Youth sexuality and lack of choice in China
By Bryony Thorpe
I was invited to attend this year’s RHSC General Meeting after working on a successful proposal for one of the RHSC’s youth-specific Innovation Fund grants with Marie Stopes International China (MSIC).
It’s safe to say I was not expecting the amount of interest and number of questions I encountered around our work in Beijing. It gave me many new perspectives on the project and my individual work. Whilst many were related to more technical aspects of our work, others were more general questions related to reproductive health and family planning in China, which served as an important reminder to be aware of who your audience is and how you frame the issues you’re working on. Those who aren’t based in China or who haven’t worked in related areas may not have the same level of awareness around the current landscape there and assuming this is common knowledge has the potential to be alienating.
Having said this, I was struck by the interest our project generated amongst those experienced in their fields of work. Even in the days following the Innovation Fund sessions, I was encouraged by the additional inquiries I received about our work in China, the challenges we face at present and will do in the near future. It was also valuable to be part of a collaborative and welcoming space throughout the week, where I could draw parallels and learn lessons from experiences in other countries and one where the discussion was around how to ensure youth issues are fully integrated into the Coalition’s work — not just an add-on.
This was particularly pertinent for me as our project in China aims to expand young people’s access to a full range of contraceptives through the drafting and piloting of China’s first national youth contraceptive guidelines and advocacy for their inclusion into China’s national youth healthcare working standards. It will be an important first step in establishing an enabling environment for young people’s access to contraceptives in China.
Whilst family planning for married couples has been openly discussed in China for decades, youth sexuality has been somewhat pushed under the rug.
However, of the 161 million unmarried youth in China, a large percentage are open to premarital sex and one in five engage in unsafe sex, resulting in one of the highest rates of abortion and repeat abortion in the world — half of which are unmarried women aged 25 and under. Whilst the government have recognized the need to tackle these stark figures, unmarried young women and adolescents are still fighting against misconceptions around contraceptive use, social stigma prevalent in families, schools and contraceptive service providers and a lack of knowledge — Why is using contraception important? Where should I go to access services or information? Aren’t LARC methods of contraception only for older women? What’s the difference between the different methods?
Clearly, there is an urgent need for preventative action to ensure young people have spaces where they know they can access a variety of contraceptive services and support in a friendly and non-judgmental environment, responsive to their specific needs and concerns.
Approaching issues such as these without input from young people themselves won’t get us anywhere. We need them to be actively engaged in mapping out issues and working on solutions in tandem with the experts. This is why I was glad to see that not only did this year’s Innovation Fund have a focus on youth, but it was also evident the Coalition had made a concerted effort to fully integrate young people and youth issues into their work.
And this is where the potential lies — in being able to change and respond to the emerging issues and environment around us, something China understands if their proactive response to environmental issues and openness to technology is anything to go by. If this responsiveness can extend to ensuring young people have access to supportive, non-biased and youth-specific contraceptive information and services then I have no doubt huge progress will be made here.
Bryony Thorpe is a Fundraising Advisor for Marie Stopes International China (MSIC). Having earned a degree in Chinese and French from the University of Leeds, she moved to Beijing straight after graduating to start work at a French charity, Children of Ningxia. A transition to the corporate sector followed, where she took on roles in the localisation and travel industries before coming back to the third sector with MSIC. Bryony also volunteers with the annual China Women’s Film Festival and speaks English, Chinese and French.
The views, opinions and positions expressed by our guest bloggers are those of the author alone and do not necessarily represent those of the Reproductive Health Supplies Coalition. The accuracy, completeness and validity of any statements made within this article are not guaranteed. We accept no liability for any errors, omissions or representations.
