2013 Activity Report

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Ponton Group of Sex Educators had another year of intense
activity in the field of education and sexual health of young
people. As in previous years, we provided classes for male and
female students in middle and secondary schools, organized
events in urban areas, provided counseling for young people
online as well as through a hotline. We were also active in the field
of advocacy, both in Poland and abroad. Despite strict criticism
towards sexuality education, we were able to accomplish many
projects. Media supported our activities, as evidenced by articles
and programs with our participation.
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1. Street activities
On February 14th for the seventh time Ponton Group of Sex
Educators organized a Valentine's Day event under the theme:
"INFECT WITH LOVE NOT HIV." Volunteers handed out brochures
about contraception, condoms, pink balloons and cookies
containing information on HIV / AIDS. This year, we also collected
people’s wishes regarding healthcare and
sexual and
reproductive health. Young people wrote special Valentine's Day
postcards with their demands to the Minister of Health Bartosz
Arlukowicz. Ponton Group then sent these cards to the Minister of
Health with recommendations related to access to youth-friendly
care in the field of reproductive health and to free contraceptives.
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Valentine's events also took place in Łódź - they were organised
by SPUNK Foundation and in Wrocław at the initiative of the
Michalina Wisłocka Academic Circle of Sexology at the University
of Wroclaw.
On March 10th Ponton Group volunteers, participated (like they
do every year) in Manifa – feminist march organized on the
occasion of Women's Day. They were carrying banners that
promoted access to reliable sex education. They also danced in
One Billion Rising dance, aiming to draw attention to the problem
of violence against women.
On May 18th Ponton Group educators took part in "Slut Walk" - the
event’s objective was to sensitize public on the issue of violence
against women and stereotypes about sexual violence.
On May 28th Ponton Group of Sex Educators organized a street
event during the International Day for Women's Health. The slogan
for 2013 was: "Access to contraception is a human right." We
wanted to show our support for the International Day of Action for
Women's Health. During the event, we handed out leaflets on
health, condoms and fortune cookies with information about
contraception. Ponton Group together with Michalina Wisłocka
Academic Circle of Sexology at the University of Wrocław also
organized a street survey on access to contraception, which can
be viewed on Pontons' YouTube channel.
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On June 15th the annual Warsaw Equality Parade was held.
Ponton Group took part in this event to support the demands of
the fight against discrimination of minorities and introduction of the
Civil Partnership Act.
On June 16th an NGO picnic was held in Wola district of Warsaw.
Ponton had a booth in the tent area where the public could
obtain publications and get educators' advice. The stand
attracted a lot of attention of young people and teenagers, as
well as their parents and grandparents.
On June 28th Ponton organised an event "Ponton Sails Out to
Vistula River". This action was designed to meet young people at
the Bar-K club and to offer pre-summer counselling.
On 3-6 July a group of Pontons' sex educators was present (like in
2012) at the Open'er Festival in Gdynia. Ponton Group had a stand
in the NGO zone. On the stand Pontons' brochures and leaflets,
condoms, cookies and badges were distributed. Volunteers also
offered advice and information on contraception, showed how to
properly put on a condom on an educational model and
demonstrated the use of the vaginal ring.
On August 31st during the of Open Jazdów local initiative in
Warsaw, Ponton Group had a booth with educational brochures .
On September 14th during the Kercelak festival, Ponton Group
together with the regional OHP (Voluntary Labour Corps) had a
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booth in the health and aid area, where one could get brochures
and educators' advice.
On October 4th Ponton Group participated in the Youth Forum in
Warsaw. Ponton volunteers distributed publications, leaflets, and
provided advice both to youth and teachers.
On October 21st Ponton organized an event Boobs at the Centre –
Health comes first. The action took place in the framework of the
Global Month of Fighting Breast Cancer. During the action, people
received leaflets about health and learned how a proper breast
self-exam should be done. Passers-by were also encouraged to
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participate in the photographic action, and were encouraged to
write different names for breasts on balloons.
December 1st - World AIDS Day. Ponton Group organized a street
poll 'What do you know about HIV?' near the HIV VCT centre in
Warsaw. People could test their knowledge about HIV/AIDS,
obtain condoms, cookies, leaflets and brochures in the field of
prevention and sexual health, including HIV/AIDS prevention.
2. Projects
February 2013 - start of the Ponton Group and Campaign Against
Homophobia (KPH) "Safe Chair" study - Campaign for Good
Gynecological Care. Online survey was launched in which one
could anonymously describe their experiences with gynecological
visits and related expectations. The survey was targeted at girls
and women, including teenagers, people with disabilities and nonheterosexual and transgender. The survey was later used to
prepare a report which would be then sent to the Ministry of
Health. Ponton Group prepared a special poster and menstrual
calendar, which was distributed during events in schools and other
educational institutions. The project was also promoted on our
website.
