Journal articles on the topic 'Sexuality, reproduction, health, social movement'

Abstract In many African societies today Christian churches, Pentecostals in particular, are an important source of information on sexuality, relationships, the body, and health, motivated in part by the HIV/AIDS pandemic but also related to globally circulating ideas and images that make people rethink gender relations and identities through the lens of ‘romantic love’. Contextualizing the contemporary situation in the history of Christian movements in Africa, and by applying Foucault’s notion of heterotopia, this introduction and the subsequent papers show that Christian doctrines and practices are creating social spaces of altering relational ethics, identities and gender roles that appeal especially to upwardly mobile women.

Since contraceptives have been used to remove fertility from the conjugal act, the social consequences predicted in the encyclical Humanae vitae, such as the rise in cohabitation, decline of marriage, rise of divorce, and single parenthood, have exceeded expectations. The degradation of the sexual act from total mutual self-giving to momentary union has led to doubting the significance of the biological truth of the body and opened the door to gender fluidity. Promiscuity became normative, and the need for consent became eroded until women revolted with the #MeToo movement. Promiscuity, cohabitation, and divorce have resulted in 40 percent of children born to unmarried parents whose tenuous unions often leave the children in melded and dysfunctional families. Relation-free “hookups” have become the norm among young adults, leaving a flood of emotionally damaged women, an epidemic of sexually transmitted infections, and unplanned pregnancies, to which the healthcare industry has responded by doubling down on the means which caused the problem in the first place with near-coercive promotion of long-acting, reversible contraceptives (LARCs). LARCs must be inserted and removed professionally and make reproductive choice moot. Respecting the truth of the body is the precise counter measure. A woman’s cyclic fertility is easily observed with reliable biomarkers—natural family planning—which requires the whole person. Fertility awareness–based methods of family planning have no side effects, are easy to learn, and can be used to achieve as well as delay conception. The self-discovery inherent in learning fertility literacy has empowered adolescent girls and boys to understand and value their sexuality and fertility and avoid choosing harmful behaviors. Why does society continue to treat fertility as if it were a disease? Summary: Removing the idea of pregnancy from the sexual act as the result of readily available contraception has effectively limited choices about sexual behavior to the satisfaction of momentary desires. As Humanae vitae predicted, fewer marriages were contracted, divorce increased and now 40% of children are born out of wedlock despite extensive public education campaigns to promote contraception. Side effects of the hormonal pill have reduced their use so health care professionals have doubled down, providing long acting contraceptives which do not require the user to exercise choice before each act of intercourse, or of taking a pill. There is a much better way to regulate births–to learn to read the book of nature. Fertility is not a disease to be removed from the body. All that is needed is to understand the natural signs of fertility–natural family planning, now called FABM–Fertility Awareness-Based Methods. These have no side effects, enhance couple communication and offer effective choice for child spacing and demonstrably support premarital chastity for teens.

Abstract Specific developments in reproductive health occurred in Eastern Europe, especially in the second half of the twentieth century. During state socialism, it was experts, not social movements, who furthered the agenda of women’s health and sexuality. New analyses from the region and written mostly by authors who speak the local languages attest to the wealth of histories, highlighting different timelines of reproductive health developments, the unexpected causes behind them, and the social actors and institutions which played decisive roles.

The representative survey results - made in 2001 and includes 1000 women aged 20 and 39 years - confirmed that the diffusion of conservative birth control in which the use of coitus interruptus dominates and the consequential resort of induce abortion in cases of pregnancies which are unwanted or cannot be accepted is the main reproductive health problem of the Montenegro population. The traditional birth control methods are very much incorporated in the system of values, considered a natural part of sexual intercourse, and therefore seen to be a rational choice. These facts open a number of questions, among which the most important one is why women are not relying on modern contraceptive methods and means? Research findings discover a complex array of factors, including a belief that modern contraceptive methods are harmful to health and a number of psychological barriers, also those arising from relationships with partners. On the other hand, the initial hypothesis that sexually transmitted diseases are one of the problems of the reproductive health of the population of Montenegro was not confirmed. However, it seems that the obtained data on this subject are not realistic having in mind not only the delicacy of the questions but also the specificity of the general conditions including all accompanying changes of the economic system transition, openness for challenges of the modern way of life and great movements of the population. In contrast to the dilemma, though, regarding the widely distributed sexually transmitted diseases, the research results indicated that infertility, primary and secondary, is not widespread and that it certainly is not considered as one of the problems of the reproductive health of the population of Montenegro.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine how school-based sexuality education has had a long and troubled history of exclusionary pedagogical practices that have negatively affected such populations as lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer (LGBTQ) individuals, people of color, and the disabled. The social ecological model is introduced as a way of offering sexuality educators and school administrators a way of thinking more broadly about how to achieve sexual health through sexuality education efforts inside and outside of the school environment. Design/methodology/approach – This paper uses critical analysis of current and historical school-based sexuality education methods and curricula used in the USA. Authors use both academic journals and their own expertise/experience teaching sexuality education in the USA to analyze and critique the sources of sexuality education information and curricula used in schools. Findings – Historically, sexuality education in school settings in the USA has been biased and has generally not offered an educational experience fostering sexual health for all students. There are now welcome signs of reform and movement toward a more inclusive and progressive approach, but there is still some way to go. Sexuality education programs in schools need to be further and fundamentally reformed to do more to foster sexual health particularly for LGBTQ individuals, students of color, and people with disabilities. Practical implications – This paper offers sexuality educators ways of addressing structural issues within the sexuality education curriculum to better serve all students to increase the quality of their sexual health. Integrating critical pedagogy and anti-oppressive education can increase students’ sexual health along physical, social, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual dimensions. Originality/value – This paper provides historical analysis along with the identification of structural difficulties in the sexuality education curriculum and proposes both critical pedagogy and anti-oppressive education as ways of addressing sex and relationships education.

The power or knowledge relations determine sexuality as a discourse. How understanding and practicing sex is the negotiation of knowledges and interests. It also happens in producing discourse of sexuality to adolescence. The social construction of adolescence as social category that is apolitical, hedonic, passive and uncritical brings them to be the older people’s object of socialization and education about morality. Different social institutions, such as school, family, religion, government, and also media attempt to subjugate adolescense’ passion in the name of sex education. This research has revealed on how the discourse of sexuality becomes arena where interests of some institutuions involved are contesting. Hai magazine is chosen as locus since this magazine has existed more than three decades and presented sex education as the material in its publication. Using Norman Fairclough’s critical discourse analysis, this research has explored the discourse of sexuality as the result of negotiation of the discourse of sex sacralization brought by social and religion norms, the idea of global sexual revolution, and the perspective of health reproduction. It becomes Hai’s survival strategy in economy, social and political context.

Sexual and Reproductive health rights are key human rights instruments. Since last few decades, sexual and reproductive health and rights has been recognized as a major topic in the international health and development agenda. Sexual and reproductive rights of women became recognized as universal human rights in 1994, violations of which happen in some reproductive health areas including gender concern. But in the developing countries like ours, patriarchal society rooted deeply that male control over women's mobility, sexuality and reproduction. Men’s control over women’s mobility like imposition of Parda, restriction on leaving domestic space, strict separation of public and private space and limits on interaction between the sexes. Male controls over women’s sexuality like women are obliged to provide sexual services to their men when they desire, the legal and moral values restrict women’s sexuality outside marriage, men may force their women in sex trade. Even in reproduction male control over them. Men also control over women’s reproductive power in many societies by no freedom to decide how many children they want and when, cannot decide to use the contraceptive or terminate the pregnancy. In most of the South Asian countries women are forced to give birth to a son or her place is not secured so she is compelled to give several births if she cannot produce son. Sexual and reproductive health and rights are important rights in themselves, but can also greatly enhance possibilities for empowering girls and women and for achieving gender equality. Reproductive health stresses people rights to sexuality, reproduction, and family planning, and the information to actualize these rights, which has been inseparably linked to development. We examine how sexual and reproductive health and rights interventions can have positive and lasting impacts not only on the health outcomes of girls and women, but can also enable women’s access to opportunities across social, economic and political life. Many efforts had been done in these issues nationally and internationally.

