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Arit Oku-Egbas Africa Regional Sexuality Resource Centre Lagos, Nigeria

Promoting Sexual Rights in Africa: Lessons from the Africa Regional Sexuality Resource Centre Initiative. Arit Oku-Egbas Africa Regional Sexuality Resource Centre Lagos, Nigeria DRAFT- please do not quote.

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Arit Oku-Egbas Africa Regional Sexuality Resource Centre Lagos, Nigeria

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  1. Promoting Sexual Rights in Africa:Lessons from the Africa Regional Sexuality Resource Centre Initiative Arit Oku-Egbas Africa Regional Sexuality Resource Centre Lagos, Nigeria DRAFT-please do not quote

  2. Africa Regional Sexuality Resource Centre (ARSRC) Initiative established in 2002 is a component of the Ford Foundation’s worldwide initiative – “Global Dialogue on Sexual Health and Well-Being”

  3. Mission Statement To promote informed public dialogue and opportunities for learning and advocacy on human sexuality to ensure positive changes in policies and programmes on sexuality issues in Africa Countries of Focus Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa

  4. Programme Context • Complex and dynamic • Diversity in language, Cultures, traditions • Taboos – “sexuality and silence” • Religion and spirituality • Political / socio-economic challenges (increasing poverty) • Complex engagement between tradition and new “cultures” – contradictions affect sexual health and rights

  5. Engagement : Old Culture Vs New Forces

  6. Impact of Silence: Increasing Vulnerabilities • Individual Level : More people engaging in “pleasurable” sexual relations without adequate information. (“Secret marriages in Egypt”) • Family : incest, child sexual abuse, child marriage, sexual violence going on under cover • Community : Virginity testing, rape, defilement, FGC,transactional sex • State : Lack of policy support for education, security, public health funding etc. Little interest in addressing FHR issues. Sexual rights (?) Focus on reproductive health and family planning cannot address gamut of issues especially within context of HIV/AIDS • Donor: support reinforcing focus on RH/FP Limited research on sexuality and disconnect between programmers and researchers

  7. “The Blindfold” • “One taboo, so strong in all the regions of Madagascar that it could be described as the ‘mother’ of all taboos… is that sexual intercourse – or even mere mention of it – between relatives of opposite sexes, is strictly forbidden.. the result… is a sharp contrast between the strenuous efforts made by male relatives ‘not to see’ the sexual activities of female relatives, and the great sexual freedom enjoyed by virtually every group of the population regardless of their age, gender or status (Rabenoro 1994 :4)

  8. Programming Challenges • Stigma around sexuality discourse • Language and cultural diversity • High cost of information dissemination • Dearth of research: Disconnect between researchers and programme implementers • Relatively new field of enquiry in Africa – need to build sexuality leadership

  9. ARSRC Programme Strategies • Broad stakeholder participation to identify critical areas of intervention: • Access to sexuality education (especially in “‘silenced spaces”) – Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria • interactions between sexuality and HIV/AIDS; understanding violence against women and child sexual abuse; re-thinking masculinities and men’s socialisation, creating social space and programming to meet the needs of lesbian and gay people – South Africa • Sexual needs of married adolescents/ secret marriages - Egypt

  10. Seminars • Quarterly “Understanding Human Sexuality” seminar series in 4 countries • Socialisation and sexuality discourse • Sexuality education • Sexuality and social institutions in Nigeria • Sexuality beyond reproduction

  11. Public Dialogue • Sexuality, Violence and HIV /AIDS in Nigeria (in collaboration with the Africa Leadership Forum) –September 16 – 18, 2005 • “Sexuality, Behaviour and HIV/AIDS in ‘High Risk’ Populations’ (in collaboration with researchers from University of Toronto– August 2005

  12. Media Interventions

  13. Training and Capacity Building • Sexuality Leadership Development Fellowship • Research & dissemination • Engagement with sexuality leaders • Sexuality Institute

  14. Sexuality in Africa Magazine • Sexuality in Africa Magazine

  15. Conclusions • Through its programmes, the ARSRC is promoting affirming discourses around sexuality and sexual rights on the continent and taking these discourses into hitherto restricted spaces – religious, social and traditional institutions, schools, the family and even the bedroom • Influencing a re-thinking and re-evaluation of individual and collective positions, actions, programmes an policies on sexuality and sexual rights on the continent.

  16. The Way Forward • More commitment on the part of governments and private sector for people-centred programmes • Research is of key importance to inform policy and programming

  17. Points to Ponder • How do we engender informed public-private partnerships to implement sexual rights programmes? • How can we work around the political systems, taking advantage of the present state of flux • How do we get the commitment of Governments hitherto resistant to conventions and laws on sexual rights? And how can we compel those who are signatories to these instruments to follow-through in national laws and constitutions?

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