Fight for reproductive rights is not only women's issue: Swedish ambassador

The fight to ensure the reproductive rights of women is not only a women's issue, said Swedish Ambassador to Bangladesh Alexandra Berg Von Linde on Monday.

"Sweden considers the sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) issue very seriously. This issue is also being discussed in COP28. However, the fight for SRHR is not only a women's issue. Men and women from all levels of the society need to work on this," she said at a programme on prevention of violence against women to observe the '16 Days of Activism 2023'. 

The event was organised by Manusher Jonno Foundation (MJF) in Dhaka on Monday (4 December) with the theme 'Invest in Preventing Violence, Ensure Equality and Sexual & Reproductive Rights for Women and Girls', reads a press release. 

Linde said, "The 16 days of Activism has been observed for 20 years. But it is mind-boggling that even in 2023, women and girls are still being subjected to gender-based violence. We have to work from grassroot level to the international level to achieve gender equality."

Lily Nicholls, high commissioner of Canada in Bangladesh, joined the event virtually. She said, "Many policies and laws are already in place in Bangladesh. However, lack of implementation and enforcement of these policies and laws, accountability and political will are one of the main causes of violence against women. Bangladesh will always get Canada as their ally to fight against violence."

Advocate Sultana Kamal, human rights activists and former advisor to the caretaker government of Bangladesh, said, "In Bangladesh, on an average daily 10 women face extreme levels of gender based violence. However, we never know the exact number of women who are facing violence within their family. Also, we do not talk about marital rape. This event by MJF shook us out of our complacency and brought the overlooked issues into sharp focus.

"We also need to focus on community clinics too. At the same time, it should be ensured that all stakeholders are included in the health budget. The capacity of NGOs should also be strengthened so that they can support the government because only the  government's initiative is not sufficient to address these issues."

Ashrafi Bintay Akram, associate professor of Haji Mohammad Danesh University of Science and Technology, delivered the keynote presentation on the study titled 'Salinity threat in Women's Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights', funded by the Embassy of Sweden and supported by the Manusher Jonno Foundation.

She said the salinity of the water in the coastal areas adversely affects the sexual and reproductive health of women. Usage of salt water causes menorrhagia, leucorrhoea and itching in the vagina and affects the uterus. Due to these health implications, couples are unable to have sexual intercourse properly, leading men to divorce and polygamy, which increase the vulnerability of women furthermore.