Sexuality represents one of the basic dimensions of human existence, which is channelled through sexual and gender identification and role, sexual orientation, eroticism, emotional commitment, satisfaction, and reproduction. Sexuality is also linked to many significant health problems, especially in the area of reproductive and sexual health. Sexual health is the condition of physical, emotional, mental, and social wellbeing that is linked with sexuality. Knowledge about sexual health, contraception and selection of contraceptives, and the risk of sexually transmittable diseases is not only relevant for individuals? sexuality; it?s also important for encouraging the use of health services and other forms of support that are necessary to protect youth from sexually transmittable diseases and the maintenance of sexual and re-productive health. When it comes to sexuality and care of reproductive and sexual health, some groups are especially vulnerable. Bearing in mind the specific conditions women with disabilities grow up in and their dependence on assistance and support from other people, satisfying their needs for partnership, sexuality, and parenthood becomes unattainable for many, or it takes place under the control of professionals or family members. In this context, people with visual impairments are part of a vulnerable group, acknowledging that visual impairment leads to limitations in everyday life, autonomy, and quality of life to its full potential. The purpose of this article is to describe the phenomena of sexuality and sexual health among people with visual impairments, and to point out the existing international and national normative frameworks relevant to the sexual health of people with disabilities. Existing legislative acts acknowledge the right to a normal sexual life, as well as to the care and maintenance of the sexual health of people with disabilities. However, there are many obstacles and limitations that hamper the practical application of these rights: health issues, communication problems, lack of privacy, people?s acceptance of the inhibition of their own sexuality, or their acceptance of the labelling and normalisation of their situation. Even considering the existence of the regulation, the system of support for maintaining and improving the sexual and reproductive health of women with disabilities is not developed enough. The lack of literature relating to this topic shows that its importance is not recognised enough among the relevant actors, including organisations that advocate for people with disabilities. Realising the existing general legal framework requires the will of policymakers, who could enact and implement specific bylaw regulations, as well as activating the societal actors relevant to this field.

Abstract Purpose Infertility represents a peculiar social burden affecting more than 15% of couples, provoking it a real threat to the general quality of life and to the sexual health. The medicalization (diagnosis, therapy and follow up) of the lack of fertility is frequently a challenge in term of personal and couple’s involvement. In particular, while the Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) has allowed many infertile couples to achieve pregnancy, the therapeutic process faced by the couple bears a strong psychological stress that can affect the couple's quality of life, relationship and sexuality. Despite infertility affects both female and male sexual health, only recently the interest in the effects of ART on the couple's sexuality has grown, especially for women. Methods A literature research on the sexual dysfunction in fertility care and particularly in ART setting was performed. Results Literature largely found that intimacy and sexuality appear specifically impaired by intrusiveness of treatments and medical prescriptions. Moreover, there is a close relationship between emotional, psychological and sexual aspects, which can be integrated in the new concept of Inferto-Sex Syndrome (ISS) that can impair the ART treatment outcomes. Evidence demonstrates that the assessment of sexual function is necessary in couples undergoing diagnosis of infertility and ART. Conclusion A close relationship between infertility and sexuality, both in the female and male partners, was detected. ART treatments may heavily impact on the couple's psychosexual health. A couple-centred program for the integrated management of psychological and sexual dysfunction should be considered in the context of ART programs.

Abstract As the efforts of the Global Age-friendly Cities and Communities movement mature and continue to grapple with society’s shifting dynamics, blind spots and knowledge gaps are exposed. This research applies critical discourse analysis to examine the evolution of Age-friendly NYC using an intersectional lens committed to an ethics of representation. Over 1,000 pages of public records were analyzed to trace the history of this movement in relation to age, race, sexuality, gender, ability, and class. Findings suggest that Age-friendly NYC is a global leader of the age-friendly movement, yet social identities are represented neither equally nor universally in its initiatives. Discussions of race, sexuality, and gender are subtle. They also overlook how these identities may intersect and shape the aging experience for differently positioned older adults. A comprehensive understanding of the aging experiences of those with multiple intersecting identities is needed to inform future age-friendly policies and programs.

AbstractThis article argues that reformers’ racial nativism, belief in the power of eugenics to improve society, and desire to restrict US citizenship to certain racial groups contributed to reproductive and eugenic curriculum used by early public-school sex education programs. It utilizes newspaper accounts and archival records from the headquarters of the American Social Hygiene Association, Committee of Fourteen, United Neighborhood Houses, and Child Study Association in New York City to answer several crucial questions: What dangers did each organization attribute to adolescent sexuality and reproduction? How did each envision its role in societal improvement and in the sex education movement? What did these reform organizations consider as the ideal relationship between the home, school, and society? While the existing scholarship explains how each of these organizations fit into the larger historical context of progressive reform, examining them separately downplays the degree to which ideas about race, reproduction, immigration, and US citizenship circulated among reformers, especially as leaders of these groups worked across organizational lines to promote sex education.

Since the 1970s, there has been a trend on the part of physicians and other health practitioners to promote breastfeeding in the United States, a movement that has not been as successful as hoped, since the majority of mothers in this country continue to feed their babies formula. Several socioeconomic factors are considered to be barriers to the success of breastfeeding promotion today. Yet, even among those who promote breastfeeding there exists a notable constraint in dealing with the issue of sexuality and breastfeeding. Indeed, as the female breast is eroticized in Western society, breastfeeding promotional messages have often exhibited a tacit conformity to social conventions regarding female sexuality. When analyzing selected works of advice literature written by health care practitioners from the 1970s to the present, it will be clear that breastfeeding promotional information often reflects dominant views of the sexuality of the female breast and her body.

Sexual health is a fundamental to the overall health and well-being of individuals and families. Puberty is the process of physical changes as well as emotional maturation and being capable of sexual reproduction. Positive or respectful approach to sexuality and sexual relationships as well as free from coercion; discrimination and violence optimize the possibility of having pleasurable and safe sexual experiences. Appropriate pubertal guidance, sharing of information and education to youth about experiencing changes not only fostering positive attitudes but also healthy practices related to pubertal changes. It also influence on social and economic development of individual, communities as well as countries. This article intended to explore about the guidance and sharing of information practices of adolescence’s parents about pubertal changes and sexual health through literature search.

Adolescent sexual behavior is shaped by individual, social, and structural factors that can increase HIV-risk, unwanted pregnancy, and sexually transmitted disease. To inform the development of a comprehensive sexuality education program, 239 secondary school adolescents ages 14–19 in Maun, Botswana, completed a survey of sexual and reproductive health knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors in February–March 2020. Bivariate and multivariate analyses examined factors associated with sexual experience and perceived ability to insist on condoms. Approximately 21% of respondents reported having had sexual intercourse. More than half felt able to insist on condoms. Sources of information about human reproduction, alcohol use, attitudes about when sex is acceptable, and perceived sexual activity by one’s peers were predictive of sexual experience. Age, confidence in correct condom use, perceived acceptability of adolescent sex with condoms, and endorsement of prevailing gender norms were significantly associated with perceived ability to insist on condom use.

Increase in adolescent sexual activity is a phenomenon noticed in modern societies, as well as in Serbia. The sexual activity reveals new health related problems, in relation to the unpremeditated pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases. Reproductive health is vulnerable especially in case of persons having first sexual experiences being adolescent, what could be explained by the physical immaturity and psychosocial infirmity to be responsible in sexual behaviour. The study of 300 sexually active adolescent women aged 19, attending The Youth Advisory Center of The Mother and Child Health Care Institute of Serbia was conducted between 1995 - 1997. The aim of this study was to evaluate how much the reproductive health in this population was endangered, by analyzing their sexual behavior, their attitudes in the spheres of sexuality and reproduction, as well as some variables of social microenvironments that might be relevant to adolescent sexual behavior. Questionnaire included investigation of youth opinion about some acceptable social measures in this field. According to the results of this study the adolescents reproductive health is seriously endangered. Interwieved adolescent females most frequently used traditional birth control methods, like coitus interruptus (54,3%), and often didn't think about the risk of acquiring sexually transmitted disesase (with new sexual partner the regular condom use was reported only in case of 55,6% girls). Adolescent girls had also poor health behaviors so that 31,0% of interviewed adolescent females visited gynecologist for the first time not earlier than one to three years after their first sexual experience. That resulted in large number of unplanned pregnancies (16,0% of interwieved girls had one or more induced abortions) and, possibly, a high prevalence of sexually transmitted infections. The model of sexual behavior, that was accepted by adolescent females was partly due to the lack of adolescents knowledge about sexuallity, contraception and sexually transmitted diseases. Improper were the main sources of relevant knowledge (peers, parents, mass media), therefore, youth had many misconceptions in this sphere (about the harmfulness of modern contraception, reliability of coitus interruptus method, lack of risk for sexually transmitted diseases transmission). The social adolescent sexual and reproductive health programme doesn't exist in Serbia. Parents of adolescent females were passive, and school and health care workers are not engaged in these matters enough. The possibility for social intervention programme exists, because young people were willing to improve their knowledge about sexuality and reproduction (83,3%) mostly by sex education in schools (51,0%) and through mass media (33,3%). The most appreciated sources of relevant knowledge would be physicians (67,0%), from whom they expect to have time and patience for them and their problems (91,3%).

