Half of the world's people are under the age of 25 (UNFPA).
15 - 30% of sexually active girls in developing countries report that their first sexual encounter was coerced or forced. (Population Council 2003, Youth Net Volume 10).
Nearly half of sexual assaults worldwide are perpetrated against girls ages fifteen and younger (UNFPA).
Among married adolescents who do not want a pregnancy, 67% in Sub-Saharan Africaare not using any contraceptive method. In South Central and Southeast Asia 54% are not and in Latin America and the Caribbean 36% are not using any method. (Guttmacher Institute and IPPF, 2010).
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While abstinence is a reliable way to prevent pregnancy and STDs, the majority of people become sexually active as adolescents. In fact, one in three young women in the developing world are married before they turn 18. Problems accessing family planning methods and services, sporadic or irregular sexual encounters, social mores that discourage young women in particular from "planning" to have sex, sexual coercion, and difficulty negotiating contraceptive use all make it hard for adolescents to use an ongoing method of contraception. For these young people, EC offers a valuable second chance to avoid an unplanned pregnancy.
Yet, from Africa to Latin America, from Europe
to the United States, adolescent access to EC
often emerges as an issue of heated debate. In
the media and in policy arenas, questions arise
specifically about youth and EC: Will the availability
of EC reduce young people's perceptions of risk,
leading to increased sexual activity? Could the
availability of EC make it harder for girls to
"say no"? Can adolescent women correctly
understand product labeling for an over-the-counter
EC product?
Fortunately, there is ample evidence that improving access to EC does not lead to increased sexual risk-taking behavior, increases in rates of sexually transmitted infection, or reductions in the use of on-going contraception. Moreover, EC is safe for young people, with no contraindications and minimal side-effects. Professional
groups such as the American Academy of Pediatrics, Society for Adolescent Medicine, and the World Health Organization support access to EC for all women, including young women.
Access Challenges
Reaching adolescents with emergency contraceptive
information and services poses special challenges
to programs. Young women may find it difficult
to access relevant information about or services
for emergency contraception because they:
- Are unaware of the availability of ECPs;
- Lack confidence or are embarrassed to visit
a family planning clinic or pharmacy;
- Do not know of the existence of the clinic
or pharmacy;
- Find the clinic hours inconvenient or location inaccessible;
- Lack the funds needed;
- Have concerns about lack of privacy and confidentiality;
- Fear a pelvic examination; or
- Are anxious about judgmental attitudes of
the providers and pharmacies.
Responding to young people's need for EC
Programs should work to ensure that clinics, programs and pharmacies serving adolescents are youth-friendly. They can work to ensure privacy and confidentiality, accessible facilities, reasonably priced services, and flexible hours particularly during evenings and weekends. Strategies for expanding access to EC for adolescents
include:
- Expand awareness of EC through media campaigns and other marketing and information strategies (websites, social networking,text messaging services, hotlines, advertising in youth-oriented publications, and publicityat events attended by adolescents).
- Encourage health care providers to talk to their clients about EC.
- Facilitate access to EC through pharmacy distribution and social marketing.
- Support legislation in favor of EC gaining over the counter (OTC) status for people of all ages to reduce health system barriers.
- Make EC available for free to victims of sexual assault through emergency rooms and police stations.
- Enact policies that recognize adolescents' right to access and use EC.
EC Access as a Young
Woman's Right
Young women, like all women, have a right to
access a full range of safe family planning methods.
The International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) has defined the rights of and responsibilities
towards adolescents and sexual health, focusing
on education and services for young women to help
them prevent unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted
diseases.
Information and services should be made
available to adolescents to help them understand
their sexuality and protect themselves from unwanted
pregnancies, sexually transmitted diseases, and
subsequent risk of infertility. This should be
combined with the education of young men to respect
women's self-determination and to share responsibility
with women in matters of sexuality and reproduction.
(International Conference on Population and Development
[ICPD] Programme of Action, 7.41, 1994)
Click here for text on internationally negotiated language,
including ICPD, concerning adolescents and sexual
health.
ICEC member organizations work internationally to increase support towards
adolescent education on emergency contraception
and access to this valuable family planning method.
The following websites provide helpful information
about issues concerning adolescent EC access.
Adolescencia
de Reprolatina (Brazil)
Advocates
for Youth (US, ICEC Member)
Anticoncepcione
de Emergencia (ICMER, Chile)
Like
it Is (Marie Stopes, UK and Australia)
Visit our EC
Links listing for more sites covering Emergency
Contraception.
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