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Women and girls should be able to determine their own sexual health. Therefore, access to sex education, contraceptives and self-determined partner choice must become a matter of course, demands the environmental organization Ecopop on International Women’s Day.
To prevent teenage pregnancies, specific education and access to modern contraceptives are needed, especially in southern African countries, the Association for the Environment and Population (Ecopop) said on Monday. For this reason, the organization asks the Directorate for Development and Cooperation (SDC) to integrate the morning-after pill in its projects with young people. The right to family planning must also be enforced.
SDC should also invest more financial resources in education, medical advice and the provision of contraceptives. Integration of family planning programs should be mandatory in all projects that work directly with young men and women. Even in countries with high school enrollment rates for girls, the percentage of teenage pregnancies remains alarmingly high.
Education on genital mutilation
Ecopop also calls for a harsher criminal prosecution of genital mutilation. The issue of female circumcision is also present in Switzerland; according to estimates, around 15,000 women and girls who have been circumcised here or in their home country are believed to live in Switzerland. Girls should be informed about this, for example in the context of school medical examinations. Parents of relevant cultures should be aware that female circumcision is prohibited in Switzerland.
Ecopop assumes that forced marriages also exist in Switzerland, although they have been prohibited since 2013. Restrictive measures will apply here, including mandatory deportation of spouses and convicted family members who have entered into a forced marriage in their home country or in Switzerland.
