Country
COLOMBIA
Import/Export
EXPORT
Topic
Zero Project 2018/19
Transfer Model
DISSEMINATION
Status
Four organizations in Colombia are working together to promote and safeguard the sexual and reproductive rights of people with intellectual and psychosocial disabilities. They have developed training and information for health professionals, judges, young people with intellectual and psychosocial disabilities, and their families. Between 2012 and 2018 they have trained over 3,000 people and influenced new health legislation introduced in 2017. They are also doing research into sexual violence towards persons with disabilities.
Solution
In Colombia there is low awareness of the sexual and reproductive rights of persons with disabilities and sexual violence rates are particularly high against women with psychosocial and intellectual disabilities.
The four organizations (Profamilia, ASDOWN Colombia, LICA and PAIIS) have developed the first training in Colombia on capacity and sexual and reproductive rights for people with intellectual and psychosocial disabilities. They have created information cards for judges, health professionals, persons with disabilities, and their families. Profamilia trained all staff in its 30 sexual health clinics across Colombia. 209 young people with intellectual disabilities attended training sessions to develop skills to self-advocate and share information through their social networks. These accessible sessions included easy read materials and inclusive interactive approaches.
The “Support in Decision Making in Sexual and Reproductive Health” guide supports people to make decisions about issues like contraception and abortion. This tool was validated with people with psychosocial and intellectual disabilities. It is now being shared with other health providers in Colombia.
Impact
In 2017, the four organizations supported the drafting of the Colombian Ministry of Health’s Resolution 1904, which guarantees the right of persons with disabilities to receive adequate information to exercise their sexual and reproductive rights, and prohibits the sterilization of people with disabilities without their consent. The project’s decision-making assessment tool was used as an example for creating the legal standard.
As of October 2018, the project is focused on addressing sexual violence against people with disabilities in five cities of Colombia.
209 young people (aged 15-21) with intellectual and psychosocial disabilities attended training.
Goals
NGOs and health services in other countries could use the training and learning materials, making amendments for different legal frameworks. Through their work with Handicap International and the International Planned Parenthood Federation, the four partners have shared their materials with international partners, and there has been interest from organizations in Costa Rica, Guatemala, Mexico, and Uruguay.
Needs
We are looking for:
- Partners that work on gender or disability rights
- Health institutions that want to make their services more inclusive
- Families and people with disabilities that want to talk about sexuality and reproductive rights
- Donors that want to invest in the replication and /or strengthening of this practice
Transfer Model
We want to allow others to replicate our comprehensive model for sexual and reproductive rights of people with intellectual and psychosocial disabilities.
Our offer to partners:
- Share our knowledge and experience
- Share tools and provide technical assistance to different actors
We focus mainly on Colombia and Latin America region through our regional networks.
Further Info
http://www.ligautismo.org/ – Colombian League of Autism (LICA)website
https://paiis.uniandes.edu.co/index.php/es/ – PAIIS website
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nInJeIIghig – Systematization of the practice (Spanish with English subtitles)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nInJeIIghig – Testimony of Laura Ximena González Varela, young leader trained by the programme
Contact persons: Monica Cortes monica.cortes@asdown.org and Natalia Acevedo Natalia.acevedo@profamilia.org.co