Sexual and Reproductive Health
Complex legal frameworks, and social attitudes about sexuality, including the values of healthcare providers, govern LGBTIQ+ access to sexual and reproductive health services.
LGBTIQ+ individuals have significant sexual and reproductive health needs.
Legal complications and social attitudes are often antipathetic to sexual and gender minorities. Existing culture assumes that all individuals identify as heterosexual, and exclusively engage in (heteronormative) sexual activity with partners of the opposite sex/gender, within a legal framework – marriage. So little is known about if and how the needs of sexual and gender minorities are met, especially for women. Women in the region are rarely included in the LGBTIQ+ sexual health services, and rarely have their sexual and reproductive health concerns addressed due to social norms and cultural barriers.
This is further compounded by age-related stigma regarding sexual activity amongst youths, and gender-related stigma regarding women’s sexual activity, effectively leaving sexual and gender minorities without access to necessary information and essential services about their sexuality and sexual and reproductive health.
