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February 2008 update on new publications, actions you can take, and more!
Advocates for Youth's e-News Update
News You Can Use
Arizona is the 16th State to Reject Federal Abstinence-Only Funding
At the end of January, Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano rejected Title V federal funding for abstinence-only-until-marriage programs, saving the state $1 million in matching funds. Arizona joins 15 other states, including California, New York, Ohio, Wisconsin and New Jersey, in rejecting the ineffective, inaccurate and gender-biased program.
"Governor Napolitano and the other 15 governors should be applauded for their actions," said James Wagoner, president of Advocates for Youth. "These governors are sending a clear message to Congress - - stop funding programs that don't work. They want honest and accurate sex education programs for youth in their states."
Click here to read the full press release.
Read more on the history of funding of Abstinence-Only-Until-Marriage Programs
February 7th is National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day
"Prevention is Power: Get educated, Get tested, Get involved, and Get treated"
In the United States, HIV/AIDS is a tremendous epidemic affecting more than 1 million people. However, HIV/AIDS has had a disproportionate impact on communities of color, particularly Black communities.
In 2005:
- Blacks account for 49 percent of the new HIV/AIDS diagnosis in the US.
- Blacks account for 50 percent of the estimated AIDS cases in the US.
- Of 141 infants prenatally infected with HIV, 65 percent were Black
- The rate of AIDS diagnosis for Black adults and adolescents was 10 times the rate for whites and 3 times the rate for Hispanics.
- Black women are most likely to be infected with HIV through high risk heterosexual contact.
- Injection drug use is the second leading cause of HIV infection for both Black men and women.
For more information, please visit:
February 14th is National Condom Day
February 14th, more widely known as Valentine's Day, is also National Condom Day. This day is observed to raise awareness and educate people about condoms. According to the CDC, condoms are highly effective in preventing HIV,and effective in preventing pregnancy and a number of sexually transmitted infections.
New Research
Public Funding for Family Planning, Sterilization and Abortion Services, FY 1980-2006
Guttmacher Institute
Through various methods researchers examined the level of family planning funding in the United States, finding that although funding levels have risen from a drop in the 80s, expensive new contraceptive technologies and drops in funding in individual states mean that in many areas family planning is still underfunded. The report includes tables detailing each state's expenditures sources of funding. The report names Medicaid and Title X as important sources of funding for these services.
Read the report here: http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/2008/01/28/or38.pdf
What Schools Teach Our Patients About Sex
Obstetrics and Gynecology
Sexual Behavior, Knowledge and Information Sources of Very Young Adolescents in Four Sub-Saharan African Countries
African Journal of Reproductive Health
Association of intimate partner physical and sexual violence with unintended pregnancy among pregnant women in Peru
International Journal of Gynecology & Obstetrics
Intimate partner violence and unplanned pregnancy in the Pacific Islands Families Study
International Journal of Gynecology & Obstetrics
The contraceptive vaginal ring: female adolescents' knowledge, attitudes and plans for use
Contraception
Correlates of HIV-Related Risk Behaviors in African American Adolescents from Substance-Using Families: Patterns of Adolescent-Level Factors Associated with Sexual Experience and Substance Use
Journal of Adolescent Health
Variations in Coital and Noncoital Sexual Repertoire among Adolescent Women
Journal of Adolescent Health
HIV and STD Status Among MSM and Attitudes About Internet Partner Notification for STD Exposure
Sexually Transmitted Diseases
Take Action
The requirement by Congress that at least 33 percent of US global HIV prevention funding be spent on abstinence-until-marriage programs is costing lives and must be permanently removed this year. These programs do not address the realities of the populations they target.
Please urge your Senators to co-sponsor the PATHWAY Act (S. 2415/H.R.1713) and support its provisions within the reauthorization of PEPFAR. These critical steps are necessary to remove the 33 percent funding requirement and allow for comprehensive HIV prevention programs that meet the real life needs of women and youth.
Take Action now!
News of the Absurd
K-I-S-S-I-N-G? You Might Be E-X-P-E-L-L-E-D
Valentine's Day Expected to Significantly Reduce School Overcrowding
What might get a student expelled from school? Cheating, fighting, dealing drugs...or for some students, kissing! A young man and woman from Blythewood High School in Columbia, South Carolina were expelled for kissing on the school bus.
Officials claim the behavior was more serious than just kissing, and have charged the students with sexual misconduct.
"I saw the tape. They kissed maybe two minutes and the rest of bus ride home they leaned back on the seat and that was it," said Dominique Goyner's mother.
A Crime on Par With Gang Violence
"I would think they might suspend them off the bus for a day or two, but expelling them, that's a little steep," said Goyner's mother. Dominique is an award-winning ROTC student and hopes the expulsion will not interfere with his hopes of entering a military academy. The school board is standing by its decision to bar the students from attending Blythewood or any other school in the district.
Read the article at: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,326657,00.html
New At Advocates
Job Opening at Advocates!
The Director of Public Policy provides information and policy analysis to interested parties on adolescent reproductive and sexual health. With the President, the Director acts as the organization's voice on these issues in the public arena, with colleague organizations, and with the media and oversees the public policy functions of the organization. The Department Director develops educational materials for policy makers and the media, particularly on teen pregnancy and HIV prevention, sexuality education, and reproductive health care services.
Click here for more details and to apply
In the Spotlight
Making Change in Washington State
Elizabeth is a a State Activist with Advocates for Youth
My name Is Elizabeth, and I'm 18 years old and from Seattle, Washington, where I intern for NARAL Pro-Choice Washington. NARAL is currently working on getting Emergency Contraception (Plan B) access available everywhere in WA State. We are making sure pharmacies know about Plan B, and are finding out if they stock it. At the end of January we will be lobbying in the State capital, Olympia, to advocate for Emergency Contraception rights in the state. One of the big issues with Emergency Contraception is that people think it is an abortion pill, but Plan B is just a higher dose of birth control and so it should be available over the counter at all pharmacies just like birth control.
Click here to read the full story
You can help Advocates for Youth with a contribution today. To donate, visit http://www.advocatesforyouth.org/about/donatetoday.htm
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