merciful and home builders), it is mostly used to pull women down from fulfilling their potentials. Most often in Nigeria, gender stereotyping is negative. It is socially degrading. In mostly all the ethnic groups in the country, women are perceived as weak beings. In fact, among the Yoruba, women are believed to possess ‘seven (7) bones’