Sexual and reproductive health figures for the local population
As part of European Sexual Health Day, the Barcelona Public health Agency (ASPB) have published the report “Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in Barcelona 2022”. The report includes the key indicators from a human rights perspective to offer a complete vision of the current situation in the city and identify areas for improvement and the promotion of health and rights.
The report “Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in Barcelona 2022” centres of various aspects such as sexual diversity, the perception of discrimination, sexist violence, sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) among the population, planning pregnancy and more, taking into account the socio-economic and demographic factors that affect them.
Young people drive change
In terms of sexual rights, the report notes that the most common sexual orientation among men and women in Barcelona is heterosexuality. Even so, among young people, particularly women, the proportion identifying as lesbian, gay or bisexual is higher than other age groups. It is also girls who express more freely their way of understanding or experiencing their own sexuality.
Support for sexual aggression on 659 occasions in 2022
The report underlines the increase in reported cases of sexual violence towards women in the city, particularly young women. The volume of support for cases of sexual aggression was also up, with an increase of 41% compared to 2021. In 90% of cases the victims were women, while men were the aggressors in 100% of cases. As for sexually transmitted diseases, the increase among men continues, particularly with gonorrea and chlamydia, while the figures for women remain stable. There was also a rise in HIV among men, at 32.5%.
Fertility continues to drop
On sexual and reproductive health, the report shows that despite the improvement after the pandemic and the brighter economic situation, the birth rate continues to drop. There were 11,588 babies born in 2022, and 17,165 pregnancies among women between the ages of 15 and 49, with 33.6% of these interrupted voluntarily.
Inequalities according to place of birth residence continue among teenagers. The volume of caesarean births is unchanged compared to previous years, at 31.5%, exceeding the recommendation of the World Health Organization (15%). Neonatal health figures show some slight variations, with a minor rise in the low weight of babies and low weights per weeks of pregnancy.
Finally, on sexual education in schools, one highlight is the coverage of the ASPB programme “Parlem-ne; no et tallis!”. The programme is steadily recovering, although it still hasn’t returned to pre-pandemic levels.
