Center for Indonesian Medical Students’ Activities (CIMSA) Faculty of Medicine UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta invited IPAS Indonesia Foundation to promote reproductive health for junior high school students, guardians and teachers. The activity entitled AKSARA (Let’s Discuss Reproductive Health with SCORA) was held at Ruhama Islamic Junior High School, Tangerang City, Banten, on Saturday, September 14, 2024. SCORA or Sexual & Reproductive Health and Rights Including HIV & AIDS is a division of CIMSA that focuses on reproductive health and rights issues.
Naila Muthia Resmala Local Officer on Sexual & Project Officer Reproductive Health Rights including HIV & AIDS said AKSARA is an annual program. This activity aims to increase community understanding related to reproductive health.
“AKSARA is held from year to year with the hope that the community will be more aware of reproductive health issues. This year AKSARA raises the theme of puberty and exploitation because this issue is rampant in the community,” said Naila.
In this activity, IPAS Indonesia Foundation’s Health System Strengthening Field Officer Dewi Suhaid was the resource person for the topic of puberty for adolescents. This session was divided into two groups, namely male and female classes. In this session, Dewi shared material related to the characteristics of puberty and how as young people, students adapt to the process.
“The experience was fun, I gave a reproductive health class, the class was interactive, the children were active, the questions were extraordinary. They were very enthusiastic,” said Dewi.
One of the female students from grade 9 said that this activity was very useful because it added insight related to reproductive health. “Moreover, I’m a member of PMR so it’s really useful. Because I think it is important for us teenagers today to know more about our own reproductive health and be more aware,” she said.
In addition, IPAS Indonesia Foundation’s Community Access and Mobilization Specialist Jaclyn Kaunang also shared in a class about dealing with adolescents during puberty for parents and teachers. In the session, she discussed how vulnerable adolescents are in cases of Sexual and Gender Based Violence. She also provided best practices on how to ensure a safe environment for adolescents both at school and at home.
“This is very important for adolescents during puberty because they need support from the environment including family and school. Adolescents are increasingly vulnerable to experiencing violence so that’s why this session is important. I’m glad the interest from parents and teachers was evidenced by the questions. In addition, there is also a follow-up plan from the school regarding the sexual violence handling team at school,” added Jaclyn.
This activity was responded positively by both the school and the students’ guardians. The Vice Principal for Student Affairs at SMP Islam Ruhama, Mr. Suedih Ahmad, said that he hoped the team from AKSARA could help the school in establishing a task force for handling sexual violence.
“For sure I am very happy to participate in this event because I know a lot about reproductive health and violence. This is quite helpful for parents to be more aware of our children,” said one of the student guardians.
Based on data from SIMFONI, a website for recording reports of violence by the Ministry of Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection, as many as 6,407 children in Indonesia reported being victims of violence in 2023. From the education category, junior high school children were the most victimized.
