MY SEXUAL REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH AND RIGHTS ADVOCACY JOURNEY

I chose advocacy for SRHR after realizing the high need to strengthen education and training capacity in sexual reproductive health and rights of vulnerable adolescents, and marginalized groups of young people in Uganda. Young people most especially girls are being sexually harassed and assaulted in various areas of the country. Every day they are coming up pregnant, having unsafe abortions, needing unobtainable contraceptives and limited SRHR information.

This has resulted into high cases of sexually transmitted infections/ diseases (STI's) and unwanted pregnancies with little medical help. Many Vulnerable young people are being given no options on how to prevent life changing issues, resulting from lack of information about their sexual and reproductive health, hence leading to unprotected and unsafe sexual decisions and at times death.

Adolescents grow and develop their sexuality between the ages of 10-19 and during this time they are extremely vulnerable to the outside influences. There are very many Teenagers having children or getting HIV/AIDS without their consent to have sex.

Well as the government and Adults are tasked with the responsibility to protect and prevent harm from happening to them, not all adults take this job seriously. That’s why I feel compelled to stand in solidarity to advocate for those who feel powerless when it comes to decisions made around their bodies on their behalf, incredibly working with like-minded volunteers and Organisations to make sure that young people can make informed decisions about their sexual lives.

---