Stepping Up! It’s a wrap!

Western Kenya, March 2023:

Curtains fall on the Stepping Up! project that was being implemented in six villages in Kakamega and four villages in Uasin Gishu Counties.  The project brought together  youth aged 15-18 years together with their parents/guardians/primary caregivers as well as 19-24-year-old youth in separate peer groups for males and females to discuss issues surrounding adolescent sexual and reproductive health (SRH), as well as provide teachable and learning moments for parents to talk to their youth about sexual health.

Why Stepping Up!? Research showed that girls and young women in western Kenya are becoming pregnant at times not of their choosing, leading to detrimental social, emotional, and physical outcomes for both mother and child. Parents, guardians, and intimate partners play major roles in the lives of young girls in Kenya, including sexual initiation and sexual decision-making. However, consistent and equitable communication between families and partners is often absent, limiting the agency that young girls have over their own reproductive wellbeing and putting them at risk for violence and adverse health outcomes. The Stepping Up! project presents an opportunity to build more gender-equitable relationships, improve communication, and reduce stigma, which has the potential to improve family planning and quality of life among adolescents in western Kenya.

At present there is a major gap in how we engage parents and intimate partners in the lives of young women to impact their sexual wellbeing. SRH has long been reduced to merely contraceptive use or the prevention of sexually transmitted infections, which ignores the underlying social norms and relationships in which young women are embedded. This project addresses the current gaps in SRH programs among youth by engaging parents and young people to address some of the most critical barriers women experience, namely male-dominated sexual decision-making, limited communication about SRH between intimate partners and with parents, and stigma related to sexuality and early pregnancy. Our approach will dig deeper into the attitudes and norms around gender equitable relationships, while simultaneously providing functional sexual health knowledge and practical communication skills.

Stepping Up! aims to improve the quality of life and delay childbearing among adolescent women in western Kenya by delaying sexual initiation and increasing use of family planning methods among youth. Stepping Up! will specifically work towards improving knowledge, attitudes, and skills related to SRH; improving attitudes related to family planning; reducing stigma related to SRH; improving communication between youth and their parents; and improving gender power dynamics among youth.

Some of the special requests made by the youth include:

1. We would appreciate if our parents would talk to us on issues of sexual health relationships and be understanding. (younger women in Kamkunji, Uasin Gishu)
2. We as youth we request that you should not overburden us with a lot of work so that we get enough time for studies and also stop forcing us to get into early marriages. (older women in Jerusalem, Uasin Gishu)
3. We will feel much happier when our parents allow us to study and brighten our future rather than forcing us into early marriage. (younger women in Koitoror, Uasin Gishu)
4. We as youth of ages 15-18 humbly request our parents and guardians to stop abusing drugs and take care of our needs so as to avoid dropping out of school and sexual harassment. (younger men in Koitoror, Uasin Gishu)
5. We the girls of age 15-18 years from Makuche village feel embarrassed when men force us to engage in sexual relationships and yet we are still young .We request our  parents to support us and tell the men in this society to respect our decisions and also wait for us to reach the recommended age. (younger women in Makuche, Kakamega)
6. We feel bad when we have sex without protection like condoms which leads us into early and unwanted pregnancies, STI’s like HIV/AIDS and syphilis .We would suggest that we use protection when having sex for better life. (older women in Namushiya A, Kakamega)
7. To our peers, we feel embarrassed when you force us to engage in early sex and drug abuse which eventually lead to school drop-out. We will feel much better if you respect our stand of abstinence. (younger women in Munyuki, Kakamega)

Stepping Up!, Kuwa na msimamo tahidi, jenga msingi bora (take a strong stand and build a good foundation).

Stepping Up!, Building stronger relationships among youth and parents to increase family planning use in western Kenya.

End of Act One.

By Catherine Muteithia, ACLAD Research and Communications Assistant