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January 2007 update on new publications, actions you can take, and more!
Advocates for Youth's e-News Update
YOU COULD WIN $500!
If you are between the ages of 15-24, you could win $500 (first prize)! Enter the Rights. Respect. Responsibility. Condom Campaign. It's a fun, creative way to learn about condoms.
And while you are working on your "winning" entry, read more about the war on condoms and send a letter to your Congressional representative supporting comprehensive sex education.
Just click here to get started.
And we are proud to announce the winners of the last condom campaign round:
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FIRST PLACE
Jesse, age 17
Maryland |
RUNNER-UP
Andi, age 18
Colorado |
RUNNER-UP
Shelby, age 20
Texas |
This Month
January is National Cervical Cancer Awareness Month
What you need to know about the HPV Vaccine
There is now a vaccine for HPV for girls ages 9-26! In June, 2006, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Gardasil® for the prevention of HPV. This vaccine can help prevent against diseases caused by HPV Types 16 and 18, which cause 70% of cervical cancer cases, and HPV Types 6 and 11, which cause 90% of genital warts cases. The vaccine is given by 3 injections over 6 months.
Click here to read more about the HPV Vaccine.
Take Action
It's Time for a Change.
Tell your representatives to cosponsor REAL, the Responsible Education About Life Act.
When Congress meets this month, new Senators and Representatives will be making decisions about your health and safety.
Advocates for Youth urges you to Take Action! Send a message to Congress that young people have a right to accurate sexual health information! Urge your Senators and Representatives to support the Responsible Education about Life (REAL) Act, sponsored by Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Representative Barbara Lee (D-CA).
Research indicates that teenagers who receive information about both abstinence and contraception are more likely to delay sexual activity and to have fewer partners and use condoms and contraception when they do become sexually active. Yet over the past 10 years, the federal government has funded over $1.4 billion in abstinence-only programs that censor information about the health benefits of contraception. This is disrespectful of youth and the wrong approach.
Representative Lee (D-CA) and Senator Lautenberg (D-NJ) will introduce the REAL Act later this month.
 Act now! Send a letter to your congressional representatives urging them to support the REAL Act.
Say What?!
Fear mongering about the HPV Vaccine
Over 5,000 women die from cervical cancer in the U.S. each year. The HPV vaccine will help to protect women against the types of HPV that cause cervical cancer. Even though the vaccine has been approved by the FDA for women and girls ages 9-26 and recommended by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), some people just can't get over the fact that it concerns sex.
For more information, please visit:
In The Spotlight
Jesse, 17, is a member of Advocates for Youth's Youth Resource and was the First Place Winner of Advocates' Condom Contest.
I am a volunteer peer educator with YouthResource, the peer education component of Advocates for Youth for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender youth. With YouthResource I answer questions from young people regarding a range of issues, from coming out to sexual health questions.
The most difficult challenge I face in my work is, hands down, communicating with my peers about why this work is so vital. Explaining to the average high school student about their rights to get comprehensive sexual and reproductive health information isn't easy, especially when they have numerous other things, like grades, sports, after school work, on their minds.
But the effort is worth it. Recently I had the opportunity to read e-mails from youth who have participated in the Advocates for Youth condom art contest, and I was struck by one e-mail from a young person in the Midwest who talked about how the contest enabled him and his father to discuss safer sex for the first time.
While the things that inspire me to work as an activist are constantly changing, my biggest motivators remain the people that I help. As a volunteer with Advocates for Youth, I am privileged to witness, first hand, how my work changes lives. I know that every person deserves a voice, and so I make use of mine when others cannot.
Right now, as a high school senior, I am preparing for the rest of my life. I intend to earn a Bachelor's of Political Science and a Master's of Public Policy in college and become a political speech writer. Eventually I plan to run for public office, and I hope to win the race!
Read All About It
Check out our new ad for young women of color and getting tested for HIV!
On the Town
Join NARAL Pro-Choice America for their first volunteer event of the year.
When: Thursday, January 18th
Where: NARAL Pro-Choice America, 15th Street, N.W, Washington, DC.
If you are interested in volunteering, please RSVP to Shalini Batra at sbatra@prochoiceamerica.org or 202-973-3016.
Religion and Choice: An Interfaith Panel Discussion
When: Wednesday, January 31st , 7:30 PM
Where: Brown University Hillel, Washington, DC
Sponsored by Brown Hillel, RI Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, Brown Students for Choice, and Spiritual Youth for Reproductive Freedom.
Contact Samantha_Pohl@brown.edu for more information.
National Young Women's Leadership Conference - Campus to Congress
When: Saturday, March 24, 2007 and Sunday, March 25, 2007
Where: Washington DC
*Women's Equality Summit & Congressional Day of Action
Monday, March 26, 2007 and Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Get more information here - http://feministcampus.org/leadership/default.asp.
Choice USA's Generation-to-Generation Celebration
When: Wednesday, May 23red
Where: Washington, DC further location TBA
Also--Nominate a young leader here http://www.choiceusa.org/involved/2007_g2gc.php!
Hope Spreads Faster than AIDS - New interactive mapping project
What: The Global Fund, with its partners Friends of the Global Fight and the United Nations Foundation, has launched a new interactive mapping project to support the "Hope Spreads Faster than AIDS" campaign.
Visit http://www.hopespreads.org today and help show the world that "Hope Spreads Faster than AIDS".
Grants for Student Groups engaged in pro-choice work!
What: Do you need some extra funding for an exciting program related to spirituality and reproductive justice? If so, apply for a Spiritual Youth for Reproductive Freedom (SYRF) programmatic grant today!
Visit http://www.syrf.org/getinvolved/programgrants.php for more information.
You can help Advocates for Youth with a contribution today. To donate, visit http://www.advocatesforyouth.org/about/donatetoday.htm
Read previous issues from the Archive of e-News Updates >>
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