It was 1968 when I started my period, and I was only 12. Then, menstruation and sexuality were not surrounded by total silence in my rural corner of Denmark. Still, our mothers were not exactly chirping out information about budding teenage sexual desires and menstrual cycles. Menstrual hygiene management was focused on educational factors. However, many of them occurred beyond the household. We read books, heard about it from older sisters, girl-chatted among peers, and felt the vibes from the feminists who were burning bras, going to nudist island camps with their sisters, and championing the flower-power attitude towards sex. But without a doubt, the schools deserve most of the credit for educating us and keeping us safe from teenage pregnancies.
In Denmark, schools are not only meant to ensure academic qualifications, but they also play an important ‘civilizing role’ in that they are expected to provide the opportunity for all children to grow up as harmonious, happy, and genuine people for whom it is natural to consider other people’s welfare (Laura Gilliam and Eva Gulløv, Making children ‘social’: Civilising institutions in the Danish welfare state, Human Figuration, Feb. 2014).
Discovering Menstrual Hygiene
Part of this paradigm is giving all students a profound knowledge of their bodies, respectful sexual relations, reproductive justice, STIs, contraceptives, and, yes, basic information on vital menstrual hygiene management. Feeling a little bit awkward and mighty curious, we started sex education in sixth grade, and it was made very clear that teenage pregnancies reflected utmost stupidity and irresponsible behavior as we now had the knowledge to avoid them. I think my generation of teenagers – boys and girls – was the first to have the privilege of being empowered to control our own reproductive lives and understand the intricacies of desire, consent, and sexuality – the first generation of teenagers that was not told to abstain from having sex, but instead enjoy it responsibly, so our young lives, careers, and dreams for the future would not be derailed by unwanted pregnancies or emotionally scarring abortions. Instead, we would be part of building a strong self, a strong family, a strong community, and a strong country.
What Is Teenage Pregnancy?
DEFINITION: Teenage pregnancy or teenage childbearing is when a girl aged 15-19 is pregnant with her first child or gives birth.
Denmark’s sex education curriculum and even menstrual hygiene management are now among the most progressive in the world, so much so that the sixth week of the school year is dedicated entirely to all things sex and relationships. ‘Sex week’ — a play on the Danish homonym for ‘six’ and ‘sex’ — provides progressive and ambitious sex education to hundreds of thousands of young people. It is run by Sex & Samfund (Sex & Society), a non-profit dedicated to improving sex education in Denmark. And it works!
This graph clearly shows how drastically the number of teenage births (Teenagefødsler) has decreased since 1973. The teenage pregnancy and abortion rates are very low as well compared to most other places, including the U.S. and many European countries.
In 2017, only 474 children were born to teenage mothers in Denmark. The number of adolescent pregnancies was, however, higher as some teenage girls chose abortion. In addition, the morning-after pill and pregnancy tests are available for over-the-counter purchase. They play a crucial role in the early detection of and prevention of pregnancy.
In the U.S., the birth rate has fallen dramatically over time as well.
In 2017, the CDC reported that a total of 194,377 babies were born to women aged 15–19 years, for a birth rate of 18.8 per 1,000 women in this age group. This marks another record low for U.S. teens, representing a 7% decline from 2016. Birth rates declined by 10% for women aged 15–17 years and by 6% for women aged 18–19 years.
Teen Pregnancy in Tanzania
The situation is very different in Tanzania. It has the 17th highest adolescent fertility rate in Africa, and according to the United Nations Fund for Population Activities, teenage pregnancy has increased by 4% since 2010. In 2016, statistics showed that one in four adolescent girls aged 15-19 had begun childbearing. In the Mara Region, where the Maji Safi Group works, adolescent childbearing rates are a staggering 37%.
The many drivers and consequences of teenage pregnancy seem to be hopelessly intertwined protagonists in a vicious cycle. Their relevance to Tanzania seems taken straight out of a textbook: low education attainment, poverty (often resulting in transactional sex/prostitution), limited economic opportunities, gender inequality, male-dominated social norms, child marriage, and a dire lack of youth-friendly sexual and reproductive health services. It is also a huge problem in Tanzania that teenage mothers are not allowed to reenter the school system after giving birth.
When the Maji Safi Group began working in Shirati, Mara Region, Tanzania, in 2012, menstruation was a taboo subject. The access to female hygiene products and appropriate school bathrooms was so limited that menstruation contributed greatly to school absences and girls failing to succeed in school. We have helped change that!
Thanks to funding from private donors and grants from Beyond Our Borders and Dining for Women, we have built a nationally recognized Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM) program that has taught thousands of girls about their bodies, puberty, menstruation, healthy relationships, etc., given them access to feminine hygiene products (pads, tampons and menstrual cups), and enabled them to look to our Community Health Educators as mentors with whom they can freely discuss and celebrate being young women.
Giving Teens In Tanzania Another Chance
Maji Safi Group’s approach is echoed in Tara Culp Ressler’s suggestions of five simple strategies to reduce teen pregnancies:
- Provide teenagers with comprehensive sex education from middle school onward.
- Target messages to both teen boys and teen girls.
- Involve the whole community.
- Make contraceptives (especially condoms) widely available.
- Encourage mentoring to foster open discussions about sexuality and contraception.
We teach both boys and girls at primary and secondary schools throughout the Rorya District. We involve the whole community by broadcasting shows about MHM on area radio stations.
We use singing, dancing, and street theatre to teach at significant community events and our Dining for Female Hygiene get-togethers.
We paint community murals to educate all generations about MHM.
Through classes and Female Hygiene Health Clubs, our Community Health Educators mentor our students and encourage open discussions about menstruation, healthy relationships, and other related topics.
We provide girls with access to female hygiene products, including reusable pads, tampons, and menstrual cups.
We refer people wishing to obtain contraceptives to the Shirati KMT Hospital in hopes that they will overcome old-fashioned cultural norms.
We are a member of the National Task Force on Menstrual Hygiene Management and attend many regional and national conferences.
How Maji Safi Group is Helping
We are having a profound impact on the MHM landscape in Tanzania, but it’s a marathon, and we haven’t yet crossed the finish line. The ultimate goal is to create systemic change so that a progressive, comprehensive sex education program becomes a permanent component in all Tanzanian schools.
Maji Safi Group will continue to work towards that goal – because all young people should have the knowledge and control to manage their own reproductive lives and fulfill their dreams.
