Sexual and Reproductive Health
and Rights (SRHR)
Sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) includes issues such as access to safe abortion, HIV and other STIs, maternal health and rights, contraceptive access, gender-based violence, discrimination and stigma, and more.
Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights Services.
According to the GEI’s Baseline Monitoring Report on gender equality, a priority area for achieving gender equality in Malaysia is ensuring universal access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights in accordance with the ICPD Programme of Action and the Beijing Platform of Action in 1994.
The three indicators identified are: (i) laws to guarantee women and men aged 15 years and older access to sexual and reproductive healthcare, information and education; (ii) the proportion of women (15–49 years old) who made their own informed decisions regarding reproductive healthcare, contraceptive use, and sexual relations, and could access sexual and reproductive healthcare services in a public health facility; and (iii) the proportion of married or in-union women of reproductive age (15–49 years old) who have had their need for family planning satisfied with modern methods as well as are able to access sexual and reproductive healthcare services in a public health facility.
In 2012
Despite the Ministry of Health providing comprehensive healthcare services for all age groups and genders, including SRH services at minimal cost, accessibility is still a gap present due to social and religious stigma. Internally, there are policies by the health authorities that may compromise the rights to privacy and confidentiality of women at risk.
A UNICEF report found that Malaysia’s policies on sex education are still deprived of clear and unambiguous knowledge and information sharing. Regardless of the numerous SRH policies established, the importance of having comprehensive SRH services, including comprehensive sexuality education, gets lost in translation.
In 2012, The Ministry made positive progress by introducing a guideline on Managing Adolescents Sexual and Reproductive Health Issues in Health Clinics. This initiative aimed to promote youth-friendly services in all healthcare facilities throughout Malaysia. With the guideline, it will help healthcare providers in their treatment of adolescents, particularly girls who come for pregnancy-related services, contraceptives, sexually transmitted infections, and as survivors of sexual violence.
Nonetheless, there is still a severe lack of publicly available sex disaggregated health data and gender-sensitive research on health issues in Malaysia. The State of World Population 2019 Report which captures the percentage of married or in-union women aged 15–49 years who make their own decisions regarding sexual intercourse with their partner, use of contraception and healthcare, also had no information recorded for Malaysia.
SRHR is an all encompassing subject matter that must be tackled in a multidisciplinary, multifaceted and agile approach so that we do not miss any women or girl child in the process.