Call for increased education in the area of ​​sexual and reproductive health – FBC News

The Reproductive Family Health Association of Fiji believes that the country has failed in its commitment to embed sexual and reproductive health awareness in the education system.

Under the 2013 Moana Declaration, Fiji committed to creating an environment that ensures access to sexual and reproductive health and rights.

Ashleigh Mar-Chang, youth representative for the association, says current comprehensive sex education, also known as family life education, is not fully integrated into schools.

According to Mar-Chang, children may obtain information from unsafe sources, such as pornographic websites, which may ultimately lead them to engage in harmful sexual behavior.

“So people don’t talk all the time… parents talk about sex or puberty and things like that, so they look for that information elsewhere, and that can happen on pornographic sites and all those things, and it affects them at such a young age.”

According to Mar-Chang, children can also be involved in cases of domestic violence, in which young men and women are exploited and robbed of their childhood.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health has also made efforts to ensure that all people have access to sexual and reproductive health and related rights.

Family Health Unit Director Dr Racheal Devi says they have created awareness about SRH through their youth friendly health service programme.

The Reproductive Family Health Association of Fiji and the Ministry of Health have collaborated to provide sexual and reproductive health education to disadvantaged communities in urban and rural areas.