CALL FOR ACTION 28 SEPTEMBER CAMPAIGN CONCEPT NOTE1 Bust the Myths: Fight Abortion Stigma and Discrimination with Facts TH
2015 September 28th Campaign is focused on ending abortion misconceptions, stigma and discrimination. Generation Initiative For Women and Youth Network (GIWYN) and Allies join Women Global Network For Reproductive Rights (WGNRR) and other organizations around the world to be committed to having a more positive approach, not just a defensive approach, but an approach that aims to debunk false statements and replace them with the realities of proven research and individual experiences of abortion According to Women Global Network For Reproductive Rights (WGNRR), the backlash from recent Planned Parenthood attacks and events worldwide surrounding abortion-related stigma, silence, fear, shame, and stigma: are all elements that the anti-choice movement is counting on. They reinforce and reproduce them through misinformation and ideologically-based arguments will counter this by focusing on the positive realities of abortion experiences and individual stories. Following this, it was agreed that “Bust the Myth� properly conveyed the goal of framing abortion in a different lens and speaking out against those falsely-construed statements. Though Abortion is restricted in Nigeria except in the case of saving a woman whose life is in danger of pregnancy related complications, yet, Conservative groups still launch aggressive campaigns to turn back the advances on women's reproductive rights particularly abortion rights. They've depicted abortion as an immoral, dangerous and painful procedure sought by misguided women who will undoubtedly regret their decision, and they've used those myths to justify changes in laws and impose 1 .(Adapted from WGNRR Concept Note For 2015 Sept. 28 th Campaign)
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restrictions. As a result, women in Nigeria are still facing a growing number of obstacles to reduction of unsafe abortion to save their lives, one of them mainly being stigma and discrimination. In the midst of all these ideologically-charged arguments, some of the most important facts about abortion get obscured. Part of breaking the stigma is removing these ideologically-charged and socially constructed beliefs that permeate all levels of society and reinforce the stigma. Generation Initiative For Women and Youth Network(GIWYN ) joins WGNRR and other organizations around the world working on Reproductive and Sexual Health Rights to tackle all of these messages that the society is being constantly bombarded with by the opposition. The point is not just to react defensibly to these messages but to build a reality-based argument against them focusing on the positive experiences and realities derived from abortion.
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