Teenage pregnancy crisis. [File, Standard] World Contraception Day will be marked tomorrow. The day highlights one of the most important yet often neglected issues in public health: The right of every individual to access safe, affordable, and informed contraception. This year’s theme, ’A Choice for All-Agency, Intention, Access,’ reminds us that contraception is not just about preventing pregnancy. It is about agency over one’s body, the ability to plan one’s life with intention, and access to choices without discrimination, barriers, or stigma. As Kenya joins the global community in commemorating this day, it is time we go beyond rhetoric and…
Author: By Kavutha Mutua
Activists Boniface Mwangi and Agather Atuhaire while narrating their harrowing experiences at the hands of Tanzanian Authorities last Month. [Bernard Orwongo, Standard] I watched in tears as human rights defenders Agatha Atuhaire and Boniface Mwangi narrated their traumatic experiences of torture and ill-treatment in Tanzania. The two had traveled to attend the treason trial of opposition leader Tundu Lissu, a trial already raising alarms about political repression. What they endured was nothing short of state-sanctioned brutality: physical assault, verbal abuse, and sexual harassment while in custody. These are not isolated incidents. They meet the internationally accepted definition of torture. According…
Abortion laws and legislation on unborn baby as a fetus with a justice judge gavel representing the social issue and concept of rights with 3D illustration elements. [Courtesy/iStockphoto] Recently, I attended the launch of the National Study on the Incidence of Induced Abortions and the Severity of Abortion-Related Complications in Kenya. The findings? Eye-opening. But the online reaction? Even more telling. It turns out that 79 per cent of post-abortion care patients are married women, and 90 per cent identify as Christians. Yes, you read that right, Christian, married women. So much for the age-old myth that abortion is a…