Ecuador's sex education setback.
| Autor | Saavedra, Luis Angel |
Although it seems unbelievable, the Ecuadoran government approved a plan to control teenage pregnancy with abstinence and family unity. In addition, the proposal focuses on reclaiming the traditional family and moral values, casting aside all the advances the women's movement and the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) community have achieved in recent decades.
The government's new proposal replaces the Estrategia Nacional Interseccional de Planificacion Familiar y Prevencion del Embarazo en Adolescentes (ENIPLA), a program designed by women's collectives with advisory support from specialized international agencies. ENIPLA has been accused of promoting sexuality from adolescence on and of having failed in its main objective of reducing teenage pregnancy.
ENIPLA's history since 2011 founding
ENIPLA, which had become one of the Ministerio de Salud Publica's flagship programs, was created in June 2011. Its goal was to reduce unplanned and teenage pregnancies 26% by 2017 by focusing on adolescent sex education, family planning, access to contraceptive methods, public health assistance, and information about reproductive rights.
The basis for the creation of ENIPLA was the 2010 housing and population census, which revealed a 74% increase in teenage pregnancies since 2000. The census also revealed that 17% of all teenage girls in the census were already mothers. At that time, it was determined that one cause of teenage pregnancies was a lack of sexual education.
Faced with this situation, a plan was designed giving priority to the formation of health professionals specialized in family planning and contraception. Under the plan:
* health centers and clinics provided free contraceptives;
* hospitals and clinics were given emergency contraceptive pills to provide without cost;
* sex education was included in school and university curriculums;
* educational manuals about sexuality were created;
* meeting places for young people seeking information on how to enjoy their sexuality in a healthy, informed manner, and thus prevent unwanted pregnancy, were opened; and
* a campaign called "Speak seriously, sexuality without mystery" was launched.
However, the new Plan Familia Ecuador tossed all this in the trash.
Plan Familia Ecuador
In November 2014, President Correa said excesses were committed in ENIPLA, and the program had been infiltrated by social collectives that promoted abortion and gay marriage.
"There is an infiltration of...
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