-Want Gov’t to declare “Teenage Pregnancy” as National Emergency
By: G Bennie Bravo Johnson
Participants at the just-ended National Young Women and Girls Conference held in Kakata-Margibi County have called on the National Government to declare “Teenage Pregnancy” as a national emergency.
They asserted that the lack of sexual representative health care education is the leading cause of teenage pregnancy amongst girls. In their opinion, it has resulted in most girls encountering complications and becoming parents while still in school.
They called on the government to make available free family planning at every school and gathering, just as condom is distributed freely. The young women further asserted that the free distribution of condoms is a lesson given for young adults to have sex, forgetting about the implementation that comes along.
“We need family planning to be given out freely just as condoms. Giving boys condoms and not giving family Planning to the girls is unjust. Because those boys are going to have sex with us girls, knowing that condoms are not saved. You cannot grant them lessons to have sex and leave us unprotected.”
In Liberia, adolescent girls and young women continue to face numerous challenges, including early sexual activity leading to pregnancy, sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), child marriage, and domestic responsibilities. A lack of access to critical information on sexual and reproductive rights, comprehensive sexuality education, civic participation, and economic opportunities has limited their active involvement in society.
Meanwhile, the Deputy Minister of Gender Children and Social Protection, Atty. Laura Golakeh intimated that recent findings from the Social Cohesion and Reconciliation Index (SCORE) highlight troubling societal attitudes, with about two out of ten Liberians endorsing domestic violence against women and children, and one in ten endorsing sexual violence, including rape.
Furthermore, the Deputy Minister added that four in every ten Liberians believe that women are too soft to be effective leaders. These attitudes, often rooted in cultural practices and beliefs, underscore the significant challenges in addressing gender norms, particularly in rural areas where fragility and higher rates of SGBV persist.
She said, many survivors of SGBV, including rape victims, face the trauma and shame of violence in a society where such cases are frequently compromised. In response, the 2024 Conference will once again be decentralized, focusing on enhancing the effectiveness of local efforts to address the multiple challenges faced by young women and girls.
The two-day conference seeks to provide empowerment for young women by Increasing the capacity of young women and girls to access their sexual, reproductive, educational, cultural, and economic rights. It enhances community knowledge through media outreach, such as phone-in talk shows, to educate the public about the harmful effects of violence against women and girls and the crucial role communities play in addressing these issues.
In furtherance, it seeks to promote networking and experience sharing by creating a supportive environment for young women and girls to network with stakeholders and share their experiences. It also aims to break Stereotypes by facilitating panel discussions with stakeholders on issues affecting young women, girls, and boys, challenging common stereotypes, and encouraging male advocacy and support for girls.
However, the young women asserted that the objectives of female empowerment conferences will not realize it potential of boys are always left out of empowerment opportunities. Therefore, they called on the Government through the Ministry of Gender Children and Social Protection to initiate what they termed as all young men empowerment programs.
They stated that the initiation of the all-male empowerment programs would bring to an end violence against women and girls and abort potential violence. “want the government under the Ministry of Gender to establish empowerment opportunities for boys.” The Adolescent girls stated
At the conference which was held under the theme: “Education: A pathway to building resilience against gender-based violence and promoting sexual representative health and rights” and supported by the Ministry of Gender and its partners, they asserted that boys can only be supportive of a girl and avoid violence when he is empowered. “How can you say you want boys to support us but you do not have any program to empower them? If the boy is empowered, he will be a supportive gentleman.”
In furtherance, they asserted that only opportunities to empower girls are a sign of oppressing the boys and exposing them to ideas of violence against young women and girls. “Empowerment us and leaving out the boys, you are simply oppressing them and giving them space to develop more negative ideas that will lead to violence against young women and girls. We want boys to get involved in gender based violence issues to have them educated on SGBVs.”