In my postgraduate formation during the last years of the 80’s, we had close to thirty hospital beds in a pavilion called “sépticas” (1). In Colombia, where abortion was completely penalized, the pavilion was mostly filled with women with insecure, complicated abortions. The focus we received was technical: management of intensive care; performance of hysterectomies, colostomies, bowel resection, etc. In those times, some nurses were nuns and limited themselves to interrogating the patients to get them to “confess” what they had done to themselves in order to abort. It always disturbed me that the women who left alive, left without any advice or contraceptive method. Having asked a professor of mine, he responded with disdain: “This is a third level hospital, those things are done by nurses of the first level”. Seeing so much pain and death, I decided to talk to patients, and I began to understand their decision. I still remember so many deaths with sadness, but one case in particular pains me: it was a woman close to being fifty who arrived with a uterine perforation in a state of advanced sepsis. Despite the surgery and the intensive care, she passed away. I had talked to her, and she told me she was a widow, had two adult kids and had aborted because of “embarrassment towards them” because they were going to find out that she had an active sexual life. A few days after her passing, the pathology professor called me, surprised, to tell me that the uterus we had sent for pathological examination showed no pregnancy. She was a woman in a perimenopausal state with a pregnancy exam that gave a false positive due to the high levels of FSH/LH typical of her age. SHE WAS NOT PREGNANT!!! She didn’t have menstruation because she was premenopausal and a false positive led her to an unsafe abortion. Of course, the injuries caused in the attempted abortion caused the fatal conclusion, but the real underlying cause was the social taboo in respect to sexuality. I had to watch many adolescents and young women leave the hospital alive, but without a uterus, sometime without ovaries and with colostomies, to be looked down on by a society that blamed them for deciding to not be mothers. I had to see situation of women that arrived with their intestines protruding from their vaginas because of unsafe abortions. I saw women, who in their despair, self-inflicted injuries attempting to abort with elements such as stick, branches, onion wedges, alum bars and clothing hooks among others. Among so many deaths, it was hard not having at least one woman per day in the morgue due to an unsafe abortion. During those time, healthcare was not handled from the biopsychosocial, but only from the technical (2); nonetheless, in the academic evaluations that were performed, when asked about the definition of health, we had to recite the text from the International Organization of Health that included these three aspects. How contradictory! To give response to the health need of women and guarantee their right when I was already a professor, I began an obstetric contraceptive service in that third level hospital. There was resistance from the directors, but fortunately I was able to acquire international donations for the institution, which facilitated its acceptance. I decided to undertake a teaching career with the hope of being able to sensitize health professionals towards an integral focus of health and illness. When the International Conference of Population and Development (ICPD) was held in Cairo in 1994, I had already spent various years in teaching, and when I read their Action Program, I found a name for what I was working on: Sexual and Reproductive Rights. I began to incorporate the tools given by this document into my professional and teaching life. I was able to sensitize people at my countries Health Ministry, and we worked together moving it to an approach of human rights in areas of sexual and reproductive health (SRH). This new viewpoint, in addition to being integral, sought to give answers to old problems like maternal mortality, adolescent pregnancy, low contraceptive prevalence, unplanned or unwanted pregnancy or violence against women. With other sensitized people, we began with these SRH issues to permeate the Colombian Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology, some universities, and university hospitals. We are still fighting in a country that despite many difficulties has improved its indicators of SRH. With the experience of having labored in all sphere of these topics, we manage to create, with a handful of colleagues and friend at the Universidad El Bosque, a Master’s Program in Sexual and Reproductive Health, open to all professions, in which we broke several paradigms. A program was initiated in which the qualitative and quantitative investigation had the same weight, and some alumni of the program are now in positions of leadership in governmental and international institutions, replicating integral models. In the Latin American Federation of Obstetrics and Gynecology (FLASOG, English acronym) and in the International Federation of Obstetrics and Gynecology (FIGO), I was able to apply my experience for many years in the SRH committees of these association to benefit women and girls in the regional and global environments. When I think of who has inspired me in these fights, I should highlight the great feminist who have taught me and been with me in so many fights. I cannot mention them all, but I have admired the story of the life of Margaret Sanger with her persistence and visionary outlook. She fought throughout her whole life to help the women of the 20th century to be able to obtain the right to decide when and whether or not they wanted to have children (3). Of current feminist, I have had the privilege of sharing experiences with Carmen Barroso, Giselle Carino, Debora Diniz and Alejandra Meglioli, leaders of the International Planned Parenthood Federation – Western Hemisphere Region (IPPF-RHO). From my country, I want to mention my countrywoman Florence Thomas, psychologist, columnist, writer and Colombo-French feminist. She is one of the most influential and important voices in the movement for women rights in Colombia and the region. She arrived from France in the 1960’s, in the years of counterculture, the Beatles, hippies, Simone de Beauvoir, and Jean-Paul Sartre, a time in which capitalism and consumer culture began to be criticized (4). It was then when they began to talk about the female body, female sexuality and when the contraceptive pill arrived like a total revolution for women. Upon its arrival in 1967, she experimented a shock because she had just assisted in a revolution and only found a country of mothers, not women (5). That was the only destiny for a woman, to be quiet and submissive. Then she realized that this could not continue, speaking of “revolutionary vanguards” in such a patriarchal environment. In 1986 with the North American and European feminism waves and with her academic team, they created the group “Mujer y Sociedad de la Universidad Nacional de Colombia”, incubator of great initiatives and achievements for the country (6). She has led great changes with her courage, the strength of her arguments, and a simultaneously passionate and agreeable discourse. Among her multiple books, I highlight “Conversaciones con Violeta” (7), motivated by the disdain towards feminism of some young women. She writes it as a dialogue with an imaginary daughter in which, in an intimate manner, she reconstructs the history of women throughout the centuries and gives new light of the fundamental role of feminism in the life of modern women. Another book that shows her bravery is “Había que decirlo” (8), in which she narrates the experience of her own abortion at age twenty-two in sixty’s France. My work experience in the IPPF-RHO has allowed me to meet leaders of all ages in diverse countries of the region, who with great mysticism and dedication, voluntarily, work to achieve a more equal and just society. I have been particularly impressed by the appropriation of the concept of sexual and reproductive rights by young people, and this has given me great hope for the future of the planet. We continue to have an incomplete agenda of the action plan of the ICPD of Cairo but seeing how the youth bravely confront the challenges motivates me to continue ahead and give my years of experience in an intergenerational work. In their policies and programs, the IPPF-RHO evidences great commitment for the rights and the SRH of adolescent, that are consistent with what the organization promotes, for example, 20% of the places for decision making are in hands of the young. Member organizations, that base their labor on volunteers, are true incubators of youth that will make that unassailable and necessary change of generations. In contrast to what many of us experienced, working in this complicated agenda of sexual and reproductive health without theoretical bases, today we see committed people with a solid formation to replace us. In the college of medicine at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia and the College of Nursing at the Universidad El Bosque, the new generations are more motivated and empowered, with great desire to change the strict underlying structures. Our great worry is the onslaught of the ultra-right, a lot of times better organized than us who do support rights, that supports anti-rights group and are truly pro-life (9). Faced with this scenario, we should organize ourselves better, giving battle to guarantee the rights of women in the local, regional, and global level, aggregating the efforts of all pro-right organizations. We are now committed to the Objectives of Sustainable Development (10), understood as those that satisfy the necessities of the current generation without jeopardizing the capacity of future generations to satisfy their own necessities. This new agenda is based on: - The unfinished work of the Millennium Development Goals - Pending commitments (international environmental conventions) - The emergent topics of the three dimensions of sustainable development: social, economic, and environmental. We now have 17 objectives of sustainable development and 169 goals (11). These goals mention “universal access to reproductive health” many times. In objective 3 of this list is included guaranteeing, before the year 2030, “universal access to sexual and reproductive health services, including those of family planning, information, and education.” Likewise, objective 5, “obtain gender equality and empower all women and girls”, establishes the goal of “assuring the universal access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights in conformity with the action program of the International Conference on Population and Development, the Action Platform of Beijing”. It cannot be forgotten that the term universal access to sexual and reproductive health includes universal access to abortion and contraception. Currently, 830 women die every day through preventable maternal causes; of these deaths, 99% occur in developing countries, more than half in fragile environments and in humanitarian contexts (12). 216 million women cannot access modern contraception methods and the majority live in the nine poorest countries in the world and in a cultural environment proper to the decades of the seventies (13). This number only includes women from 15 to 49 years in any marital state, that is to say, the number that takes all women into account is much greater. Achieving the proposed objectives would entail preventing 67 million unwanted pregnancies and reducing maternal deaths by two thirds. We currently have a high, unsatisfied demand for modern contraceptives, with extremely low use of reversible, long term methods (intrauterine devices and subdermal implants) which are the most effect ones with best adherence (14). There is not a single objective among the 17 Objectives of Sustainable Development where contraception does not have a prominent role: from the first one that refers to ending poverty, going through the fifth one about gender equality, the tenth of inequality reduction among countries and within the same country, until the sixteenth related with peace and justice. If we want to change the world, we should procure universal access to contraception without myths or barriers. We have the moral obligation of achieving the irradiation of extreme poverty and advancing the construction of more equal, just, and happy societies. In emergency contraception (EC), we are very far from reaching expectations. If in reversible, long-term methods we have low prevalence, in EC the situation gets worse. Not all faculties in the region look at this topic, and where it is looked at, there is no homogeneity in content, not even within the same country. There are still myths about their real action mechanisms. There are countries, like Honduras, where it is prohibited and there is no specific medicine, the same case as in Haiti. Where it is available, access is dismal, particularly among girls, adolescents, youth, migrants, afro-descendent, and indigenous. The multiple barriers for the effective use of emergency contraceptives must be knocked down, and to work toward that we have to destroy myths and erroneous perceptions, taboos and cultural norms; achieve changes in laws and restrictive rules within countries, achieve access without barriers to the EC; work in union with other sectors; train health personnel and the community. It is necessary to transform the attitude of health personal to a service above personal opinion. Reflecting on what has occurred after the ICPD in Cairo, their Action Program changed how we look at the dynamics of population from an emphasis on demographics to a focus on the people and human rights. The governments agreed that, in this new focus, success was the empowerment of women and the possibility of choice through expanded access to education, health, services, and employment among others. Nonetheless, there have been unequal advances and inequality persists in our region, all the goals were not met, the sexual and reproductive goals continue beyond the reach of many women (15). There is a long road ahead until women and girls of the world can claim their rights and liberty of deciding. Globally, maternal deaths have been reduced, there is more qualified assistance of births, more contraception prevalence, integral sexuality education, and access to SRH services for adolescents are now recognized rights with great advances, and additionally there have been concrete gains in terms of more favorable legal frameworks, particularly in our region; nonetheless, although it’s true that the access condition have improved, the restrictive laws of the region expose the most vulnerable women to insecure abortions. There are great challenges for governments to recognize SRH and the DSR as integral parts of health systems, there is an ample agenda against women. In that sense, access to SRH is threatened and oppressed, it requires multi-sector mobilization and litigation strategies, investigation and support for the support of women’s rights as a multi-sector agenda. Looking forward, we must make an effort to work more with youth to advance not only the Action Program of the ICPD, but also all social movements. They are one of the most vulnerable groups, and the biggest catalyzers for change. The young population still faces many challenges, especially women and girls; young girls are in particularly high risk due to lack of friendly and confidential services related with sexual and reproductive health, gender violence, and lack of access to services. In addition, access to abortion must be improved; it is the responsibility of states to guarantee the quality and security of this access. In our region there still exist countries with completely restrictive frameworks. New technologies facilitate self-care (16), which will allow expansion of universal access, but governments cannot detach themselves from their responsibility. Self-care is expanding in the world and can be strategic for reaching the most vulnerable populations. There are new challenges for the same problems, that require a re-interpretation of the measures necessary to guaranty the DSR of all people, in particular women, girls, and in general, marginalized and vulnerable populations. It is necessary to take into account migrations, climate change, the impact of digital media, the resurgence of hate discourse, oppression, violence, xenophobia, homo/transphobia, and other emergent problems, as SRH should be seen within a framework of justice, not isolated. We should demand accountability of the 179 governments that participate in the ICPD 25 years ago and the 193 countries that signed the Sustainable Development Objectives. They should reaffirm their commitments and expand their agenda to topics not considered at that time. Our region has given the world an example with the Agreement of Montevideo, that becomes a blueprint for achieving the action plan of the CIPD and we should not allow retreat. This agreement puts people at the center, especially women, and includes the topic of abortion, inviting the state to consider the possibility of legalizing it, which opens the doors for all governments of the world to recognize that women have the right to choose on maternity. This agreement is much more inclusive: Considering that the gaps in health continue to abound in the region and the average statistics hide the high levels of maternal mortality, of sexually transmitted diseases, of infection by HIV/AIDS, and the unsatisfied demand for contraception in the population that lives in poverty and rural areas, among indigenous communities, and afro-descendants and groups in conditions of vulnerability like women, adolescents and incapacitated people, it is agreed: 33- To promote, protect, and guarantee the health and the sexual and reproductive rights that contribute to the complete fulfillment of people and social justice in a society free of any form of discrimination and violence. 37- Guarantee universal access to quality sexual and reproductive health services, taking into consideration the specific needs of men and women, adolescents and young, LGBT people, older people and people with incapacity, paying particular attention to people in a condition of vulnerability and people who live in rural and remote zone, promoting citizen participation in the completing of these commitments. 42- To guarantee, in cases in which abortion is legal or decriminalized in the national legislation, the existence of safe and quality abortion for non-desired or non-accepted pregnancies and instigate the other States to consider the possibility of modifying public laws, norms, strategies, and public policy on the voluntary interruption of pregnancy to save the life and health of pregnant adolescent women, improving their quality of life and decreasing the number of abortions (17).

