26 July 2019:
Our partners at Haiyya have been fighting to dismantle stigma surrounding unmarried women's sexual and reproductive health, carrying out diverse activities, including organising trainings, on-ground actions, collecting stories of stigma from unmarried women and onboarding doctors who support the campaign!
Here are some highlights:
-- In June, the brave community leaders of Health Over Stigma campaign, who are dynamic young unmarried women, organised a training to learn how to use storytelling as a tactic to grow the community and have more unmarried women take part in the campaign!
-- Conducted various Ballot Box Actions across New Delhi. Over 200 women shared their experiences of stigma when accessing sexual and reproductive healthcare services, and joined the campaign by showing solidarity. We’ve also launched an IVR number where women can call and share their stories of stigma. Call 8377846695 to share your experience!
-- We’ve started getting support from doctors as well! Watch this video of Dr. Nimmi Rastogi, Health Lead, Dialogue & Development Commission, Government of Delhi speaking about why she supports our campaign!
We need your support now more than ever! We’re collecting more experiences of women facing stigma at the gynaecologist, to hold medical providers accountable to non-judgemental services!
The Health Over Stigma got featured on Deutsche Well News - check it out here!
17 May 2019 : Two months ago, a 26-year-old unmarried woman in Gorakhpur died while trying to self abort her child.
Instead of going to a gynecologist, she took help from a YouTube video. The shame and stigma around the sexual health of unmarried women in India is what possibly prevented her from accessing proper medical services.
This is not the story of just one woman. This is the story of thousands of unmarried women who have to overcome enormous social stigma before they can even think of prioritising their sexual health.
Do you think all women, regardless of whether they’re married or not, should have access to sexual health medical services? Add your name to our campaign to break the silence and remove the stigma around sexual health in India.
Health Over Stigma (driven by Haiyya - a non profit campaigning organization) is an innovative campaign started in New Delhi in 2017 to end the shame and stigma around young unmarried women's sexual health. To highlight the obstacles unmarried women face in accessing sexual health medical services, this campaign shares personal testimonials of women.
The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 5.6 talks about ensuring universal sexual and reproductive health services to all women. However, the reality on ground is quite different. Social stigma and often, judgement from medical service providers prevents unmarried women from accessing these services freely, resulting in them deprioritising their health, suffering from diseases that also lead to early deaths.
We want to shift the onus of the narrative from unmarried women on to medical service providers, and hold them accountable for providing this service in a manner that is judgment-free and sensitive.
Unmarried women’s sexual and reproductive health should be taken as a priority. It’s high time we break the silence. We must stand in solidarity to reclaim our sexual health, our sexual choices.
Let us put our #HealthOverStigma
Sources:
Gorakhpur woman attempts to deliver baby watching Youtube, both die - Hindustan Times
26 July 2019:
Our partners at Haiyya have been fighting to dismantle stigma surrounding unmarried women's sexual and reproductive health, carrying out diverse activities, including organising trainings, on-ground actions, collecting stories of stigma from unmarried women and onboarding doctors who support the campaign!
Here are some highlights:
-- In June, the brave community leaders of Health Over Stigma campaign, who are dynamic young unmarried women, organised a training to learn how to use storytelling as a tactic to grow the community and have more unmarried women take part in the campaign!
-- Conducted various Ballot Box Actions across New Delhi. Over 200 women shared their experiences of stigma when accessing sexual and reproductive healthcare services, and joined the campaign by showing solidarity. We’ve also launched an IVR number where women can call and share their stories of stigma. Call 8377846695 to share your experience!
-- We’ve started getting support from doctors as well! Watch this video of Dr. Nimmi Rastogi, Health Lead, Dialogue & Development Commission, Government of Delhi speaking about why she supports our campaign!
We need your support now more than ever! We’re collecting more experiences of women facing stigma at the gynaecologist, to hold medical providers accountable to non-judgemental services!
The Health Over Stigma got featured on Deutsche Well News - check it out here!
17 May 2019 : Two months ago, a 26-year-old unmarried woman in Gorakhpur died while trying to self abort her child.
Instead of going to a gynecologist, she took help from a YouTube video. The shame and stigma around the sexual health of unmarried women in India is what possibly prevented her from accessing proper medical services.
This is not the story of just one woman. This is the story of thousands of unmarried women who have to overcome enormous social stigma before they can even think of prioritising their sexual health.
Do you think all women, regardless of whether they’re married or not, should have access to sexual health medical services? Add your name to our campaign to break the silence and remove the stigma around sexual health in India.
Health Over Stigma (driven by Haiyya - a non profit campaigning organization) is an innovative campaign started in New Delhi in 2017 to end the shame and stigma around young unmarried women's sexual health. To highlight the obstacles unmarried women face in accessing sexual health medical services, this campaign shares personal testimonials of women.
The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 5.6 talks about ensuring universal sexual and reproductive health services to all women. However, the reality on ground is quite different. Social stigma and often, judgement from medical service providers prevents unmarried women from accessing these services freely, resulting in them deprioritising their health, suffering from diseases that also lead to early deaths.
We want to shift the onus of the narrative from unmarried women on to medical service providers, and hold them accountable for providing this service in a manner that is judgment-free and sensitive.
Unmarried women’s sexual and reproductive health should be taken as a priority. It’s high time we break the silence. We must stand in solidarity to reclaim our sexual health, our sexual choices.
Let us put our #HealthOverStigma
Sources:
Gorakhpur woman attempts to deliver baby watching Youtube, both die - Hindustan Times
Next step - spread the word
Health Over Stigma
