Our birth rate is low, the number of legally induced abortions is dropping, and we use contraception very rarely. This may lead to the conclusion that Croats don’t have sex very often. However, the data published at 24sata.hr has shown that Croats have sex approximately 134 times per year, once in every two or three days.
When was sex education introduced as school subject in other countries?
Most European countries started incorporating sex education into their high school program in the mid-60’s and the early 70’s of the 20th century. Croatia kept up with the western countries; Marijan Košiček’s book “Sexual Education” was published in 1965, and, several years later, sexual education as a school subject was experimentally introduced to several schools in Zagreb in the school year of 1973/1974. Most European sexual education programs started as parts of other subjects, such as biology, and later became mandatory school subjects through which students learn about sexuality, sexually transmitted diseases, and protection with the help of experts. In Croatia, sexual education as a school subject doesn’t exist: to learn about sex, Croats are forced to search the www.
Check when did sex education become a school subject in other countries
Best practice
According to the EU experts, the best practices of sex education have been established in the Nordic countries, the Benelux countries, France, and Germany. In Denmark, sex workers, homosexuals and HIV-positive persons share their own experiences, and, in Germany, children at the age of four are already introduced to sexual education.
In collaboration with Pliva, we conducted a survey which included 1680 women.
CONTRACEPTIVE PILL WON THIS TITLE IN THE YEAR 2009, AND IT ALL STARTED WITH A SINGLE WOMAN
Margaret Sanger, a nurse from New York, fought for the female right of economic and social equality. She believed that such equality could be achieved only if women were able to use contraception and decide whether to become pregnant. In 1916, Sanger founded the first American birth control clinic, and, despite having problems with finding doctors who would work at her clinic, she provided 488 women with contraceptive diaphragms. Her efforts caused her to end up in prison eight times. At the time, society still considered giving birth as fate and women’s most important task, so any kind of birth control was officially prohibited. The circumstances in which Sanger fought for women’s rights were much more unfavorable than the circumstances of today. She fought against inequality, ignorance and bigotry.
Sanger was a guest in a talk show hosted by the legendary journalist and TV host Mike Wallace. In a 30-minute interview, he asked her about her motives, opinions, and her attitude towards the Church.
The attitude towards the liberation of women changed during the World War I. While men fought on battlefields, women took over men’s jobs and vocations: they operated ploughs, drove cars and trams, made grenades in weapons factories, calculated their own expenses, handled their own money, got paid and fought to get a pay raise.
However, the situation improved only after the World War II: in the 1950’s the development of hormonal contraceptives became socially acceptable and politically possible.
The following data was gathered through a survey conducted by the “Korak po korak” (“Step by Step”) association of parents. The survey included ca. 400 parents and 150 young users of the Maloljetni-roditelji.net portal (“Underage parents”).
THE FIRST CONTRACEPTIVE PILL, NAMED ENOVID®, WAS INTRODUCED IN THE UNITED STATES IN MAY OF 1960
Margaret Sanger and her rich friend Katherine McCormick convinced Dr. Gregory Pincus to help them manufacture the first contraceptive pill. While they were developing the pill, Sanger thought that women would feel safer if, while on the pill, they would continue getting periods which would imitate the regular menstrual cycle. Furthermore, Sanger and her associates believed that society wouldn’t object the use of hormonal pills. These reasons led to the development of the pill that is to be taken three weeks per month.
Fake period remains a side effect of contraceptive pills and it is officially known as “withdrawal bleeding.” Many women still use traditional contraceptive pills. They start using pills on the first day of their menstrual cycle and then make a 7-day pause after three weeks. Therefore, the bleeding which happens at that time is biologically unnecessary but perfectly normal.
Today’s oral contraceptives contain an approximately five times smaller amount of hormones than the first oral contraceptives. In the beginning, a single pill contained as much as 100 to 175 micrograms of estrogen, whereas today’s pills usually contain between 20 and 50 micrograms. The smaller quantity of hormones reduced the negative side effects without diminishing positive therapeutic and protective effects of contraceptive pills.
The main reasons why people avoid hormonal contraceptives include lack of general knowledge on human reproduction, lack of information on the efficiency of contraceptive methods, and wrong information on hormonal contraception.
The pills of the current generation (the fourth generation) contain a small amount of hormones and don’t necessarily cause weight gain. Some types of contraceptive pills may even help with water retention.
There are no medical reasons which would require women to stop using contraceptive pills after a while – “detox” is not a valid reason. A break from using the pills may be more harmful than their continuous use, as the break may cause unplanned pregnancy. When a woman stops taking contraceptive pills and then starts taking them again after a while, the body needs to adjust to the pills once again.
This myth may have arisen from the fact that some women who use contraceptive pills avoid becoming pregnant until their late 30’s. Women in their late 30’s are already less fertile than younger women: the peak of female fertility lasts for 15 years and is at its highest level between the age of 20 and 30.
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