The Importance Of Sexual And Reproductive Health

Sexual and reproductive health covers a range of issues that affect people globally. However, women generally receive more coverage and advocacy for reproductive health concerns because of the historical imbalance of power and neglect that contributes to their health outcomes. Men are often considered, in relation to women, the purveyors of reproductive health issues rather than individuals who also face certain vulnerabilities that impact their health. These vulnerabilities such as race, gender, socio-economic status, and geographic location contribute to their negative outcomes and influence how men interact with women. Increasing evidence suggest that the reinforced gender norm of masculinity, meaning that men must be “tough”, “brave”, …show more content…
The women’s empowerment approach to reproductive health programing became a standard approach to reproductive health promotion. Some practitioners feared that the empowerment approach, while very helpful to women, alienated men and did very little to alleviate gender relations which led to the use of this approach in first place. Health practitioners who convened at the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo, realized that men not only needed more access to reproductive health services but that integrating men into reproductive health promotion would be key to the success of empowering women and improving gender relations. After the ICPD, reproductive health programs aimed towards men, although few in numbers, have been steadily growing. South African health promoters began to use men as part of the solution to negative reproductive health outcomes for women, thus creating various programs that aimed to get men more involved. This review attempts to evaluate several reproductive health programs aimed towards men that were implemented in South Africa beginning in the 1990s through 2008. The overarching goal of this review is to determine which of the various reproductive health programming approaches targeted to increase men’s role in reproductive health is most effective in improving gender relations in South …show more content…
Through the use of integrated group education, which range from one-on-one counselling, group activities, and interactive workshops, this program aimed to combat deeply ingrained patriarchal beliefs. The activities included role play, storytelling, and discussing sexuality and gender based violence. At the conclusion of the MAP program, seventy-one percent of the men surveyed believed that all people should have equal rights including women versus 25 percent of men in the control group. Comparably, the Stepping stones HIV prevention program implemented in communities throughout sub-Saharan Africa, focused on the use of training in the area of life skills, communication, and relationships. This program sought to transform gender relations by increasing the understanding of how social expectations limit the lives and health of others. Stepping Stones used community-based focus groups organized by community leaders to promote gender equity by getting individuals to question inequalities among women and men. The outcomes of this program reduced gender based violence among participating couples and increased safer sexual habits for most participants. Furthermore, Paul Botha, whose research focused on outcomes of the 2000 Mobilizing Young men to Care project in South Africa, felt that the use of media was instrumental in changing participant’s