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June-September 2013 - Ponton carried out a project "Sexual
violence and victimization among adolescents" concerning the
prevention of sexual violence among young people.
Project activities included preparation of a new, comprehensive
publication "I do not agree with violence! Engaging of youth in
preventing sexual violence and victimization " directed mainly at
teachers but also parents and children, with articles, lesson plans
and suggestions of activities for young people.
Also, Ponton volunteers partnered with a teenage hip-hop group
Rymy w Sercu to create a song "Take a stand" which is available
on YouTube channel of Ponton Group.
The project included a workshop for young people in one of
Warsaw secondary schools (the 68th school) . After the workshop
students organized their own photo event with the theme “react
to violence”. The event, song and publication were promoted at a
press conference summarizing the project.
3.
Education
New website sections with articles and tips are successively
developed. Ponton also posted in a popular NaTemat blogging
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platform and cooperated with Trybuna daily in a regular column.
Educators’ articles also appeared in teachers’ magazines, such as
”Miesięcznik Dyrektora Szkoły” and “Głos Pedagogiczny”.
4. Recruitment of volunteers
Recruitment of new people was ongoing through the ad on our
website. The Group consists of 34 people, mostly students or
graduates of pedagogy, psychology, some also specializing in
sexology. In the group there are four professional trainers and
workshop facilitators .
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5.
Trainings
On 5th January Ponton coordinator Aleksandra Józefowska
provided a workshop for sexuality educators from Michalina
Wisłocka Academic Circle of Sexology at the University of
Wrocław.
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On 23-24 February workshop for new Ponton educators was held.
The workshop was conducted by sexuality educator and trainer
Anka Grzywacz. 11 volunteers recruited in the last few months
participated. The aim of the training was to prepare participants
to teach sexuality education in schools, cope with difficult
situations in the classroom, there were also many exercises in
communication and assertiveness.
July - August Three supervisory workshops for volunteers were
organised, with the aim of discussing our mission, values, work
standards and strategies for future activities.
On 2 October gynaecologist Anna Pękalak conducted a training
on methods of contraception and reproductive health of young
people. New volunteers received comprehensive information and
experienced educators had the opportunity to get answer to
more difficult questions and update their knowledge.
6. Selected workshops in schools and other
institutions
Tadeusz Zawadzki public schools, Piaseczno
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Workshops for participants of Senior Scouts Meeting, Warsaw
Youth Sociotherapy Centre, Warsaw
68th Tytus Chałubiński Secondary School, Warsaw
7. E-mail counseling, hotline
Throughout the year Ponton Group provided e-mail counseling .
We responded on average to about 30 e-mails per week.
Ponton website provided an online forum where volunteers answer
several questions a day.
During the school year we operated a landline hotline for young
people, every Friday for four hours. The hotline was promoted in
the media and on posters sent out to schools.
From 1 July to 31 August Summer Hotline for Teens provided
telephone and SMS counselling for youth. In two months we
received ca. 500 questions. We also prepared a special report
based on the work, which was later used in advocacy.
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8. Selected conferences
Ponton Group was present at scientific conferences and
organized press briefings to promote its work
April 15, Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski University, conference "The
Criminal Mind II: Cybersexuality - Cyberbullying", lecture by Lena
Marciniak "Cyberbullying and Sexual Education"
April 27, Wrocław University, conference on sexology
„Psychosexual development from childhood to adolescence”.
Presentation „Sexual debut” by Małgorzata Kot
May 6, Warsaw University, Families’ Week conference, Finka
Heynemann and Patrycja Wonatowska lecture on teenage
parents
May 12, Queer Social Centre and Heinrich Böll Stiftung,
conference "Psychological, cultural and legal aspects of sexual
violence", participation of educators Maria Pawłowska, Natalia
Broniarczyk and Anka Grzywacz in a panel
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May 15, Maria Grzegorzewska Academy of Special Pedagogy.
Conference: Security as a challenge to modern times, Małgorzata
Matla lecture "Risky behavior of youth - (in)security in cyberspace"
May 16, Jagiellonian University, conference: Human sexuality in the
course of life. Alina Synakiewicz took part in a panel discussion on
"Challenges of modern sex education."
June 12, Projekt Polska Association’s discussion "What Equality
Parades have brought us ", Maria Pawłowska speaking
14-15 June, Polish Congress
of
Women.
Paulina
Wawrzyńczyk took part in
the panel "Health and
sexuality of women in the life
cycle" where she spoke
about teen sex education;
Małgorzata Kot spoke in the
panel "About girls", where
she discussed sexuality of girls.
