THE Commission on Population (PopCom) recently announced it was “scaling up” its public education campaign to promote the need for “informed choice” so couples can plan their families.
PopCom executive director Juan Antonio Perez III pointed out that “many women remain unable to exercise their right to informed choice with the high incidence of unplanned pregnancies,” reported “The Philippine Star” on Nov. 25.
According to Perez, “informed choice” refers to the awareness women have about the methods available for planning their family in terms of the number and spacing of the children, the possible side effects of their chosen birth control methods, opportunities for access to assistance on family planning services, and other relevant information.
Based on the 2017 National Demographic and Health Survey, 11 percent of births were “not wanted at all;” “16 percent were wanted but at a later time;” and “73 percent of births were planned at the time of conception.”
The PopCom’s campaign on reproductive health, particularly on informed choice, can have better chances at success if there are programs to reach out to men, who, in the Filipino culture, traditionally influence or even dominate the decisions many women make about their bodies, relationships, and families.
An intersectional approach that considers the influences of class, gender, literacy, ethnicity, and other factors on choices made concerning reproductive health is more sensitive to the complexities underlying Filipinos’ decisions affecting their partners and families.
A gender lens is also prioritized by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), formerly known as the United Nations Fund for Population Activities, which focuses on the “interconnectivities between reproductive rights, access to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services (including family planning), gender inequality, and population dynamics,” according to engenderhealth.org.
Applying the gender lens makes the PopCom education campaign more sensitive to the interpersonal and social dynamics that determine not just the planning of pregnancies and families but also the equally critical areas of engagement in high-risk sexual behavior and the spread of HIV and Aids.
The PopCom should see the opportunities and challenges of promoting gender equality, particularly in countering gender stereotypes and the toxic manifestations of masculinity and the culture of machismo, which are exacerbated by the rise of misogyny and tolerance, even open practice, of such among prominent public figures, such as President Rodrigo Duterte.
For instance, the practice of monogamy and faithfulness to one’s spouse or partner is one of the tried and tested approaches to countering the spread of sexually transmitted infections and unplanned and unwanted pregnancies. Yet, the promotion of such faces powerful counterdiscourses from the pronouncements and practices of President Duterte and some public officials who flaunt mistresses and lifestyles that make a travesty of “informed choice” or “responsible parenthood.”
The PopCom’s educational campaigns through development communication and social media must address grassroots’ realities of men acting as abusers, predators, rapists, human traffickers, pedophiles, pimps, and macho partners who do not regard and treat women as partners or even equals.
Reaching out to boys, as well as to girls, the PopCom must lead stakeholders in engaging youths to understand and practice responsible sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) through different roles: as friends, siblings, intimate partners, husbands and wives, parents, and community leaders.
Empowering girls and women is essential for scaling up responsible and sustainable practices in population and development.
However, that is just one half of the equation. The approach is completed by including boys and men to empower them and transform gender-blind oppressors into agents of gender-sensitive change.