Teens in Bogotá have questions. Around 1.5 million have logged on and asked an average of three queries since the program was launched in February 2017. The platform is part of a wider initiative to combat teen pregnancy which seems to be working: in the past three years, teen pregnancy rates in the city have dropped 22.2%, with the steepest drop last year. Sexperto is in talks to roll the program out nationally, and one multilateral organization is looking at expanding it to the entire Andean region. [...]
The problem was very real. In 2015, 43 girls under 19 became mothers in Bogotá every day. The city ministry decided any program had to cross sectors, be properly funded, and be ready to deal with the backlash of a Catholic society which does not always welcome talk about sex and sexuality. Indeed, Amelia Rey, head of community health services in the Ministry of Health says Peñalosa became the target of 100 formal inquiries from opposing political parties about the city’s teen pregnancy efforts, including Sexperto, and heavily criticized for installing 300 condom vending machines in public spaces. [...]
Something is working. In 2014, the teen pregnancy rate was 16.4%; in 2018 it was 12.2%. The median age of new mothers, in that time, has moved from 22 to 23. That is clearly not all the work of Sexperto, which is part of a larger strategy which has included condom machines, the appointment of youth leaders who are trained and work with their peers, revamped sex education in 398 public schools, and increased birth control coverage. But Rey says it’s played a big role. “Sexperto.co has definitely been part of this city-wide effort and has been the ‘brand’ and novelty item we have used to speak about this important issue within the health sector and to non-health sector interest groups.”
No comments:
Post a Comment