MMS Health for All Podcast

Sexual health and rights education is still a big taboo around the world, with dramatic consequences for too many young people. A lack of comprehensive sexuality education for young women and men can have the following effects: Less use of condoms, leading to a higher risk of STIs, including HIV. Less use of contraceptives leading to an increased risk of unintended pregnancy. The lack of knowledge in relation to sexuality combined with less understanding leads to more stigmatization and shame in relation to sexual identity and one's own gender.

In Zambia around 66% of children marry under the age of 15, and many of the remainder by 18. Strong peer pressure to drink alcohol, and experiment with drugs and unprotected sex, results in high incidences of HIV, sexually transmitted disease, and unwanted pregnancies.

In this episode, Carine Weiss talks to Violet Chifunda about why young women in Zambia drop out of school and why they don't believe in themselves and therefore make wrong decisions about their sexuality. We also talk about the taboo that young men are victims of sexual assault and are not listened to in Zambia. And we talk about how mentorship empowers young women and men to successfully translate their talents and skills into start-ups to become successful entrepreneurs.

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Poland’s abortion legislation has been among the most restrictive in Europe. Abortions are only permitted on two grounds: when the pregnancy endangers the life or health of the pregnant woman and when it is the result of a rape or incest. While the mere possession or self-management of abortion-inducing medicines is not a crime in Poland, any person or doctor who helps pregnant women to obtain an abortion outside the limited grounds permitted by law is liable to sanctions of up to three-years in prison. The anti-abortion movement is growing and there is a need for better protection of people who are defending the right to abortion and providing essential services. They are increasingly being stigmatized, intimidated, attacked and subjected to unjust prosecutions, making their work difficult and dangerous to carry out.

Worldwide we can observe that sexual health and rights are under pressure. More and more resistance and challenges are rising – such as opposition against abortion, violence against homosexuality, opposition against comprehensive sexuality education. Senegal is a very conservative country and it can be observed that the tolerance level is disappearing.

In this episode, Carine Weiss talks to Fatou Mandiang Diatta well known under the name Sista Fa about her experience with female genital mutilation, her way to conduct training and raising awareness on the harm of FGM, as well as the growing resistance and opposition against homosexuality, abortion and comprehensive sexuality education in Senegal.

Anti-gender movements primarily seek to influence political strategy and policy-making with the ultimate aim of hampering, criminalising, illegalising or limiting the gender rights, sexual rights, and human rights entitlements of citizens. They are part of a wide movement which gathers groups opposed to feminism, LGBTI rights, gender equality, as well as contraception, immunisation, abortion and comprehensive sexuality education.

In this episode, Carine Weiss talks to Neil Datta about how crucial it is to understand the organisation and strategies of anti-gender groups for human rights defenders to effectively respond to the group’s efforts to undermine sexual and reproductive health rights. Achieving Gender Equality implies taming the anti-gender tide.