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Thursday, May 31, 2012

Arab adolescents have the right to proper sex and reproductive health education, Islamic Society, NewAgeIslam.com

Islamic Society
Arab adolescents have the right to proper sex and reproductive health education
By Nadia Al-Saqqaf

Even if the youth wanted to know about sexual and reproductive health the specialized channels such as health centers and reproductive health service units do not recognize adolescents as a target group. And this is not a one way barrier; even youth do not consider these centers as sources of information for them. A 2000 qualitative research on reproductive health knowledge and needs among Jordanian youth published by Princess Basma Women's Resource Centre showed that Jordanian young people aged 10-24 equated reproductive health with maternal health care and believe that health centers are exclusively for mothers and babies.

Unmarried young Arab women especially face a problem when obtaining contraceptives mainly because socially and religiously they are supposed to be virgins and should not need them. Although a Johns Hopkins University published a Jordanian youth survey reporting that 7 percent of college students admitted to non-marital sex in a study in 1994, as did 4 percent of the general population aged 15-30 in 1999. However, another research on reproductive health of the Arab young people published in 2006 by the American University in Beirut states that even young women who marry early also lack knowledge and access to contraceptive services, let alone basic reproductive health services.

http://newageislam.com/arab-adolescents-have-the-right-to-proper-sex-and-reproductive-health-education/islamic-society/d/669


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