Sustainable SEX

March 19th- 26 is Sustainability Week at the University of Guelph. Student leaders involved with s-week hope that it will "Empower our community, inspire individuals and organize our collective capacity for positive change." 

S-week encompasses a plethora of activities including: no impact challenges, bike silk screening, workshops, research showcases and poetry to name a few. You can check out their calendar for a complete list of activities and when they are taking place. All the events are free and take place at the university or in the community. 

How does family planning relate to sustainability? 

Family planning allows for couples to choose and anticipate the number of children they wish to have and when. Since couples can decide on how many children they are able to support and care for, this creates not only more sustainable families, but also contributes to sustainable communities. Through this, there will be less pressure on social services, the environment and resource availability. For more details and resources you can also look into these previous posts: 15 ways family planning can contribute to sustainability, and ...So what can you do. 

Also, you can check out our booth at S-week in the University Center on Friday March 25th and at St Georges Anglican Church on Saturday March 26th. We will be handing out free condoms, donated by the Wellness Centre, and talking about how family planning relates to creating a more resilient planet.

World Health Organization- Maternal Mortality Map

This is an interesting interactive map showing the maternal mortalities by year and country. It is extremely important to note that over 500,000 women die every year giving birth. The World Health Organization points out that risks involved with giving birth can be reduced through an increase in family planning education.

Take a look at this map and see for yourselves.

http://gamapserver.who.int/gho/interactive_charts/mdg5_mm/atlas.html

For more information:
http://www.who.int/gho/women_and_health/mortality/maternal_text/en/index.html

...So what can you do?

        Every minute a women dies from a pregnancy-related complication, most of which are preventable. At least 200 million women want access to safe and effective family planning methods but for many women in the Global South this dream will not become a reality due to factors such as poverty, cultural or religious constraint or the absence of consistently funded local, national or international family planning assistance. 
        Family Planning is about providing the means for families to make conscious and rationale decisions about when, why and how they will start to have children based on their own beliefs and values.

The Better Planet Project at the University of Guelph is an initiative to "accelerate innovation to effect positive and powerful change in our world." In order to do this, The Better Planet Project focuses on four Elements of Success – food, environment, health and community.         The University of Guelph's Better Planet Project must provide support for family planning in order to truly create a better planet.


Family Planning directly impacts each of the Elements of Success. Here are a few examples:

Food and Family Planning:
- Improved food security and food democracy
- Decreased stress on fertile land 
- Decreased burden of hunger-related diseases

Community and Family Planning 
- Less pressure on social services
- Reduced prevalence of social stigma
- Improvement in family’s economic status 
- Increased time to participate in community   
   initiatives

Health and Family Planning 
- Reduced maternal mortality
- Reduced unwanted and high-risk pregnancies
- Prevents child deaths
- Increased family and community health
- Improved sexual health of youth

Environment and Family Planning 
- Reduced impact on resources
- Decreased loss of bio-diversity
- Limited expansion due to urbanization
- Reduced usage of greenhouse gasses

Family Planning should be the central focus of the Better Planet platform as it significantly impacts individuals, communities and our environment.

If you support the inclusion of universal Family Planning in University of Guelph's Better Planet Project please take the time to sign a this petition. Just follow this link: Family Planning Petition

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Family Planning, whether in the global North or South, is a multi-faceted approach to maternal health that should offer woman and their partners assistance with:

• Pre-conception counseling – planning when to have children and how large of a family to have (based on their own values and beliefs);

• Birth control – a variety of reliable birth control methods must be made available and accessible to women and their partners on a consistent basis;

• Infertility management;

• Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) management – many of the techniques involved in family planning additionally provide protection against STIs, most importantly HIV/AIDS

• Sexuality education – provision of educational programs to support birth control use, prenatal and postnatal family health and all aspects of family planning.