June 27, Warsaw Medical University, student debate, in which
Małgorzata Matla and Lena Marciniak took part as experts
September 28 Ponton press conference "Don’t be afraid to talk
about sexual violence", in which Ponton educators, students from
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68th Secondary School and Rymy w Sercu group took part. The
conference was a part of "Sexual violence and victimization
among adolescents" project by Ponton
November 6, conference of Po Drugie Foundation "Breakthrough
for teenage mothers from social rehabilitation centers?" Finka
Heynemann’s lecture about teenage mothers
9. Media Presence
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During the year, the group’s activities were broadly discussed in
the media. Articles about the group were published in Gazeta
Wyborcza, Trybuna, Polityka and Newsweek.
Ponton volunteers also appeared on television, stations such as
TVN, TVP 2, TVN24,TVP Info, Superstacja and on the radio: RDC,
Radio Czwórka, PR24, TOK FM.
Educators were often invited as experts to appear in morning
shows: Pytanie na śniadanie TVP or Dzień Dobry TVN. Their
comments were quoted in internet articles on at Wirtualna Polska,
Onet.pl, iWoman.pl and others.
10. Advocacy
In 2013, Ponton sent out appeals and open letters to ministries and
participated in government sessions connected with sex
education.
On 21 March the Minister of Health received postcards collected
by Ponton and SPUNK Foundation of Modern Education, listing
recommendations for urgent changes in health care services
provided to teenagers and their reproductive rights. The postcards
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were composed by teenagers and included requests such as
youth-friendly reproductive health care and free condoms.
22 May Ponton’s statement with regard to Polish MP’s, Krystyna
Pawłowicz, comments about the Slut Walk was published on
Ponton’s website and sent to the media.
17 July – there was a session at the office of the Government
Plenipotentiary for Equal Treatment, Agnieszka Kozłowska-Rajewicz
devoted to non-heterosexual and transgender people in Poland.
Paulina Wawrzyńczyk participated in the debate.
2 October Ponton Group of Sex Educators sent requests written by
teenagers from the 68th High School in Warsaw regarding the
prevention of sexual violence among young people to the Ministry
of Education and the Government Plenipotentiary for Equal
Treatment Agnieszka Kozłowska-Rajewicz.
31 October an open letter regarding doctor Krzysztof Boćkowski’s
comments on rape victims was sent to the Government
Plenipotentiary for Equal Treatment and the Polish Chamber of
Physicians and Dentists.
3 December during the 16 Days of Activism against Gender
Violence, the Federation for Women and Family Planning and
Ponton Group of Sex Educators issued an appeal about sexual
violence and means of prevention, addressed to the Ministry of
National Education and the Prime Minister.
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7 December a session of the parliamentary Education, Science
and Youth Committee was held with a vote on the sex education
bill. The discussion was attended by Executive Director of the
Federation, Krystyna Kacpura, and Ponton’s coordinator,
Małgorzata Kot.
17 December Ponton sent a letter to the new Minister of
Education, Joanna Kluzik-Rostkowska. In the letter, we
congratulated the new minister on her appointment and
presented our recommendations regarding sex education.
11. Ponton’s International Presence
During the year, Ponton strengthened its cooperation with Astra
Youth, a network of NGOs active in Central and Eastern Europe in
the field of teenagers’ reproductive rights and health. As a result,
Natalia Broniarczyk represented Ponton and Astra Youth at several
important conferences.
5-6 December 2012 – UN Global Youth Forum, consultations with
the UN High Level Task Force for the International Conference on
Population and Development.
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30-31 May 2013 - Regional Youth Forum, Istanbul, a session
devoted to ICPD review and preparation for Enabling Choices:
Population Priorities for the 21st Century.
2 July 2013 - Enabling Choices: Population Priorities for the 21st
Century, a conference held in Geneva. Natalia Broniarczyk
represented Central and Eastern Europe as a youth delegate, took
part in writing of recommendations and negotiations to the UN.
3-6 October 2013 - Natalia Broniarczyk and Małgorzata Kot also
participated in the 30th anniversary of Ponton’s donor, Mama
Cash in Amsterdam. The educators provided a workshop with
Mail&Female, a shop for women, during which they talked about
Ponton’s work. They also visited the offices of Rutgers WPF and
Choice and learned about the Dutch sex education curriculum.
6-9 December 2013 - Global South Youth Advocacy Workshop in
Kunming. Preparation of the strategy for 2014 and CPD, draft
recommendations for sex education programs.
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Report prepared by: Małgorzata Kot
Graphic design: Anka Grzywacz
Translation: Kasia Sęk
Proofreading: Anka Grzywacz
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