In this article, we explore migrant Somali and Sudanese women’s reflections and decision-making regarding female genital cutting in a transnational context wherein women are compelled to maneuver between contradictory social norms. These include traditional norms, which consider the practice to be associated with socially acceptable sexuality and reproduction, and international norms, which consider the practice to be a violation of sexual and reproductive rights. Our analysis builds on data from in-depth interviews with 23 women of Somali and Sudanese origin residing in Norway. Informed by three central theories of change, we categorize women along a continuum of readiness to change ranging from rebellious women eagerly pursuing the abandonment of female genital cutting and adopting international norms regarding the practice, to women supporting the practice and its traditional meanings. Ambivalent contemplators were placed in the middle of the continuum. Women’s positioning was further interlinked with social networks and perceived decision-making power.

The “discovery” of intimate partner violence in the 1970s by the feminist movement, which considered it to be a private affair between two people, showed that the phenomenon is a recurrent one, occurring in a wide range of romantic relationships, whether committed, dating, or casual, and both current and former, across races, social classes, ages, adults and adolescents. Research has shown that existing criminal justice, health and social interventions do not address intimate partner violence. Changing culturally constructed attitudes that make men dominant and controlling, women dependent and invisible, and the use of gender-sensitive policies are key to addressing violence against women. It is argued that comprehensive sexuality education, as a preventive measure that introduces an appreciation of personal needs in terms of the well-being of the other person and of society, can help to address intimate partner violence. The aim of this article is to show the importance of a sexuality education perspective in the prevention of intimate partner violence against women. The study shows that in order to prevent intimate partner violence against women and girls, it is important to develop the ability to recognise violence related to unequal power in relationships, to be able to name types of violence, and to be able to identify symptoms of violent behaviour. The research design used was qualitative research, semi-structured interviews to collect data, and the participants were women who had experienced violence in intimate relationships.

The mass application of modern medical biotechnology (BAF) and its expansion on a global level have brought numerous challenges at the individual and social level, and the very goal of reproductive technologies has exceeded the treatment of infertility. For LGBTIQ people, the use of BAF in the first place is a matter of reproductive justice that should provide everyone, without distinction, economic, social and political power and resources to make healthy decisions about their bodies, sexuality and reproduction for themselves, their families and their union. The reality, however, is that access to BAF is enjoyed by a small privileged group of people, and many medically infertile persons do not seek BAF because of the high cost of such treatment. As a result, the development of biomedical technology is increasingly becoming a subject of reconsideration and controversy, and less and less an achievement that supports life and health. In this paper, the author discusses when and why access to BAF became a matter of the LGBTIQ rights and whether access to BAF can really be equal for all, given its costs? Finally, the author refers to BAF in terms of domestic legislation and concludes the paper with a call for changes to the legal solution that prohibits the use of BAF for LGBTIQ individuals and couples in Serbia.

