Cross posted on Amplify
Here in the United States, youth face many challenges with regards to sexual health and reproductive rights. I have been involved in the fight for accurate sex education where I live, because I have seen the damaging affects of abstinence-only sex education and wanted to help change this ineffective program. The challenges that youth face in the United States are NOTHING compared to the challenges that youth face in the developing world.
In Bangladesh, a 16-year-old girl was raped, became pregnant, and was sentenced to a cruel and harsh punishment. The Young Turks covered this story:
Here in the United States, youth face many challenges with regards to sexual health and reproductive rights. I have been involved in the fight for accurate sex education where I live, because I have seen the damaging affects of abstinence-only sex education and wanted to help change this ineffective program. The challenges that youth face in the United States are NOTHING compared to the challenges that youth face in the developing world.
In Bangladesh, a 16-year-old girl was raped, became pregnant, and was sentenced to a cruel and harsh punishment. The Young Turks covered this story:
(The first three minutes are the facts of what happened, the remaining time covers the reaction and opinion to the story. If you don't want to watch the whole thing, just check out the beginning.)
This story is heartbreaking. I cannot imagine how hard this is for the girl, she did NOTHING wrong and she is treated like a criminal. Imagine if this happened to you. It is so terrible and so upsetting that I do not know how to express it in words. For me, this puts my "first world problems" in perspective. We youth face challenges everyday here in America, but compared to this story, we have it relatively easy.
Rights are universal, cultures are different. This type of religious fundamentalism needs to stop. Like the man said in the above video, people who commit evils like this and justify their actions with God are bad people that need to be stopped. I do not believe that the United States should go to other countries and attempt push western style modern democracy on them, and I have a lot of respect for Islam and traditional cultures all over the world. However, the Untied States has immense power in the international community. Who we trade with, who we give aide to, and what international programs we fund have a huge impact in countries like Bangladesh. While we should NOT try to get every village to look like a town in the USA, we have a responsibility to protect the rights of people like this girl who was raped. Complications of pregnancy (including unsafe abortions) are the number 1 cause of death among young women in the developing world. Female genital mutilation happens at an alarmingly high rate. This practice is evil, disgusting, and wrong, and needs to be stopped.
You can take action and sign the petition to US congress to increase family planning assistance in developing nations.
Rights are universal, but cultures are different. Activism in countries where the culture is radically different is very complicated and difficult, but we have a responsibility to end such practices as victim blaming, unsafe abortions, and FGM in developing countries. To read more, check out Amplify's page about sexual reproductive health and rights in South Asia(which includes Bangladesh), as well as this great article on culture and sexuality called "Youth and State of Culture" on the Advocates For Youth website.
Crossposted on Amplify