TITLE: ACCESSIBILITY OF SEXUAL AND TITLE: ACCESSIBILITY OF SEXUAL AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH RIGHTS INFORMATION REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH RIGHTS INFORMATION

AMONG MARGINALIZED YOUNG PEOPLE IN THREE AMONG MARGINALIZED YOUNG PEOPLE IN THREE MUNICIPALITIES IN TANZANIAMUNICIPALITIES IN TANZANIA

• Authors: Mbeba, Rita, Mbatiani, Suma, Lugome, Lucy, George, John.

SRHRSRHR

• Right to health is A human right – SRH is a human right

YOUNG PEOPLEYOUNG PEOPLE• One in every five people worldwide are young

people (WHO)• Young people constitute one third of the

population in Tanzania

YOUTH SRH CHALLENGESYOUTH SRH CHALLENGES

““unintended unintended pregnanciespregnancies””

““illicit drug illicit drug abuseabuse””

““Maternal Maternal mortalitymortality””

““Teen Teen pregnanciespregnancies””

““Sexual abuseSexual abuse””

““high new HIV high new HIV infectionsinfections””

““unsafe sexunsafe sex””

Low socio economic status

UnemploymentLimited access to YFS

and informationCultural factors

““STIsSTIs””

““school drop school drop outsouts””

““Unsafe Unsafe abortionabortion””

YOUNG PEOPLE SITUATIONYOUNG PEOPLE SITUATION

• Low uptake for the Family planning; 16% for young women aged 15-24

• HIV prevalence rate 1.0 (15-19yrs ) and 3.2 (20-24yrs)

• Condom utilization (58%) females and 59% males aged 15-24

• Economically and socially less privileged young people engaged in sexual relationship at a younger age as a means to secure income/basic needs

OBJECTIVES

METHODSMETHODS• A cross sectional study design using both quantitative and

qualitative research method

• Dar es salaam (Ilala and Kinondoni Municipal Councils) and Iringa (Iringa Municipal Council) regions

• Marginalized young people, parents, teachers, peer educators and community leaders

• Purposive and snowball sampling• Interviews using structured questionnaires and FGDs

RESULTSRESULTS• One out of five were not aware of their SRH rights

• Among those only 46.5% used condom in their first sexual encounter

• On average, 55% were aware of laws and policies related to SRH

• The level of awareness was higher among school truant (69%) compared to food vendors (34.8%) and housemaids (39.5%)

• Parents/guardians and teachers were the main sources of information about SRHR

RESULTSRESULTSYoung people received information about SRHR/STDs/HIV&AIDS in the

past 12 months

RESULTSRESULTS

• Overall, the leading sources of SRHR information were peer educators and radio by 36% and 22.8% respectively

RESULTSRESULTSMain communication barriers:

Traditional norms and taboos Inadequate knowledge among parents/guardians

Quotations by parents during FGDs: “These issues should be taught in schools. What I can do is to warn them, don’t

do this and that, but not really sitting with them to discuss and exchange ideas as you put it, there is nothing like that in our culture.”

“You may have the intention to talk to children about these issues [SRHR] but for example myself, I don’t know much about these issues, I know very little, so what can I talk to them? Maybe we should be taught ourselves first before thinking of teaching them.”

“Who should teach the other? These kids nowadays know everything, and we basically know nothing” (Male parent, Ilala).

CONCLUSION & CONCLUSION & RECOMMENDATIONRECOMMENDATION

• Marginalized young people’s access to SRH rights information is disproportionate i.e. House maids

• Use diverse interventions and communication channels with different groups of young people; i.e. people with disabilities & maids

• Break the silence and barriers on parents-child communication

• Formative research is needed to inform the best approaches to reach marginalized groups