An increase in the birth rates and a decrease in mortality is currently one of the priority lines of the development of society. From a purely technocratic standpoint, development of the population should be based on accurate knowledge of the number of consumers and the movement of needs, without which it is impossible to solve many social problems in general. The paper addresses a question of the need to orient the economy towards the development of a person and the population as a whole. The purpose and objectives of the study were to identify the dynamics of the population size, natural increase, the main trends in the growth of birth rate, the analysis of the causes of death, including infant mortality, the study of the marriage and divorce rates, migration. In the main part of the paper, the indicators of the population size in the republic over the past 17 years and in recent years are considered, including: the main trends in population growth, factors affecting the growth and decrease in mortality, causes of infant mortality, migration balance, marriage and divorce rates, both in the republic as a whole and region-wise. In conclusion, proposals were made to create favourable conditions for the demographic growth of population of the republic. Today, the solution of problems in the field of demographic policy is becoming increasingly important. It is necessary to accurately determine the priority paths of demographic growth, taking into account the specifics of the development of the population of Kazakhstan. In the future, this would facilitate the solution of demographic problems in terms of improving the demographic situation, which will contribute to the prosperity of the whole state.

Three recent events affecting human rights in sexuality and reproduction (a proposed ban on abortion in Poland, blocking support for She Decides in Croatia and halting a civil union law in Estonia) were spearheaded by organizations which appear to be the national antennae of the transnational, socially conservative network called Tradition, Family and Property (TFP). TFP refers to a set of interrelated conservative, Catholic-inspired organizations which share a common world view inspired by the TFP founder, Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira. Originating in Brazil in 1960 and eventually spreading throughout the world, TFP has long been an insurrection movement within Catholicism, with a distinct way of working by fusing social conservatism with economic hyper-liberalism and a legacy of complicity with far-right movements. Having withered away from Latin America, TFP is now an active European network with positions against sexual and reproductive rights (SRR ) among its priorities. TFP’s influence on SRR takes three main routes: social mobilization; norm entrepreneur and entering decision-making spaces. TFP has found new horizons in Eastern Europe and ambitions to influence the European Union and the United Nations. The reactionary narrative of TFP espousing religious orthodoxy and sanctifying economic inequality could become attractive to some by offering religious legitimization for illiberalism and authoritarianism.

The concept of reproduction as a value-semantic formation, a natural biological process, a bloodrelated nature, and a psychological responsibility for preserving the genus is transforming in modern youth. Youth perceptions of life quality, demographic projections, levels of claims, degrees of satisfaction with life situations, and behavioral patterns are influenced by such psychological predictors as responsibility, reflexivity, value-semantic matrix, personal risk factors of decision making. The following issues were analyzed: sexual behavior, reproductive behavior, reproductive attitudes, reproductive function risks, attribution of responsibility, contraception, bad habits, sexually transmitted infections, caring for health in general and reproductive health in particular, needs for specialists in the field of sexual and reproductive health, demographic expectations of young people, awareness of the federal demographic policy and psychological support, social institutions aimed to preserve reproductive health, gender differences in the demographics of expectations. Attitudes of young people to sexuality and reproduction, family-marriage relations were studied. Sources of information on these issues were determined and their effectiveness was evaluated. Identification of features of the relationship between reproductive health and psychological characteristics of youth was embedded in the authors’ psychological model.

Background: Unmarried pregnancy is a major health and social problem in many developed as well as developing countries with unique medical and psychosocial consequences for the patient and society. The objective of this study was study the psychosocial aspects of unmarried pregnancy.Methods: Study was done over a period of one year. Data collected from 31 unmarried abortion seekers in a tertiary care Medical College hospital of Tamilnadu.Results: showed a strong association between unmarried adolescent pregnancy and lack of parental supervision and control , poor intra-family relationship , family problem , lack of knowledge on sexual and reproductive health ), and nonengagement of adolescent in any productive activity.Conclusions: Ignorance regarding sexuality and reproduction along with adventurous nature and poor negotiation skills predisposes unmarried girls for early sexual activity that may lead to various problems like unwanted pregnancy and STIs that may cause psycho-social-economic problems for the unmarried girl.

Infertility is a highly relevant global issue affecting the reproductive health of at least 15% of reproductive-aged couples worldwide. The scope and severity of the infertility problem is even more prevalent in developing countries, mostly due to untreated reproductive tract infections (RTIs). Infertility, however, goes beyond the mere inability to procreate, but brings about profound psychological, social, and ethical implications of enormous magnitude. In vitro fertilization (IVF) and other assisted reproduction technologies (ARTs) have gradually become widespread therapeutic options. After all, the implementation of medically assisted reproductive procedures in order to overcome infertility is in keeping with the tenets of the reproductive rights agenda laid out at the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in Cairo in 1994. Nonetheless, concerns still linger about how to implement and regulate such interventions in an ethically tenable fashion. The unremitting pace at which such techniques develop have upset the very notion of sexuality relating to reproduction as well as the concept of family itself. That rift risks causing a crisis in terms of bioethics sustainability and enforcement, which is bound to happen when science and innovation outpace the bioethical precepts on which we rely for essential guidance in medical practice. The authors argue in favor of an approach to regulation and policy-making that puts on the forefront a thorough assessment as to potential risks that such interventions might entail for foundational bioethics principles and inalienable human rights.

World Health Organization (WHO) defines adolescence as the period of life between 10 and 19 years of age. The adolescent experiences changes in various dimensions which includes not only physical but also emotional, psychological, social, and mental change and growth. Physiological changes lead to sexual maturity and usually occur during the first several years of this period. Majority of adolescents still do not have access to information and education on sexuality, reproduction, and sexual and reproductive health and rights, nor do they have access to preventive and curative service. Due to lack of adequate knowledge they are subject to many problems which pose threat to their healthy life. Pregnancy during adolescence is very serious problem in our country. This study aims to find the level of reproductive health and awareness among girls. Also aims to find whether there is any relationship between the faculty in which they study and their awareness level. Primary data was collected from college going girls in the first year of under graduate programme of all three basic faculties.

Abstract:Background: Promoting sexual and reproductive health of adolescents contributes to their personal and social education (Ramiro et al, 2011). However, there is often a gap between the perception of the school about the sexuality of their students and the reality they actually live in. As so, the SE projects implemented may not coincide with the young people real needs (Allen, 2008). Objectives: This research aims to identify the needs of basic education students on human sexuality and sex education (SE) and, from these, to develop their skills in order to promote a healthy sexuality.Participants: We worked with a convenience sample of 2nd and 3rd cycle students of Portuguese basic education attending a school in urban milieu.Methods: Being an action-research project, at the diagnostic phase we carried out a questionnaire for the second and the third cycle of basic education students attending an Oporto school. Questionnaire was filled in online by 397 students. The data obtained were taken into account when developing a SE program applied to 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th grade students, in the school by teachers. After the program we applied a new questionnaire, which was filled in on paper by 112 students, in order to ascertain the changes occurred.Results: About 47% of the students acquired a comprehensive concept of sexuality, against the 43,1% that in the diagnostic phase only considered the biologic dimension of sexuality. The intervention group of students revealed more knowledge about reproduction, sexually transmitted infections, contraception, pregnancy and hygiene. Students who participated in SE activities agreed more than those in the diagnose phase that school is a place where they could clarify doubts about sexuality and that teachers were able to clarify them. These students also agreed more that they wanted to participate in more SE activities.Conclusions: A SE intervention that considers the needs of their target audience has a greater probability of effectiveness.Keywords: Sexuality, sex education, intervention, questionnaire

Perubahan persepsi remaja tentang seks pranikah di Indonesia cenderung mengalami pergeseran nilai yang ditimbulkan sebagai akibat dari kompleksnya masalah masa transisi remaja terhadap nilai dan norma-norma di masyarakat. Tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk mengetahui peranan variabel moderasi (religiusitas) pada hubungan pengetahuan kesehatan reproduksi dengan persepsi terhadap seks pra nikah. Subjek penelitian sebanyak 244 siswa SMK Negeri 3 di kota Karawang usia 16-18 tahun. Instrument yang digunakan adalah skala pengetahuan kesehatan reproduksi, skala sikap seksualitas dan The Centrality of Religiousity scale (CRS).Analisis menggunakan Multiple Regression Analysis dengan bantuan SPSS 20.Desain penelitian ini menggunakan metode kuantitatif korelasional. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan terdapat hubungan signifikan antara pengetahuan kesehatan reproduksi dengan sikap seks pranikah(β= -0,149; p=0,020), namun pengujian religiusitas sebagai variabel moderator tidak signifikan (β= -0,001; p =0,982). Kata Kunci : Pengetahuan Kesehatan reproduksi, persepsi, seks pranikah, religiusitas. The change of teenagers’ perception on premarital sex in Indonesia more likely encounters transition caused by the complexity values and norms shift in social life. This study aimed to investigate the roles of moderation (religiosity) variable to connect between reproduction health knowledge and perception on premarital sex. The subject of the study are 244 students at SMK Negeri 3 in Karawang city aged 16 until 18 years old. The instruments used are reproduction health knowledge, sexuality behavior, and Centrality of Religiosity scales. Moreover, this study used Multiple Regression Analysis with SPSS 20. This study used correlational quantitative method. The result of the study showed that there is significant relation between reproduction health knowledge and premarital sex behavior (β = -0.149; p = 0.20). However, the religiosity test as a moderator variabel did not show significant relation (β = -0.001; p = 0.982). Keywords: Reproduction health knowledge, perception, premarital sex, religiosity.

