Reproduction

Although research isn't mandated by my grant, I really want to do some investigation into sexuality and reproductive rights in Vietnam. For the past few months, I've been so overly-stimulated by all my new surroundings and responsibilities that I've barely even googled the issue. But this week, partially prompted by my recent convo with Lan Anh, I've decided to put a little more energy into some (still very informal research). Just today, in the course of 45 minutes or so, I learned the following:

• IUD's are the most common form of birth control here, with 67 percent of married couples using modern birth control. (UNFPA)
• Vietnam has the highest abortion rate in Asia and one of the highest rates in the world. The numbers work out to an average of 2.5 abortions per woman. (Marie Stopes International)
• 44 percent of rural women still have babies at home. (MSI)
• One woman dies of unsafe abortion every week in Viet Nam. (MSI)
• There is limited access to diverse contraceptive choices. Contraceptive prevalence of modern methods is 52.6%. (MSI)
• Maternal mortality is high (at 29.9/1000), especially in the central highlands and northern mountainous regions. (MSI)
  
• The number of women using IUDs declined by 10% in Hanoi from this time last year. (Vietnam News)
• The two-child policy isn't as successful as planners were hoping. (Vietnam News)
  
• The number of births per day in HCMC has recently doubled. (Vietnam News)

I was happy to find several reports on family planning and contraception in Vietnam; now I just need to find the time to read them all. And find a lot more information. I just have so many questions. What types of contraceptive are available, and to whom? And are the contraceptives quality? What type of sex- and family planning education is provided, and to whom? What do people think about sex, sexuality, family planning (and more specifically, the various forms of contraceptives)? Apparently there's a serious stigma against condoms here, a phenomenon which is, as far as I can tell, totally unrelated to the infamously shoddy quality of the locally-made ones. (So I've been told!!!) And I'm interested in issues surrounding abortion, as well. Despite its apparent prevalence, I read that there's still a stigma against it--which leads to women getting whatever the vietnamese equivalent of a "back alley" abortion is, and thus the 1 death per week...

Clearly I need to narrow down a bit, but for the time being I'm glad to read everything I can get my hands on about the issue. But reading isn't enough, I don't think. I need to talk to people. To women. To men. To young people. To health care workers. Even to someone in the governemnt responsible for family planning and the two-child policy. I'm not sure how far I'm going to get in any of that, though. I'm busy, I don't speak Vietnamese, and I have absolutely zero contacts in the field. (Oh, actually, Lan Anh's mom is an ob-gyn, so maybe that's a start at least.)

I was also excited to find the Marie Stopes International organization in Vietnam. In university, I wrote a big term paper about Marie Stopes and women's sexual agency in 1920s Europe, so the organization sounded interesting to me anyway. But upon further reading, I realized that this organization is doing some great things. It's reaching out to poor, rural women and educating them about reproduction, family planning, and overall health, and providing them with clinical reproductive health services. It's motto is "Children by choice, not by chance." Yes, m'am.

I would love to work with this agency, or one like it. Family planning, access to sexual and reproductive information, and women's reproductive rights are issues that I can see becoming a possible career path for me. You know, since I have such an extensive background in the field. :) I'm now thinking about staying a second year in Vietnam, so maybe I'll have the opportunity to get more involved.

In the meantime, I'm just looking forward to further educating myself about the issue.