Feb. 2010 Update: Click here to download our new fact sheet Gender Inequality and Violence Against Women and Girls Around the World.

Reproductive and sexual health is a social justice issue. It is every person’s right to have control over his or her own body – to make decisions based on his/her circumstances and to have access to safe an affordable reproductive and sexual health care. This includes reliable access to birth control and condoms; safe abortion and adoption options; fertility assistance; pap smears, and HIV testing and treatment, among others.
 
Did you know?

• Women in low income countries are more than 30 times as likely to die from reproductive health-related causes than women in industrialized countries.
• Over 200 million women worldwide have no access to contraception.
• Complications from pregnancy are the leading cause of death for young women ages 15-19 in low income countries.
• Each year, at least 2 million young women in low income countries women have an unsafe abortion.
• Forty-three states in the U.S restrict young women’s access to abortion.
• Twenty-five states impose parental consent for sexually active youth to get contraception.

Poor reproductive health for young women can lead not just to unintended pregnancy, but to infection, injury, and even death. We won’t let governments endanger the health of millions of young people worldwide.

Special Focus:  Climate Change

Increasingly, discussions of climate change include discussions of the ramifications for reproductive justice. Advocates for Youth and a number of organizations working to advance reproductive and environmental justice for youth have worked together at the United Nations Conference on Climate Change in Copenhagen, Denmark, to create a youth declaration to be distributed during and after the Conference, which is taking place December 7-19, 2009.

The declaration puts forward the importance of advancing youth sexual and reproductive health and rights in an era of climate change; what needs to be done; some fundamental beliefs in terms of needs and rights; and actions that governments should be taking.

Read the Declaration (PDF)

Blog it!

What do you think about early marriage? Should young women by dying in childbirth? How can the United States or your country contribute to better reproductive health for young women around the world? Write about reproductive health!

Interested in this issue? Keep reading!

Read about related issues on Amplify

Condoms
Contraceptive Access
Abstinence-Only-Until-Marriage Programs

HealthFacts: Contraception

Learn about condoms and other methods of contraception: what they are, how to use them, and the advantages and disadvantages of contraception options.
 

Other Resources

Need current, reliable information on this topic? Check out the links below for the latest research.

Adolescent Sexual Health in Developing Countries

Adolescent Maternal Mortality: An Overlooked Crisis

International Family Planning and the Unmet Needs of Reproductive Health for Youth 

Our Lives, Our Change: A Toolkit for U.S.-based Youth Activists Working on International Family Planning Issues [PDF Download]