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Rights. Respect. Responsibility®
A Bold New Vision for Sexual Health in America
August 10-11, 2006
Eugene Hilton
Eugene, Oregon
Advocates for Youth and Planned Parenthood Health Services of Southwestern Oregon held a national conference on the 3Rs: Rights. Respect. Responsibility.® Participants learned about a compelling model that is gaining national attention. This positive approach is grounded in the 3Rs and effectively reframes the conversation about adolescent sexual health, ultimately contributing to lower teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted infection rates.
Conference information:
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The Conference:
Rights. Respect. Responsibility.® (3Rs) is a bold new framework and philosophical approach to adolescent sexual health. It emerged from Advocates for Youth’s experience leading study tours to the Netherlands, Germany, and France to examine how these countries successfully reduced rates of teen pregnancy, abortion, and sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Since 1998, over 200 health and education professionals, policy makers, clergy, media representatives, and youth have attended study tours. Using the lessons learned in Western Europe, study tour participants have implemented 3Rs changes in policies, practices, and programs as well as organizations and systems. They have also implemented multi-component 3Rs campaigns across communities and states.
The 3Rs means embracing the following values:
- Youth have the right to accurate and complete sexual health information, confidential reproductive and sexual health services, and a secure stake in the future.
- Youth deserve respect. Today, young people are largely perceived as part of the ‘problem’. Valuing young people means they are part of the solution and participate in developing programs and policies that affect their well-being.
- Society has the responsibility to provide young people with the tools they need to safeguard their sexual health, and young people have the responsibility to protect themselves from too early childbearing and STIs, including HIV.
Advocates for Youth and Planned Parenthood Health Services of Southwestern Oregon have embarked on long term campaigns to embrace these values in all their work. Other communities, agencies, and individuals have joined them and will share strategies and successes at the conference.
The conference provided all participants with opportunities to build their skills to incorporate the 3Rs philosophy into their work to improve adolescent reproductive and sexual health.
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