Unintended pregnancy help cases have tripled since the previous year, Qingyue urges women to strengthen education on self-contraception

According to statistics, from 2010 to 2014, more than 40% of global pregnancies were accidental, and 60% of the partners chose to terminate the pregnancy; and the 2021 United Nations Population Fund report shows that due to the new crown pneumonia pandemic, an average of 3.6 months cannot be obtained. Contraceptive services, 1.4 million unintended pregnancies in more than 100 countries.

Sex educator Cai Jiali said that the number of help-seeking cases related to unintended pregnancy has tripled since the previous year and has been on the rise. She reminds both men and women to take "double protection" when they have sex to avoid accidental accidents. Pregnancy affects a lifetime.

Cai Jiali, assistant manager of the Qingyue project, said that the number of help-seeking cases related to unintended pregnancy has tripled since the previous year and has been on the rise.

(Picture provided by Qingyue)

Qingyue, a non-profit organization that has been assisting teenage girls and advocating comprehensive sexuality and reproductive health education in Hong Kong, said that the project assistant manager Carrie Choi said that in the past, Qingyue received an average of about 5 to 6 cases of unintended pregnancy per month, but in 2020 At the beginning, the number of cases soared by 3 times, and the average number of cases reached 20 per month for the following two consecutive years, and there is also an upward trend.

"Most girls know to take safe contraceptive measures, but they do not use condoms or even use condoms throughout sexual intercourse because of luck and compliance with their partner's requirements." She pointed out that most young people know about condoms from peers, social media and forums. contraceptive methods, but most of this information is unreliable.

Cai also pointed out that they even mistakenly believe that "the first seven and the last seven" and "extra-corporeal ejaculation" are enough to avoid pregnancy. "They often take a fluke mentality.

She added that some people who seek help said that although they use condoms during sex with their partners, they still get pregnant unexpectedly. Self-contained contraceptive methods should also be adopted, and "double protection" is more reliable."

Qingyue pointed out that girls should also adopt independent contraceptive methods, and it is more reliable to do "double protection".

(Picture provided by Qingyue)

Unintended pregnancy lack of support, feeling collapsed, physical and mental counseling up to 8 years

After finding out that they are pregnant, girls know that no matter what decision they make, they will have to face a series of problems and disrupt their life plans. If they fail to receive timely support, they will often feel helpless or even collapsed.

Cai Jiali shared that there was a girl who discovered an unexpected pregnancy on the eve of the DSE exam and was afraid to confess to her family. She felt at a loss and asked Qingyue for help.

After immediate counseling, the girl finally chose to discuss with her family and underwent pregnancy termination surgery with the consent of her family. However, after the surgery, the girl was unable to cope with the public exam and had to drop the DSE exam. She also had to deal with issues such as economics, further studies, and relationships.

Cai Jiali added that most of the girls who seek counseling support after unintended pregnancy and termination of pregnancy from Qingyue are from low-income and marginalized families. Without family support, counseling services generally take 3 to 6 years, and some cases even take up to 8 years to follow up. year.

Clarify the misunderstanding of girls' active contraception and encourage men and women to do "double protection"

Cai Jiali emphasized that contraception should be the responsibility of both parties, and girls should not only rely on boys to take contraceptive methods.

When Qingyue provides contraceptive advice to service users, it generally recommends various correct contraceptive options, but on average, 3 out of 5 girls resist hormonal contraceptive methods due to prejudice and misunderstanding. "We found that the main reason is that, Girls often receive all sorts of misinformation online, leading to resistance to female-led contraceptive methods such as the pill and the medicated uterine ring, both of which are highly effective and reliable methods.”

In view of this, Qingyue will invite medical professionals such as gynecologists to give sex education lectures this year, instill correct sexual knowledge and female-led contraceptive methods, and teach girls that they should not only rely on male contraception, and consider adopting their own dominant contraceptive measures.

Cai Jiali reminded, "I hope that both men and women have 'double protection' when they have sex, so as not to cause an unintended pregnancy to affect their life due to a short period of time."

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