Sexual Rights

What are my Reproductive and Sexual Rights?

In Canada, you have the right to make decisions about your body. You have the right to:

  • Decide whether to have children, when to have children, and how many children to have.
  • Choose a birth control method that is right for you.
  • Receive non-judgemental and unbiased sexual and reproductive health care services.
  • Receive information about sexual and reproductive health.
  • Choose your sexual partner(s).
  • Decide when to have sex or not.
  • Choose to not marry, or if you choose to marry you can chose who that is with.
  • Protect yourself and your partner(s) from sexually transmitted infections/HIV.
  • Choose your health care provider.

What are my rights when seeing a doctor?

It’s important to feel comfortable with your health care provider. You have the right to:

  • Be treated with respect.
  • Ask questions and get answers that you understand.
  • Have someone with you for the whole appointment, if you want, including the physical exam.
  • Make decisions about your health care without anyone else knowing about it.
  • Change health care providers.

What can I do if I don’t want to have children (get pregnant) now?

  • If you decide not to have children:
  • You can decide not to have penis-vagina sex.
  • You can decide to have penis-vagina sex and use birth control.

Where can I get more information?

  • From your health care provider, community health clinic, or public health nurse.
  • From the Facts of Life On-Line: e-mail your questions to thefactsoflife@serc.mb.ca.
  • From SERC’s website: www.serc.mb.ca.
  • Under 22 teen clinics.

Glossary:

Birth Control – The different ways of preventing pregnancy

 

 

 

 

Developed in collaboration with Klinic Community Health and Literacy Partners of Manitoba 2007

Sexuality Education Resource Centre 2016