Young women from informal settlements report on their experiences of accessing sexual and reproductive and other health services from clinics

Project Empower is a Durban based non-governmental organisation (NGO) working with young women in a programme aimed at increasing their ability to defend their sexual and reproductive rights as a strategy to support their efforts to avoid primary and secondary HIV infection. Project Empower has worked with up to 80 young women from Durban shack settlements and has become aware of the struggles faced by young women in accessing sexual and reproductive health services. The research reported in the Briefing shows that young women shack-dwellers perceive that they frequently face inadequate and sometimes harmful service provision. Some of these are well known and documented such as long queues, delayed test results and drug stock-outs. Less known is the prejudice and discrimination experienced by young women from health care providers, reported by women in the research to frequently hold anti-poor, sexist and ageist attitudes. The Briefing argues that these experiences discourage young women from returning for follow-up services, often with long-term negative consequences for their health. This Briefing is based on focus group discussions with young women participating in our programme and outlines their experiences of accessing sexual and reproductive health care. It also compares these experiences with the Department of Health's own policy document 'Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights: Fulfilling our Commitments 2011 - 2021 and Beyond' (published in May 2011) and presents the young women's demands for how the services can be transformed.