Girls need to be edified about reproductive health from an early age so that they can protect themselves from the risk of sexual violence, Minister of Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection, Bintang Puspayoga, has said.
“The presence of the ‘Sejuta Putri Brilian’ program is very important because it discusses issues for girls such as reproductive health, including self-care and menstrual health, prevention of child marriage, and family life,” Puspayoga noted in a press release on the launch of the program by Womenpreneur Indonesia Networks (WIN) at the Muhammadiyah Baby Orphanage on Monday.
She also said that building an entrepreneurial mindset is important and strategic for the future of Indonesian girls. Knowledge of reproductive health needs to be socialized from an early age, especially since gender inequality has created barriers for girls in terms of access to this knowledge.
Not only that, reproductive health knowledge has a bearing on women’s health when they become mothers in future. The health of children who are conceived and born later is also affected by their mothers’ knowledge of reproductive health.
It is also important to provide married life education since creating a strong nation requires building equal, strong, and prosperous family units.
Puspayoga also asked the caretakers at the orphanage to uphold children’s rights, both in terms of education, participation, and protection from all violence, exploitation, and other forms of mistreatment.
“I hope that the launch of this program can become a good practice for cross-sectoral synergies in an effort to achieve gender equality and empower women and can inspire other stakeholders to work together,” she added.
Source: Antara News