Birth Stories from Women in Nepal

This post is a brief look at an interesting qualitative study conducted in Nepal about gender and power dynamics within the family structure, used 15 interviews with postpartum mothers, and 8 interviews their mother in laws to understand how cultural traditions and patriarchal norms impact access to health care, birthing, and post birth responsibilities

Please access the full article for the complete methodology, implications and recommendations: Regmi, K., Smart, R., Kottler, J., (2010)Understanding Gender and Power Dynamics Within the Family: A Qualitative Study of Nepali Women’s Experience. The Australian and New Zealand Journal of Family Therapy, 31(2):191-201

Of the women selected to be interviewed, all lived below the poverty line (as defined by World Bank) and all but two were in arranged marriages. One story that came from the interviews is from a woman identified as Jethi who stated:

“I got married when I was 14 years old and after 2 years of marriage I became a mother. I have no intention to have another baby before this one goes to school, but my husband doesn’t agree. He wanted to have at least four sons. It won’t affect him even if I die during childbirth but I have to produce them because it was his wish.”

Heera, another woman interviewed in the study spoke about her limited ability to make choices regarding her health and birthing process:

“My mother-in-law has demanded that I give birth to a dozen sons. She wants some of them to work in a paddy field, some others in cutting wood, some for shepherding, and the remaining for muglan [to work abroad]. My husband said that he could be satisfied with two sons. They never asked me what I wanted. They treat me like a breeding dog.”

The article discusses that as a result of kinship hierarchies within the families interviewed, there seems to be a prevalent belief that “…men have the right to control women’s reproductive capabilities and access to health services.” However, it is acknowledged that differences in beliefs and behaviour is largely dependent on ethnicity, caste, religion, and whether the family structure is hierarchical or more egalitarian.

The women’s stories illustrate the need, and desire, for increased autonomy for women over choices regarding access to maternal health, contraceptives and education about family planning. Access is obviously a key component in encouraging women to make these decisions around births themselves, but the impact of broader societal structures cannot be ignored. Funding for programs that target the education of men and women, as well as the national and regional policy for women’s rights to maternal health care and contraceptives must be addressed. A multi-tiered approach must be taken to improve the status of women worldwide, and to ensure that family planning practices can be made to be socially acceptable across cultures.

Supporting access to family planning education and services

Recently, Planned Parenthood (a family planning organization in the US) faced a potential bar on their federal funding which provides access to birth control, cancer screenings, HIV testing, and much more. This new legislation could have a huge impact on the many women and families that rely on these services.

This spurred discussion on the provision of family planning education and resources and our role in advocating for these services not only for our country, but the countless other countries in need.

To read more about this issue, check out our article in The Ontarion:
Support education and funding for family planning: Its Condomsense

Planned Parenthood is also in Canada. Check out their Toronto website.

A Few Creative Ways to Use Condoms

Ever have a condom expire, and not know what to do with it? Get some condoms in a residence orientation package, but you're celibate? Breakup with your boyfriend but you still have those XX's laying around?

Here are some creative ideas to re-purpose condoms while reducing waste and inspiring giggles:

Condom flowers! Cheer yourself up with a homemade bouquet! Or give it to a friend or partner.

On rainy days or traveling, figuring out how to waterproof your stuff quickly becomes an art! Protect your valuable and electronics by putting them in a condom, and tying it off!

Unused condoms can also help make you look fashionable, practical and smart. There's a whole array of ways you can make condoms look fashionable!

Condom dresses!

Condom hats!

 Condom book bags!

These all look like fun craft projects - we just don't recommend trying to use the condom after you've given them their new, aesthetically pleasing, life.

Family Planning and Mr. Condom

Thailand chose to take an interesting approach to promoting family planning and condom use.
The campaign saturated Thailand with condoms... everywhere! This included distributing contraceptives in floating markets, at traffic stops, at temples, at food stalls next to Coca Cola, at coffee shops and at schools. As Mechai Viravaidya says, condoms can be used as 'weapons of mass protection!' The video uses satire about US foreign policy to make a critical argument for the importance of support for family planning and contraceptive education.

To find out more about Machai Virayaidya and his foundation check out:
The population and Community development association
The Village Development Partnership

Ted Talk