Demography and Social Statistics, Covenant University, Ota 112104, Nigeria.
Department of Sociology, Covenant University, Ota 112104, Nigeria.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Dec 6;19(23):16313. doi: 10.3390/ijerph192316313.
Despite numerous initiatives and resources to save and protect the health and sexual rights of girls and women, the persistently high rate of unwanted pregnancy, abortion, and sexual violence in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has remain a topical public health challenge. This study hypothesised that the continuous conspicuous omission of boys/men in the interventions to combat this menace could be a long-life impediment to the realisation of sustainable health for girls and women in the region. The study adopted a systematic review of extant population-based published studies from Scopus, Google Scholars, PubMed, EMBASE, and AJOL. Literature coverage included the post-United Nations' coordinated International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), Cairo, 1994, which marked the beginning of a massive campaign for women/girls sexual rights. The obtained qualitative data were appraised and synthesised towards spurring policy recommendations for gender balanced initiatives on the sexual and reproductive health rights in SSA. The study highlighted that unwanted pregnancy occurs only when a boy/man has unprotected sex with a girl/woman without considering her choice or rights. It is considered ironic that the dominant factors are boys and men but many enlightenment initiatives/campaigns are concentrated on girls and women. The study developed a schematic save-a-girl-child framework that illustrated the possible dividends inherent in the training of a boy-child to achieve a safer world for the girls/women. It recommends increase in the exposure of boys and men to sexual education and counselling, which can motivate them to be supporters of family planning, supporters of only wanted pregnancy, wanted fatherhood, marital fidelity, intimate partners' harmonious living rather than violence, and wife or partner empowerment.
尽管采取了许多举措和资源来保护女孩和妇女的健康和性权利，但撒哈拉以南非洲（SSA）仍然存在高比例的意外怀孕、堕胎和性暴力问题，这仍然是一个热门的公共卫生挑战。本研究假设，在对抗这一威胁的干预措施中，持续明显忽视男孩/男子，可能是该地区女孩和妇女实现可持续健康的长期障碍。该研究采用了对 Scopus、Google Scholar、PubMed、EMBASE 和 AJOL 上已发表的基于人群的现有研究进行系统审查的方法。文献涵盖了联合国协调的 1994 年开罗国际人口与发展会议（ICPD）之后的时期，这标志着一场大规模争取妇女/女孩性权利运动的开始。对获得的定性数据进行了评估和综合，以推动在 SSA 实现性别平衡的性和生殖健康权利的政策建议。该研究强调，只有当男孩/男子与女孩/妇女发生无保护的性行为而不考虑她的选择或权利时，才会发生意外怀孕。具有讽刺意味的是，主要因素是男孩和男人，但许多启蒙运动/运动都集中在女孩和妇女身上。该研究制定了一个拯救女孩儿童的示意图框架，说明了对男孩进行性教育和咨询培训所带来的潜在好处，这可以激励他们成为计划生育的支持者、只想要怀孕的支持者、想要成为父亲、婚姻忠诚、伴侣之间和谐相处而不是暴力以及赋予妻子或伴侣权力。