Today, the ‘degrowth movement’ is actively developing in Germany. This movement aims to overcome the ‘imperial mode of living’ based on unlimited growth and to shift to the ‘solidary mode of living’ which is socially and ecologically just. In order to reach this goal, it is essential above all to consider what has driven the capitalist growth society in the direction where it is now. This involves the acknowledgement that the emergence of the capitalist growth society is closely related to a specific masculine subjectifying mode. While the ideal of an autonomous masculine subject characterized by the orientation towards growth and achievement dominates, the importance of many activities concerning those in need of care and nature is ignored or hidden from view. It is not unrelated to the fact that in Germany today, a “transnational care extractivism” is spreading as care responsibilities are increasingly taken on by migrant women rather than being distributed between men and women. While the crisis of social reproduction caused by the care deficit is leading to a new hierarchical gender relationship at the global level, not the democratization of gender relations through male participation in care, the discussion of ‘caring masculinities’ tries to explore new alternative masculinities that can overcome the existing masculine subjectifying mode by including care in the construction of masculinities. Thus, in the context of the degrowth movement, the discussion of caring masculinities could be a starting point for enabling forms of social, ecological and gender reproduction that are completely different from the imperial mode of living by placing care for humans and nature at the center.

Abstract This article proposes a critical look at the non-formal education strategies, which have been conducted mainly in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, by four non-governmental organizations, in order to provide sexual education to girls between the ages of 12 and 16, showing the role played by the civil society in contradicting the school conservatism. Clear trends emerged from this study to indicate that sexual risky behaviours, unintended pregnancies, and HIV transmission among adolescent girls are closely related to intentional as well as unintentional reproduction of the power relations, social meanings, moral codes, stigma and silence attached to adolescents, their sexuality and sexual health within key institutions. As a result, their sexual behaviours are hidden and ignored. As schools do not develop curricula for life, NGOs play their role by means of non-formal education.

Abstract up to date information systems collect data from technological process, facts about production, reproduction and health of animals. On the base of all figures of these measurable values and evaluation of observable characteristics we can do the classification of the total rate of animal welfare. Physical activity of animals is affected by many factors during the day, especially satisfying basic needs, i.e. feed intake, social manifestations, etc. Vitalimeter is recording physical activity of the animal, including the type of movement, standing and lying time, number of leap.

At present Russian Federation in a whole and most of its regions face the problem of justifying the social and economic policy, that ensures the shift from prolonged depopulation to the regime of expanded reproduction of the population. The proposed methodology for such a justification is based on the designing the econometric models, that describe the patterns of objective indicators of population’s natural movement intensity, depending on the main “material” factors, determining the characteristics of its demographic behavior (standard of living, health care expenditures, payments for children, etc.). As such indicators, it is proposed to use the marginal growth rate or its refined modifications, which are calculated only on the basis of sex-age-specific fertility and mortality rates and do not depend on changes in age structures. Such marginal indicators more reliably characterize the potential of self-reproduction of the population in comparison to the total and standardized fertility and mortality rates, commonly used in demography and corresponding to them population growth rates. The paper presents estimates of the marginal rates of natural movement of the Russian population in 1990—2017, which indicate, that the decline in the potential of demographic self-reproduction in the last decade of the 20th century in Russia was quite significant, and the rate of its recovery in the 21st century was not high enough, thus, as a consequence, by 2017 the country had not yet shifted to the regime of expanded reproduction, although in some of its regions such a regime had already been established in 2007—2012. The econometric model, presented in the work, reflecting the dependence of the marginal growth rate of Russian population on the standard of living and the expenditures on demographic policy measures, shows that the shift of the country as a whole to the regime of sustainable extended demographic self-reproduction is possible by 2025—2030, subject to a 2—3% annual increase in the levels of these factors.

Evolutionary psychologists such as Wilson and Daly (1993b) hypothesize that one goal of male-perpetrated domestic violence is control over female sexuality, including the deterrence of infidelity. According to this hypothesis, domestic violence varies with women’s reproductive value or expected future reproduction, declining steeply as women age. We tested this hypothesis with a sample of 3,969 cases of male-perpetrated partner-abuse reported to a single police precinct in a large urban area over a 14-year period. Results show that (a) rates of domestic violence decrease as women age, (b) younger men are at greatest risk for perpetrating domestic violence, (c) younger, reproductive age women incur nearly 10 times the risk of domestic violence as do older, post-reproductive age women, and (d) the greater risk of domestic violence incurred by reproductive age women is not attributable solely to mateship to younger, more violent men. Discussion addresses theoretical implications of these findings and suggests a refinement of the feminist hypothesis of domestic violence against women.

Abstract The belief that children should earn their keep is one of the most significant differences between past and present concepts of childhood. This article examines child labor in Mexico City during the 1920s and 1930s, a period of rapid change in ideas about children’s economic and social roles. In the decades following Mexico’s revolution, activists in Mexico’s child health and protection movement condemned child labor on the grounds that it harmed young workers and led to crime, while a new slate of laws forbade child labor and restricted the kinds of work that adolescents could perform. In contrast, working-class children and adolescents and their parents saw work as integral to family relations. These conflicting views collided in the arena of the juvenile court, one of the principal institutions to emerge from the broad reform agenda focused on children and youth. Yet, while court founders and officials associated child labor with immorality and family dysfunction, the court also provided a forum for working-class children and parents to argue for a different version of family morality founded on long-standing legal definitions of reciprocal obligations of support. Their accounts of children’s economic contributions to family subsistence also shed light on the power dynamics entangled in family relationships founded on work. The encounters between court officials and clients illuminate the tensions between state goals and established practices of social reproduction during a profound transition in social views of childhood, the family, and work.

In the conditions of a very low birthrate present in Central Serbia and Vojvodina, promotion of the reproduction health of the adolescents, the population group whose reproductive behaviour determines the demographic trends in the future, has a great significance. Today, the young most frequently suffer from the diseases caused by their risky behaviour, so it is possible to use prevention to ensure decrease of their spreading. In the field of sexuality, risky behaviour and insufficiently responsible attitude to health often lead to unplanned pregnancies and abortions, as well as to contracting sexually transmitted infections. The paper presents the results of an in-depth research carried out in 2002 in Belgrade, dedicated to the sexual behaviour of the young and related to the knowledge, opinions and behaviour of the young relevant for family planning. The sample included 111 female adolescents 14 to 20 years of age, from Belgrade, who started their sexual activity at the age of 16 or earlier, and who came to The Counseling Centre for the Young of The Republic Centre for Family Planning of The Institute for Health Protection of Mother and Child of Serbia. The research showed that the girls respondents do not have enough knowledge in the field of sexuality, about contraception and sexually-transmitted infections, as well as that their behaviour in that sphere was not responsible enough. Moreover it also showed that there is a possibility to improve that knowledge, develop social skills and responsibility in behaviour. An important conclusion of the research is also the fact that love, family and children occupy a very high position in the value system of the respondents.

World Health Organization (WHO) defines adolescence as the period of life between 10and 19 year of age. The adolescent experiences not only physical growth and change but also emotional, psychological, social, and mental change and growth. Physiological changes change lead to sexual maturity and usually occur during the first several year of this period. Adolescence represents a window of opportunity to prepare for a healthy adult life. The world’s adolescent population-1200 million persons, 10-19 year of age or about 19% of the total population-faces series of serious challenges not affecting their growth and development but also their livelihood as adults. Yet adolescents remain a largely neglected, difficult-to-measure, and hard-to-reach population, in which the needs of adolescent girls in particular are often ignored. Adolescence is period of increased risk taking and therefore susceptibility to behavioural problems at the time of puberty and new concerns about reproductive health. Majority of adolescents still do not have access to information and education on sexuality, reproduction, and sexual and reproductive health and rights, nor do they have access to preventive and preventive curative service. Commercial innovation to address health needs at the bottom of the pyramid for more than 800 million men, women and children across India living on USD 1-3 ADAY, the idea if accessible and affordable medicine is often as remote as their rural homes. Arogya Parivar (“health family’’ in Hindi) is a for-profit social initiative developed by Novartis to reach the undeserved million living at the bottom of the pyramid in rural India. After just years, Arogya Parivar is proving to be both a force for improving rural health programme in rural community and a sustainable business.

