Women reproductive rights have not been sufficiently fulfilled. Young women do not understand the risks of having sexual intercourse, especially the various diseases that may spread from their partners.
Data showed that teenagers need information on reproductive, even 67% of them expressed approval if sex education is taught in schools. Still, it will create a debate. "This debate will be on what benefits are obtained by the teaching of the subject, while yet many other important subjects have not been delivered in schools," said activist of LBH APIK NGO, Dra. Budi Wahyuni, M.A, on Thursday (22/7) at a seminar on "Protection of Women with Unwanted Pregnancies in ‘Shelter’ (Safe House): Woman Reproduction."
According to Budi Wahyuni, the presence of shelters for whatever reason needs to be reviewed again. Besides being costly, sometimes the shelter is not only inhabited by the clients of unwanted pregnancies, but also the victims of domestic violence as well as violence against women in general. "The shelter manager revealed that the shelter is costly. Not to mention the cost of shelter mothers who have to stand by. It’s like 24 hours job," she said as a speaker at the seminar.
Meanwhile, the shelter manager’s presence is like that of a counselor. As part-timers and volunteers, they are rarely seen together with the clients. Their role is only to accompany them to go to the gynecologist, or buying food to be stored in the fridge for the clients. In addition, the clients that are often older than the counselor are often reluctant to converse with her because they are unwilling to repeat her unpleasant story. "This is not a soap opera, but it is there among clients in the shelters," she added.
The research results revealed that almost all clients had tried to stop their unwanted pregnancies, but they failed to stop it due to some circumstances. Then they went to the shelter as one solution to protect themselves until it is time to move again without a hitch.
Safe house maintainence is not that simple, either, because the people can not seem to fully accept it. Compared with the shelter that is intended to be opened to the public, then the principle of safe houses is to be something quite different, or perhaps it is more accurate if it is named “temporary house”. "Because it is expected that clients do not stay in a long time in the shelters. Some clients can stay a maximum of 2 weeks, but clients who are on the referral status, or have tutors, can stay depending on their individual case," she explained.
In the seminar, Budi Wahyuni stressed that shelters are still needed to the present day as they are an alternative to protect women from the next possible risk coming from her family members or community.