Discover the wonders of the human body, from anatomy and development to sexual identity.
Entitlement to a ‘private space’ is a universally shared value, observed even in primitive societies and is widely recognized as a fundamental human right. One of the key🔑 areas of human rights is the sexual rights, and according to the World Association for sexual health, there are 16 sexual rights which include: right to equality and non-discrimination ❌; right to life, liberty and security; right to autonomy and bodily integrity; right to privacy; right to be free from all forms of violence and coercion; right to be free from torture and cruel or inhuman and degrading punishment or treatment; right to enter, form and dissolve marriage and similar types of relationship based on equality and free and full consent etc.
These rights are for every individual regardless of country or socio-economic status. They are important in making sure that individuals are treated equally and free to make informed decisions without any form of coercion, bias, violence and with the confidence that self-respect is maintained. Young people must know and demand their right to make decisions about their health, body, sexuality and reproduction without state control, fear, coercion or discrimination.
The right of a woman👩🦳 or girl👩 to make autonomous decisions about her own body and reproductive functions is at the core of her basic rights to equality, privacy, and bodily integrity. Every woman deserves the right to make any decision about her sexual and reproductive health—free from stigma or discrimination, without having to ask permission, and without having to face barriers to access the type of care she would like at any time.
Consent is an agreement or permission given by someone to participate in activity or allow something to happen. It is a voluntary agreement with an action proposed by another. Seeking and giving consent especially as it concerns sexual behaviours is very important.
Informed consent: this is defined as voluntary acceptance given on a subject matter after full understanding and by a competent individual. It is a decision-making capacity that is free from coercion or manipulation by the person seeking the consent. An informed consent has three key🔑 components – provision of complete information, ability to understand the information given and voluntary acceptance of the information given.
Other types of consent include expressed consent (may be written📝 or oral), implied consent etc. it is however important that an informed consent is given or obtained after considering all the possible benefits and risks of any sexual decision you want to take.
What is Privacy?
This is another fundamental human right that is essential to autonomy and the protection of human dignity. It helps you create barriers and manage boundaries to protect yourself from unnecessary interference in your life.
It also helps you to establish boundaries to limit who has access to your body, places and things, as well as your communications and your information. It helps you determine how you want to interact with the world around you.
Why is consent, privacy and bodily integrity important?
It is important to remind you that you own your body and therefore, you have the right to decide what happens to your body i.e. who touches your body, which parts of your body are allowed to be touched and in what way you want those body parts to be touched.
This implies that you must have a full understanding of the consequences of your sexual decisions and must be in the right state of mind to give voluntary acceptance to who, where and when your body can be touched.
As you grow up, especially during your pubertal and adolescence stage, there may be unwanted sexual attention hence the privacy about your body and about your private space becomes very important. Privacy on social media is also important in today’s age as you ensure you are not sharing nudes, personal information or even authorised recorded phone conversations.
You must communicate assertively to maintain privacy and counter unwanted sexual attention. It is okay to say ‘no’ or ‘stop’ if you are uncomfortable with the way you are being touched. Always talk to a trusted adult if you feel your rights to privacy and bodily integrity are being violated.
When you want to exercise sexual behaviour, you have to give your consent and seek your partner’s consent so you both can have pleasurable and consensual sexual behaviour✔️. Everyone has the right to be in control of what they will and will not do sexually, and should actively communicate and recognize consent from their partners.
In conjunction with the Criminal Code Act, the Child Rights Act helps to ensure that children in Nigeria are adequately protected from sexual exploitation and abuse.
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