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MARION STEVENS reports on an intersectoral reproductive rights campaign which will bring a national action plan together to tackle poor teenage sexual reproductive health, violence and HIV and AIDS What would our society be like if girls and women knew that they had the right to sexual pleasure and satisfaction? How would that impact on our reality of violence against women or for that matter, teenage pregnancy or AIDS and gender? As a follow up to the Women's Health Policy Conference held in December 1994, the National Network on Violence Against Women, the National AIDS Convention of South Africa, the National Association of People Living with AIDS, the Planned Parenthood Association of South Africa, the Women's Health Project and the Young Women's Network are facilitating the Intersectoral Campaign on Sexual Rights: 1998 - 1999. The campaign process was launched on 25 October 1996 in Johannesburg, where local and international speakers addressed sexual rights in relation to violence, adolescent sexuality and HIV/AIDS.

By 1999, five years will have passed since the change of government. With this has come radical change at the level of reproductive rights policy. During the last four years, a number of policy issues have been identified as priorities both in civil society and by Government. Some policy areas, such as water supply, or the right to abortion, are the subject of concerted policy and programme development. Others, such as occupational health, where paid maternity leave is still not a working women's right, and where there is little or no knowledge and action on sexual and reproductive health, remain sites of struggle. In some cases, policy has translated into new implementation strategies. In most cases, however, implementation is still in a planning process or there are barriers to implement-ation. As a result, some key, sexual and reproductive health rights and gender inequality issues in relation to women's health are not being dealt with the urgency they require. Most notably lagging are those issues which touch the intimate dimensions of personal relationships. These include the impact of HIV/AIDS on women; violence against women and poor teenage sexual reproductive health.

In both research and community-based workshops, women repeatedly identify men's use of sex and sexuality as a source of power over women and as the major cause of women's vulnerability to HIV, and of teenage sexual health problems = specifically unintended pregnancy, and increasing rates of HIV. Likewise, violence against women, and especially sexual violence, is a reflection of the legitimisation of the use of sexuality for power rather than for mutual pleasure in consensual relationships. A new impetus is required at the levels of research information, education and communication and of advocacy, to situate these as issues of national concern and responsibility for many sectors of civil society and Government. The Campaign believes that by focusing on sexual rights, the critical underlying cause of these problems can be addressed.

Campaign Process

In this way, the Campaign process will involve advocacy for developing concrete proposals for action in different sectors. At the same time, it is essential that ordinary members of civil society contribute their experience and ideas for action to this process. For this reason, a parallel information, education and communication process is planned. Drawing on the conceptual framework, a workshop module will be developed and used to train trainers from various national and regional NGOs to run workshops with people in community-based organisations. Specific groupings will be targeted in order to gain experience and understanding of the issues from a wide range of constituencies. These will include church groups, youth groups, trade unions, disabled people, rural women, people living with AIDS and others. At each workshop trainers will document people's views on what actions should be taken. Their inputs will be used by the experts' working groups in writing up the Sexual Rights Charter and the `call for action' documents. Once these are written, they will be given back to each community group for discussion. Two representatives from each group will be invited to attend the Sexual Rights Conference '99. It is intended that the Campaign process itself will build participation in and commitment to the findings and `call for action'.

By the end of the Campaign, the issues of sexual rights, violence against women, HIV/AIDS, and teenage sexual health, will have a very high national profile. There will be a clear action agenda, and hundreds of people throughout the country, in both Government and civil society, will be familiar with this agenda, and feel a sense of ownership of it. This will contribute to giving priority to these issues as matters of national concern, and clarity about directed and specific actions to solve them. Marion Stevens works with the Women's Health Project as a policy analyst. She has a background in nursing and anthropology and is currently completing studies in public and development management

For more information about the process or how to get involved please contact:
Marion Stevens at the Women's Health Project
PO Box 1038
Johannesburg
2000
Tel 011-489 9919
Fax 011 489 9922
e-mail: Marion@wn.apc.org

Agenda
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Fax (+27 31) 224184
Tel (+27 31) 224184