What kind of choice did these girls really have?

WOMEN’S Month has started without much fanfare. It seems to be a tad muted, compared with the noise of previous years.

I hope this is a sign that we are getting closer to a period in which pageantry and events are no longer the only markers of women’s advancement.

The best way to honour the gallant fighters of the 1956 women’s march is to build a country that is safe, nourishing and respectful towards women. We are a long way from achieving that, but we must continue striving.

Celebrations and awards sometimes create a false sense of achievement and a veneer of equality and respect.

This brings me to the bizarre story that the KwaZulu-Natal department of health has “forced” female bursary recipients to go on the contraceptive Implanon.

Several media sources reported that at the students’ farewell dinner before their trip to India, health MEC Sibongiseni Dhlomo said: “We will be injecting them with Implanon so they don’t fall pregnant.” He is also quoted as saying the government had invested about R600 000 per student and it was unfair for the students to abuse the privilege.

The students were given full bursaries, funded by the government, Rand Merchant Bank and the South African division of Indian pharmaceutical company Cipla.

Some of the students are quoted as saying it was not their wish to take the contraceptive, but they felt they had no choice because they were desperate to study. Another is quoted as saying she felt pressured to take it.

The MEC’s office has denied that the young women were forced to take Implanon. It seems strange, though, that the students would risk so much by making false claims and singling out the MEC.

His office says they were given a choice and the contraceptive was not a prerequisite for the bursary. It all sounds fair, except it isn’t.

We cannot deny others their sexual and reproductive rights

Even if they were not physically dragged to a clinic to be injected, we cannot ignore the power dynamic between beneficiary and benefactor. The benefactor has all the power to bequeath and withhold a benefit. Why was contraception on the menu anyway?

The word choice fascinates me in this context. All over social media many have said the students have a choice.

Typical South Africa. We argue from our comfort zones and assume everyone is as empowered as we are. A young person who has no other way of escaping poverty than to take this bursary is not in the same position as another young person with access to funds, support and other options.

It reminds me of those who justify a slave wage by arguing that the worker has a choice to accept it or face unemployment. What kind of choice is that? Why do we get our kicks out of exploiting people’s vulnerability and desperation?

I am in full agreement that getting pregnant while studying is not ideal. I, too, have relatives who have thrown away every opportunity that has come their way through pregnancy. It frustrates me that they don’t see the investment being made in their lives. I weep when a family member who can hardly afford to buy herself or himself a meal falls pregnant or impregnates someone.

If any of these students fell pregnant, I would pull my hair out in frustration.

But we live in a constitutional democracy and must defer to the constitution, regardless of our emotions. We cannot force people to be responsible and prevent them from selfsabotage.

We cannot deny others their sexual and reproductive rights. We can only encourage, educate and appeal, but the choice is not ours to make.

Sadly, we also cannot protect ourselves from the bad choices that others make.