Every person has the right to the healthy expression of their sexuality. That was the premise of the first formal meeting of the recently formed Caribbean Coalition on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (CCSRHR) comprised primarily of Family Planning Associations from across the Caribbean, and regional and international partners, as they gathered in Barbados last week.
The right to healthy sexuality is enshrined in multiple agreements and treaties that have been signed by international governments including our Caribbean governments as far back as 1948 with the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Ever since then, these rights have continued to be reinforced and expanded in international agreements such as, but not limited to the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, the Sustainable Development Goals and the Montevideo Consensus, the latter being the most progressive inter-governmental agreement on sexual and reproductive rights articulated to date. All of these agreements seek to ensure the following – equality and non-discrimination; access to sexuality education; access to SRH services including by young people; the right to choose a partner; gender equality; youth empowerment; and HIV and AIDS – for all persons, regardless of race, age, economic status, class, religion, sexual identity.
However, despite the existence of these agreements, there still persists in the region major inequities in relation to sexual and reproductive health. In several Caribbean countries whereas the age of consent is sixteen, a young person cannot legally access contraceptives until the age of eighteen, creating a two year gap unprotected by our laws. Meanwhile our youth are also denied the right to that high quality sexuality education in schools which would empower them to make informed decisions regarding their sexuality and prepare them to better manage their later adult lives as parents, partners and sexual beings. Across the region daily, persons of different sexual persuasion live their lives under a cloud of stigma and discrimination. These are just a few of the many equities that will be tackled over time by the Coalition – CCSRHR, as it seeks to ensure that the sexual and reproductive rights that are agreed on internationally are in fact made real in the lives of the average citizen.
As a starting point the Coalition is currently primarily focused on advocating for the institutionalization of comprehensive sexuality education in schools – an essential building block for a person’s effective negotiation of his/her life as a sexual being. The rationale for this prioritization is well founded. The World Health Organization (WHO) Global School-based Student Health Survey (GSHS) indicates that in the Caribbean 56% of girls and 79% of boys on average had sex before the age of 14. More than half of adolescents who have ever had sex report initiating sex before the age of 16. The adolescent birth rate (per 1,000 women aged 15-19) in the Caribbean varies considerably across the countries, but is considerably higher than other countries in the middle or high income categories, which is where paradoxically, several Caribbean countries are positioned. According to the World Bank 2012 Report, the adolescent birth rate globally for middle/high income countries is 24. Several Caribbean countries however compare more closely with the rates of the less developed countries at 53. Adolescent fertility rates vary widely in the Caribbean ranging from 26 in Turks & Caicos (lowest) to 97 in Guyana (highest). According to the 2014 World Health Statistics, the average Caribbean adolescent birth rate stands at 65 per 1000 girls 15 to 19 years old – which compares unfavorably to the global indicator of 49 per 1000 girls 15-19 years old.
With the exception of Turks & Caicos, the adolescent birth rate is also higher than the birth rate in the general population, demonstrating that a proportionally high number of adolescent girls have been pregnant at least once by the age of 19. According to published data by the Pan American Health Organization/ World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO), deaths related to pregnancy and childbirth are among the leading cause of death for 15-19-year-old girls in the Latin American & Caribbean region. All of this is of even greater concern when one considers that youth constitute approximately 50% of the population of the Caribbean. Meanwhile while many Caribbean countries have frameworks for health and family life education, concerns exist with respect to the quality and content as well as the level of implementation of these curricula since they do not adequately address the need for comprehensive sexuality education.
Unless our youth who represent the future of the region are enabled to effectively manage their sexuality, the Caribbean will continue to compromise the potential contribution of its richest resource.
CARICOM has acknowledged the importance of tackling this issue with the introduction of an Integrated Strategic Framework for the Reduction of Adolescent Pregnancy in the Caribbean, which was approved at the level of Council for Human and Social Development (COHSOD) in 2014. Equally important is the supporting Draft OECS Reproductive Healthcare & Services Bill which has been under protracted discussions at the level of the OECS. These documents which seek to address gaps in legislative protections for adolescents have the potential to significantly reduce the high levels of adolescent fertility in the Caribbean.
With its initial focus on advancing the rights of adolescents and the need for supportive laws, protections and education, the Coalition (CCSRHR), in addition to advocating for comprehensive sexuality education in schools will also be pressing for the adoption of the Draft OECS Bill and for the implementation of the CARICOM Integrated Framework for the Reduction of Adolescent Pregnancy.
The Caribbean Family Planning Associations (accredited members of the International Planned Parenthood Federation – IPPF), are supported by the IPPF, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the Pan Caribbean Partnership against HIV and AIDS, Caribbean Vulnerable Communities in the launching and work of the Caribbean Coalition for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (CCSRHR). The CCSRHR would also like to cultivate the interest of parents, key decision makers and relevant civil society organizations in understanding the importance of the work being undertaken to individual and national development and to enlist their active support for this important effort.
– Press Release
(Published without editing by The Anguillian newspaper.)