AbstractThe study explores the role of clothing in the constitution of embodied masculinity in age, contrasting its results with an earlier study of women. It draws four main conclusions. First that men's responses to dress were marked by continuity both with their younger selves and with mainstream masculinity, of which they still felt themselves to be part. Age was less a point of challenge or change than for many women. Second, men's responses were less affected by cultural codes in relation to age. Dress was not, by and large, seen through the lens of age; and there was not the sense of cultural exile that had marked many of the women's responses. Third, for some older men dress could be part of wider moral engagement, expressive of values linked positively to age, embodying old-fashioned values that endorsed their continuing value as older men. Lastly, dress in age reveals some of the ways in which men retain aspects of earlier gender privilege. The study was based on qualitative interviews with 24 men aged 58–85, selected to display a range in terms of social class, occupation, sexuality, employment and relationship status. It forms part of the wider intellectual movement of cultural gerontology that aims to expand the contexts in which we explore later years; and contributes to a new focus on materiality within sociology.

From March 11 to April 26, 2020, the Italian government imposed a nationwide COVID-19 lockdown, a quarantine that resulted in significant restrictions on the movement and social contacts of the population, with a view to limiting the pandemic outbreak. The quarantine forced people to experience distorted social distance in two contrasting ways. For some people, it resulted in social distancing and isolation, for example by separating noncohabiting couples into different dwellings. For others, however, quarantine increased and imposed social closeness, forcing couples and families into constant, daily, and prolonged cohabitation. The aim of this study was to investigate the sexual health and behaviors of Italian adults during the lockdown period using a multimethod research. An open- and a closed-ended e-questionnaire were administered immediately after the end of the lockdown. A total of 465 Italian adults completed the digital questionnaire (female = 78.7%). Participants recognized their lived sexual experience with generally positive characteristics (related to openness, unproblematic relationship with the body, and awareness and self-reflection about one’s sexuality), while negative thoughts such as worry and pain were quite scarce. Participants with a disability (5.6%) showed a marked inversion compared to the mean of respondents, recognizing themselves mainly in negative thoughts related to low self-esteem, inadequacy, and feelings of suffering, yet reporting a higher than mean level of arousal. In the qualitative analysis, the Frequency-Inverse Document Frequency (TF-IDF) index was computed to measure the salience of the word used by participants to respond to the open-ended five questions. It revealed a generally depressed emotional experience associated with the experience of lockdown, both in terms of desire, which seemed to be shifted more to the level of imagination and fantasies, and the actual possibility of experiencing sexual activity as usual. Nevertheless, the participants emphasized an opening to new possibilities in terms of expressing sexuality, accompanied by a rediscovery of the value of tenderness and affectivity as well as a clearer awareness of their sexual life, needs, and desires.

Ukrainian rural locality marks of negative demographic trends, which began to appear in most areas from the 1970-80s and primarily connected with depopulation processes. Forced industrialization and urbanization caused a migratory outflow of rural residents that was additionally predetermined by liquidation policy of hamlets and “unpromising villages”. It led to the exhaustion of the demographic potential, reduction in reproductive cohorts and to the aging population. Most acutely these trends were detected in Chernihiv, Sumy, Poltava, Zhytomyr and Kyiv regions, where natural geography factors also didn’t promote the expansion of rural settlement network. Large negative impact on the reproduction of human potential was famine in 1932-1933. Depopulation of village people in Ukraine has taken place under the influence of unbalanced in spatial aspect social development. Namely, though stable underfunding there was a steady decline in health and education sector and in the other branches of social service completely did not meet the needs of modern society, which has lowered among young people the attractiveness of the villages as place permanent residence. Significant migration losses and lowering of the birth rate defined trends of rural population aging, faster than urban areas. Natural reproduction of rural population has a narrowed nature and is noted by a gradual decline in the birth rate, which remains higher than in urban areas, mainly due to high mortality too distorted age structure. Natural and migration movement of the rural population defined the dynamics of the rural settlement network: reduced the number of settlements in almost all regions of Ukraine except Lviv, Ternopil, Ivano-Frankivsk, Chernivtsi, Volyn, Kherson and Zakarpattia region. The greatest reduction in the number of villages – in Poltava, Sumy, Chernihiv and Kirovohrad regions. Stabilization of depopulation processes in rural areas is possible implementation of social policies and activation of the processing industries related to the agricultural sector. Key words: rural population, rural settlement, depopulation aging, natural reproduction, migration outflow.

The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) poses a severe threat to public health officials all around the world. The early COVID-19 outbreak in South Korea displayed significant spatial heterogeneity. The number of confirmed cases increased rapidly in the Daegu and Gyeongbuk (epicenter), whereas the spread was much slower in the rest of Korea. A two-patch mathematical model with a mobility matrix is developed to capture this significant spatial heterogeneity of COVID-19 outbreaks from 18 February to 24 March 2020. The mobility matrix is taken from the movement data provided by the Korea Transport Institute (KOTI). Some of the essential patch-specific parameters are estimated through cumulative confirmed cases, including the transmission rates and the basic reproduction numbers (local and global). Our simulations show that travel restrictions between the epicenter and the rest of Korea effectively prevented massive outbreaks in the rest of Korea. Furthermore, we explore the effectiveness of several additional strategies for the mitigation and suppression of Covid-19 spread in Korea, such as implementing social distancing and early diagnostic interventions.

The advancement of women's political, social, economic, and health status, together with their increased autonomy and empowerment, is a very significant goal in and of itself. Furthermore, achieving sustainable growth depends on it. Every aspect of productive and reproductive life, including shared responsibility for the upkeep of the home and the care and rearing of children, requires the full participation and partnership of both men and women. Because of their excessive workloads, lack of authority, and influence, women over the world are threatened with losing their lives, their health, and their general well-being. Women typically obtain less formal education than men around the world, yet at the same time, their own skills, knowledge, and coping techniques are frequently undervalued. Power dynamics that prevent women from leading healthy and satisfying lives exist at all societal levels, from the most intimate to the most visible. To effect change, policy and programme actions are required that will increase women's access to stable employment and financial resources, lessen their heavy domestic burdens, remove any legal barriers to their participation in public life, and increase social awareness through efficient education and mass communication campaigns. The position of women also affects their ability to make decisions at all levels and in all areas of life, particularly in relation to sexuality and reproduction. To ensure the long-term effectiveness of population programmes, this is also crucial. Experience has shown that initiatives aimed at advancing women's position have the greatest impact on population and development programmes.

Abstract In the “Oxen of the Sun” episode of Ulysses, James Joyce dramatizes the evolution of English prose styles by creating a stylistic matrix for gestation. This article links the episode’s stylistic evolution to the historical development of liberal thought about autonomy and self-determination, reading Joyce’s styles as rhetorical gateways to liberal discourses on statehood, politics, socioeconomics, national health, and sexuality. In the immediate historical context of national agitation in Ireland, the episode’s bodily tropes of reproduction, birth, emergence, and break dislocate the rhetoric of national conception, providing a critical insight into the development of liberal thought, particularly into the contradictory blend of progressive and regressive thinking from which liberal notions of autonomy and self-determination have emerged. By demonstrating how the stylistic evolution in “Oxen” moves through a series of breaks, the article relates Joyce’s disruptive tactics to the aesthetic practices of the historical avant-gardes, showing how the affinities with the avant-garde in “Oxen” work on the level of form, content, and imagined life praxis. The main argument at stake is understanding how Joyce creates a literary position of being in advance by way of engaging critically with biopolitics and the liberal discourses on national and social advancement.

The politics of reproduction dominate the political landscape now more than ever. One area of controversy has been informed consent statutes for abortion, which have been praised by the pro-life movement but derided by the pro-choice movement. More recently, legislatures have begun to enact informed consent statutes with respect to end-of-life decision making, an area almost as politically controversial as abortion. Like many abortion disclosure laws, some of these have been entitled “Right to Know” statutes. Yet, the supporters and opponents of each set of statutes tend not to be the same, aligning to a large extent based on their place in the culture wars over life and death.In this Article, I strive not only to show the remarkably similar critiques each side marshals but also to use these concerns to think in more nuanced ways about the goals of informed consent and whether the disclosure mandates achieve those goals. I first argue in favor of the aspirational goals of informed consent as a process that allows patients to participate in their medical decision making. While conceding the inherently political nature of abortion and end-of-life care, I also contend that the significance of decisions regarding those matters warrants, at least in theory, legislative efforts to ensure that patients have the opportunity to engage in deliberative and informed decision making.In describing and responding to the similar critiques of both sets of laws—the political bias of the statutes; the efforts to persuade, especially with non-medical information; the potential vulnerability of the targeted audience; and the interference with physician discretion—I uncover and challenge some of the presumptions about informed consent inherent in those critiques. Although information that persuades or influences is not per se problematic, I argue that disclosure of information that is inaccurate, untrue, or emotionally inflammatory harms informed consent. Even well-crafted informed consent mandates, however, are insufficient to promote truly deliberative decision making because they oversimplify the complexity of these decisions and fail to respond to the fact that informed consent is a process that requires more than simply the delivery of information; it also requires dialogue and discussion. This Article ends with suggestions for ways to try to promote such a dialogue.

