Kalisito Biaukula is a Fijian human rights activist, who is vakasalewalewa. [1] In 2019 they attended the Youth Assembly of International Civil Society Week. [2] In 2022 they were part of a consultation effort organised by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), in advance of the Stockholm 50 conference. [3] They have worked for Youth Voices Count, a non-governmental organisation for LGBTQ+ youth who work to address human rights issues. [4] They have also been outspoken on how, in some Fijian homes, conversion therapy is aligned with physical violence and domestic abuse. [1]
Sex education, also known as sexual education, sexualityeducation or sex ed, is the instruction of issues relating to human sexuality, including human sexual anatomy, sexual activity, sexual reproduction, safe sex and birth control, sexual health, reproductive health, emotional relations and responsibilities, age of consent, and reproductive rights. Sex education that includes all of these issues is known as comprehensive sex education, and is often opposed to abstinence-only sex education, which only focuses on sexual abstinence. Sex education may be provided as part of school programs, public health campaigns, or by parents or caregivers. In some countries it is known as "Relationships and Sexual Health Education".
Teenage pregnancy, also known as adolescent pregnancy, is pregnancy in a female adolescent or young adult under the age of 20. Worldwide, pregnancy complications are the leading cause of death for women and girls 15 to 19 years old. The definition of teenage pregnancy includes those who are legally considered adults in their country. The WHO defines adolescence as the period between the ages of 10 and 19 years. Pregnancy can occur with sexual intercourse after the start of ovulation, which can happen before the first menstrual period (menarche). In healthy, well-nourished girls, the first period usually takes place between the ages of 12 and 13.
Reproductive rights are legal rights and freedoms relating to reproduction and reproductive health that vary amongst countries around the world. The World Health Organization defines reproductive rights as follows:
Reproductive rights rest on the recognition of the basic right of all couples and individuals to decide freely and responsibly the number, spacing and timing of their children and to have the information and means to do so, and the right to attain the highest standard of sexual and reproductive health. They also include the right of all to make decisions concerning reproduction free of discrimination, coercion and violence.
Sexual and reproductive health (SRH) is a field of research, health care, and social activism that explores the health of an individual's reproductive system and sexual well-being during all stages of their life.
Abstinence-only sex education is a form of sex education that teaches not having sex outside of marriage. It often excludes other types of sexual and reproductive health education, such as birth control and safe sex. Comprehensive sex education, by contrast, covers the use of birth control and sexual abstinence.
Adolescent medicine also known as adolescent and young adult medicine is a medical subspecialty that focuses on care of patients who are in the adolescent period of development. This period begins at puberty and lasts until growth has stopped, at which time adulthood begins. Typically, patients in this age range will be in the last years of middle school up until college graduation. In developed nations, the psychosocial period of adolescence is extended both by an earlier start, as the onset of puberty begins earlier, and a later end, as patients require more years of education or training before they reach economic independence from their parents.
The sexuality of US adolescents includes their feelings, behaviors and development, and the place adolescent sexuality has in American society, including the response of the government, educators, parents, and other interested groups.
Couch surfing is a term that is generally defined as when an individual moves from house to house, sleeping in whatever spare space available, oftentimes a couch or floor, generally staying a few days before moving on to the next house. People sometimes couch-surf when they are travelling or because they are homeless.
The Women's Refugee Commission is a 501(c)(3) Non-Governmental Organization that aims to improve the lives and protect the rights of women, children, and youth displaced by conflict or crisis. Established in 1989 by Norwegian Actress and film Director Liv Ullmann and others, it was part of the International Rescue Committee (IRC) until 2014.
Adolescent health, or youth health, is the range of approaches to preventing, detecting or treating young people's health and well-being.
Youth suicide is when a young person, generally categorized as someone below the legal age of majority, deliberately ends their own life. Rates of youth suicide and attempted youth suicide in Western societies and other countries are high. Youth suicide attempts are more common among girls, but adolescent males are the ones who usually carry out suicide. Suicide rates in youths have nearly tripled between the 1960s and 1980s. For example, in Australia suicide is second only to motor vehicle accidents as its leading cause of death for people aged 15 to 25.
Research has found that attempted suicide rates and suicidal ideation among lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) youth are significantly higher than among the general population.
In the United States, sex education is taught in two main forms: comprehensive sex education and abstinence-only as part of the Adolescent Family Life Act, or AFLA. Comprehensive sex education is also called abstinence-based, abstinence-plus, abstinence-plus-risk-reduction, and sexual risk reduction sex education. This approach covers abstinence as a choice option, but also informs adolescents about age of consent and the availability of contraception and techniques to avoid contraction of sexually transmitted infections. Every state within the U.S. has a mandated AIDS Education Program.
Sexual and reproductive health and rights or SRHR is the concept of human rights applied to sexuality and reproduction. It is a combination of four fields that in some contexts are more or less distinct from each other, but less so or not at all in other contexts. These four fields are sexual health, sexual rights, reproductive health and reproductive rights. In the concept of SRHR, these four fields are treated as separate but inherently intertwined.
Sex education is a very controversial and taboo subject in India, and people's opinions about it are quite divided. The states of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh have banned or refused to implement sex education in school to preserve culture. The Hindu nationalist government in Madhya Pradesh said sex education had “no place in Indian culture” and plans to introduce yoga in schools instead. On the global level, India has notably fallen behind numerous countries, including underdeveloped and significantly smaller countries such as Sudan and Congo, where sex education is first taught at the primary level.
Due to the increased vulnerability that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) youth face compared to their non-LGBT peers, there are notable differences in the mental and physical health risks tied to the social interactions of LGBT youth compared to the social interactions of heterosexual youth. Youth of the LGBT community experience greater encounters with not only health risks, but also violence and bullying, due to their sexual orientation, self-identification, and lack of support from institutions in society.
Adesegun Fatusi is a Nigerian professor of community medicine and public health. He was the former provost of the College of Health Sciences at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, and the current Vice chancellor of University of Medical Sciences, Ondo.
The Youth Café is a not-for profit pan-African youth organization that was founded in 2012 and works with young people in Africa and around the world to foster community resilience, propose innovative solutions, drive social progress, enable youth empowerment and inspire political change. The Youth Café is headquartered at Kitisuru Gardens, in Nairobi, Kenya.
Rebekah D. Fenton is an American pediatrician and adolescent health advocate. Fenton is an Adolescent Medicine Fellow in The Potocsnak Family Division of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine at Lurie Children's Hospital at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University in Chicago, Illinois. Fenton's clinical work is centered around providing healthcare for marginalized youth populations with a focus on cultural humility and health equity. After the police murder of George Floyd, Fenton provided medical care to protestors and has created virtual grieving spaces for Black and brown people in her medical community. Fenton also writes about topics such as public health, adolescent medicine, and diversity in medicine.
Chhaa Jaa is a digital-first youth brand in India that aims to help girls build the confidence they need to make choices and changes in their lives.