“We still managed to talk about the violence meter, consent, abortion, etc.,” list Marie-Christine Caner and Sotheary Hem. It remains to be seen what they will remember based on what they have understood. » Tuesday afternoon, the two women led a meeting around contraception with residents of Sevran enrolled in the French course at the Edmond-Michelet neighborhood center.
The initiative was organized as part of National Sexual Health Week, whose actions continue until this Saturday throughout Seine-Saint-Denis*, particularly in neighborhood centers and maternal and child protection centers. infant (PMI). Marie-Christine Caner and Sotheary Hem work in a PMI center in Sevran. The first is a marriage and family counselor, the second is a childcare assistant.
This Tuesday, in front of around ten women, some of whom only know a few words of French, Marie-Christine presents the different means of contraception. With simple words and regularly checking that the participants understand it. At first silent, some end up answering his questions: “How do we get access to the pill? Who puts the IUD? “. The marriage and family counselor wants to ensure that her audience has good knowledge.
In Maternal and Child Protection centers, interpreters facilitate discussions
And one or two become emboldened to question the speakers in turn. “How long does it take to ovulate after your period? “, asks a young woman who is trying to get pregnant. “We don’t know, our stomach is not transparent,” summarizes Sotheary Hem. “Where does the egg go?” », asks another, IUD in hand, faced with the diagram of the female reproductive system. “As he can’t hold on because of the IUD, he falls out,” explains Marie-Christine Caner.
She and her colleague are keen to deliver simple and understandable statements, such as the fact that marital rape is punishable by law or that a woman does not need her husband’s consent to use contraception. . But they regret that “the language barrier” could have prevented certain messages from getting through. “When they come to see us in PMI, we call on an interpreter, the exchange is much easier,” assures Marie-Christine Caner. This Thursday she will host another workshop in a college in Sevran, again on contraception but this time for a teenage audience.
Beyond the initiatives organized during this National Sexual Health Week, the 138 sexual health centers in Seine-Saint-Denis remain accessible all year round.
*More information on the Seine-Saint-Denis departmental council website: https://seinesaintdenis.fr/actualite/solidarites-sante/Tout-pour-prendre-soin-de-sa-sante-sexualle/