The article presents the substantiation of the methodology for comparative analysis of the demographic potential of rural areas and identifies the main trends in the development of the demographic potential of rural areas of the Central Black Earth Economic Region. Rural areas are considered as an essential factor in the reproduction of the natural, economic, demographic and socio-cultural potential of Russian society. It has been substantiated that the main problems hindering sustainable social development are mainly due to the change in the balance between the urban and rural populations characteristic of the era of accelerated industrialization. The definition of demographic potential as a set of opportunities and conditions for the development of territories lying in the sphere of population reproduction is given, and a great variability of the concept of demographic potential in sociological and demographic discourses is noted. Taking into account two key factors of population dynamics – fertility and migration, it is proposed to measure the demographic potential of Russian municipalities by using indicators such as the proportion of the population of reproductive age, the birth rate and the coefficient of migration inflow/outflow of the population. The expediency of using available statistical data, adapted in relation to the proposed research methodology, is shown. Based on the generalization and analysis of statistical data characterizing the natural and migration movement of the population of rural areas of five regions of the Central Black Earth Economic Region, as well as the results of the sociological study “Mental inequalities as a factor in the social polarization of the Russian province” conducted in the Belgorod and Voronezh regions in 2018-2019, it was concluded that the rural areas of the Central Black Earth Economic Region are characterized by heterogeneity of the demographic potential, which in the Kursk and Tambov regions is acquiring the character of obvious degradation, and the migration attractiveness of the territories (with the exception of suburbs) has rather negative values.

Cross-border reproductive care (CBRC) can be defined as the movement from one jurisdiction to another for medically assisted reproduction (MAR). CBRC raises many ethical concerns that have been addressed extensively. However, the conclusions are still based on scarce evidence even considering the global scale of CBRC. Empirical ethics appears as a way to foster this ethical reflection on CBRC while attuning it with the experiences of its main actors. To better understand the ‘in and out’ situation of CBRC in Canada, we conducted an ethnographic study taking a ‘critically applied ethics’ approach. This article presents a part of the findings of this research, obtained by data triangulation from qualitative analysis of pertinent literature, participant observation in two Canadian fertility clinics and 40 semidirected interviews. Based on participants’ perceptions, four themes emerged: (1) inconsistencies of the Canadian legal framework; (2) autonomy and the necessity to resort to CBRC; (3) safety and the management of CBRC individual risks; and (4) justice and solidarity. The interaction between these four themes highlights the problematic of ‘reproductive outsourcing’ that characterised the Canadian situation, a system where the controversial aspects of MAR are knowingly pushed outside the borders.

The purpose of this article is to analyze the evolution of the concept of gender in social knowledge and the humanities. The term «gender» encompasses biological (sexual), psychological, social, cultural, symbolic aspects of human life. Even before the introduction of this term into scientific publications in the 1960s, the phenomenon itself was discovered in three types of knowledge: in psychology and psychiatry when studying various forms of sexuality and sexual identity, in anthropological and ethnographic studies, and in the feminist philosophy of culture. This largely determined the main directions in the study and understanding of gender for several decades. The theory of socio-cultural construction of gender played the main role. It developed in parallel with other critical and constructivist scientific concepts, which in no small part led to its adoption by «academics» and the inclusion of the gender perspective in the body of scientific research. However, along with the development of postmodern feminist philosophy, the concept of gender undergoes redefinition. The constructivist model of gender is displaced by the performative concept of Judith Butler. She argues that not only gender but the biological sex does not exist outside the cultural framework and power discourse. The binary matrix of gender, gender identity and heterosexuality is approved within the framework of the dominant discourse with the help of various regulatory actions (performatives). Butler rejects this model because she claims that bodies, sex and gender identity have different configurations. The performative concept of sex was actively used in the queer project, as it provided justification for rejecting the normative binary concept of femininity and masculinity and the corresponding heterosexuality. Today, queer includes political movement, research, art, and discursive deconstruction of normative heterosexuality. The variant of mosaic nature, hybridity and relativism of identity proposed in the queer project destroys the possibility of social and political transformations in the sphere of gender equality. Instead, queer activists advocate an elusive equality of opportunity to try on different identities at one’s own discretion. At the present stage, the theoretical radicalism of queer makes the development of new social programs unlikely, while they appear to be necessary. In contrast, gender theory (in its feminist, constructivist, and cultural-symbolic modes) has had a significant scientific and social impact. The use of the gender perspective in social knowledge and the humanities has provided better understanding of the individual and society. The principle of achieving gender equality has been accepted by the world community and has become part of many programs at the international and national levels. However, the problems in the understanding of the relation between sex and gender, discovered in performative and queer theory, become significant against a background of spreading biotechnologies (from sex reassignment surgeries to assisted reproduction). This requires wider research and further discussion among different schools.

<p><em>Health of human reproduction is one of the important things that must be considered as a repair tool for women, the development of the age is increasing, the development of reproductive health disease is very worrying as much we hear now. Health tools must be considered by caring for medical devices themselves. There are many kinds of treatments offered for modern health care. In the religion of sexuality there is a lot of it in the ancient manuscripts which know less, one of them is Lontar Rukmini Tattwa</em><em><br /> The results of the study: (1) Sexology in Lontar Rukmini Tattwa contains various kinds of health ingredients for self-care and also intimate organs in both men and women. Judging from the contents of the palm leaf, the sexology in Lontar Rukmini Tattwa is a sexology about the health of intimate organs and treatments for the health and beauty of the body. In Lontar Rukmini Tattwa there are approximately 157 types of herbs used to treat self and intimate organs. From approximately 157 types of herbs, the authors group them into 6 types of potions related to their activities, including (1) male and female, 2 ) Potions for beauty care, (3) Potions for bodily ailments, (4) Potions during intercourse, (5) Passion concoctions, (6) Potions to get help. The ingredients in Lontar Rukmini Tattwa use most of the medicinal plants, among others, laos, pepper, manjakane, turmeric, ginger, meeting comedy, temu ireng, sugar cane, grass puzzles, agave, lotus plants, lace. The values contained in Lontar Rukmini Tattwa are Theological Values, Ethical Values, and Social Values.</em></p>

Abstract Background The COVID-19 pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 has precipitated a global health crisis. In an effort to decrease person-to-person transmission, societal-level non-pharmacologic interventions (NPIs) to maintain social distancing have been enacted. As SARS-CoV-2 shares similar routes of transmission with other respiratory viruses, implementation of these NPIs may have decreased transmission for multiple viral pathogens. We compared influenza and respiratory syncytial (RSV) rates in prior seasons to rates during the 2019 - 2020 season at two large academic centers in Atlanta and Boston. Methods The clinical records were queried for adults with respiratory virus testing conducted at the Emory Healthcare system and associated clinics in Atlanta and the Mass General Brigham (MGB) Healthcare System in Boston. Total cases for influenza A and B, RSV and SARS-CoV-2 were analyzed for each week of the past 5 seasons (07/01/2015-05/30/2020) for the Atlanta and Boston sites. Systematic changes in viral infection rates were calculated using viral reproduction rates, R(t), between consecutive weeks. R(t) is the ratio of the number of positive cases in one week to the number of positive cases in the previous week. We used statistical bootstrapping to determine whether R(t) for influenza and RSV were lower in 2019–2020 following the introduction of SARS-CoV-2. Analyses were conducted using R (v 4.0.0). Absolute respiratory virus activity by season, Boston (panel A) v. Atlanta (panel B) Results For the 2019–2020 Atlanta season, R(t) &lt; 1 (which reflects steady decline in infection rates) occurred at week 28 for influenza A, week 33 for influenza B, and week 35 for RSV, which corresponded with the increase of SARS-Cov-2 cases. The R(t) of these viruses stayed at or near 1 during weeks 33–35 in prior seasons, and R(t) was greater than 1 up to week 47. Data from MGB sites showed similar trends with a sudden decline in R(t) to &lt; 1 at the start of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Conclusion We note decreased transmission of influenza and RSV during a time window where widespread movement restrictions and social distancing were imposed to control COVID-19. This trend was most pronounced for influenza A in Atlanta and influenza B in Boston. These data suggest that NPIs can have important effects across multiple pathogens. Disclosures Kraft Colleen, MD, MSc, Rebiotix (Advisor or Review Panel member)