Cape Town - A health-care campaign hopes to better enable the accessibility of Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) and access to health-care services for young people with disabilities.
These services were heavily disrupted amid the Covid-19 pandemic, and poorly accessible for disabled youngsters prior to it.
The “Leaving No One Behind” campaign by Partners in Sexual Health (PSH) highlights the barriers in Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) that prevent inclusivity in health, education and judicial services related to young people with disabilities.
In collaboration with the SA Medical Research Council and UN Population Fund, with support from the Department of Basic Education, the project addresses the sexual and reproductive health and rights of young people with disabilities by providing CSE; and increasing access to SRHR-related information, support and services in South Africa.
Leaving No One Behind programme co-ordinator Thandeka Bean said the School’s Out campaign, and therefore the Leaving No one Behind project, seeks to make schools a safer and inclusive environment for all learners; regardless of gender, age, sexual orientation, disability and race.
This is done by linking schools across eastern and southern Africa to sexual and reproductive health support and services.
“People with disabilities are among one of the most stigmatised and marginalised groups in the world, specifically within access to education. Very little research has been conducted on deaf learners’ lack of access to comprehensive sexuality education in South Africa, leaving a gap in knowledge on the sexual and reproductive health and rights of young deaf learners,” said Bean.
The School’s Out campaign launched on August 27 last year and will run for two years.
PSH chief executive Patsy de Lora said there was clear evidence across east and southern Africa that services are failing to secure the sexual and reproductive health of young people, who experience inadequate access to information on SRHR; a large unmet need for contraceptives; unwanted pregnancies that often leading to school dropout; unsafe abortions; a high incidence of HIV; and discrimination due to disability or sexual orientation.