Problem Tree

The issue I want to raise awareness about is the sexual and reproductive health (SRH) of teenage girls, especially in Mexico. As you will see in the tree, some of the identified causes that lead to poor sexual and reproductive health among adolescent women are poverty, high-risk behaviors (such as alcohol and substance abuse), lack of information, gender inequality and no access to contraceptive methods, but why? Here are some of the ideas that came up.


• Poverty – Disadvantaged adolescents have problems to access quality education, information and/or health services.
• High risk behaviors – Teenagers under the influence of alcohol or other drugs are more likely to have unprotected sex.
• Lack of information – Teenagers don’t know about contraceptive methods or don’t know how to use them. They don’t have information about their sexual and reproductive rights.
• Gender inequality – Teenage girls are unable to negotiate with their male partners about safe sex practices. Traditional gender roles and stereotypes prevent both young men and women from exercising their sexuality in a healthy and responsible way.
• No access to contraceptive methods – Governments and health institutions haven’t been able to provide them. In some countries parental consent is required to access contraceptive services. Teenagers don't know where to get them.

Regarding the consequences of a poor SRH in teenage girls these include, but are not limited to:

 unsafe abortion practices and maternal death in adolescents
 health problems during and after pregnancy for both the mother and the baby
 teenage pregnancy/adolescent parenthood
 school dropout or poor school performance when teen pregnancies occur
 high rates of sexually transmitted diseases
 high risk of HIV infection

So, what I would like to tackle given the available resources and time is the lack of information about contraceptive methods, sexual and reproductive rights and gender equality in order to improve the sexual and reproductive health of adolescent women.

Note: Click here to see a bigger image of the problem tree.