Respect: a core issue of sexual and reproductive health of young people

• Main Author: Bender, Sóley S.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: Icelandic
• Published: Menntavísindasvið Háskóla Íslands 2020
• Subjects: respect; disrespect; sexual and reproductive health; sexual rights; young people; virðing; vanvirðing; kynheilbrigði; réttur til kynheilbrigðis; ungt fólk; Iceland
• Online Access: https://ojs.hi.is/index.php/tuuom/article/view/3048

Many core concepts of sexual and reproductive health (SRH) have been studied in a limited way. This applies to the concept respect, explored in this article in connection with the sexual and reproductive health of young people. At the international conference on population and development by the United Nations in Cairo in 1994 the emphasis on SRH was stressed (United Nations, 1995). It has, however, taken some time to move in the direction of SRHealth instead of remaining anchored in the problem-oriented way of thinking which frequently evolved around issues such as unplanned pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections. In Iceland, as well as in other societies, there are many signs of disrespect towards the sexual being and the MeToo revolution provides one of the most obvious examples of this. Also, recent trends in the misuse of smartphones by sending sexual pictures and videos to others without consent are causing considerable harm to the victims. There has been an increasing awareness over the years that nowadays societies are no longer ready to tolerate sexual violence of any sort. Based on the health approach and the signs of disrespect within contemporary society there is a need to pause and explore core life values such as respect in relation to the wellness of the sexual being.This article is based on a secondary analysis of two Icelandic qualitative studies and two MeToo descriptions by Icelandic women. The purpose of the study is to explore how respect and disrespect are presented regarding the SRH of young people in Icelandic society. In the introduction the concept of respect is explored along with the sexual rights of young people. These rights have been developed by international organizations such as International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF, 2008), World Association for Sexual Health (WAS, 2014) and World Health Organization (WHO, 2016). These two core concepts (respect and rights) are presented as the cornerstones of the SRH model. The rights are based on respect towards the human ...