Emergency Contraception

Emergency Contraception can prevent an unplanned pregnancy in the following situations:

• No contraception was used
• Missed birth control pills, patch, or ring
• The condom slipped, broke, or leaked
• The diaphragm or cervical cap is dislodged during sexual intercourse or was removed too early
• Error in the calculation of the fertility period
• Non-consensual sexual intercourse (sexual assault)

Unlike other forms of contraception, emergency contraception (EC) can be used AFTER intercourse to prevent pregnancy. As the name suggests, emergency contraception is not something you want to rely on. This is a last chance contraception, and is sometimes called the “morning-after” pill. EC is a simple and safe way to prevent pregnancy.

How it works
EC, which is successful in preventing about three out of every four pregnancies that would have happened, works by delaying/preventing ovulation and can be taken up to 5 days after sex. Emergency contraceptives work by delaying or inhibiting the release of an egg (ovulation), altering the luteal phase length, and also possibly inhibiting the implantation of a fertilized egg. In the unlikely event that implantation does occur, EC does not interrupt the pregnancy or put the fetus at risk. However the sooner it is taken, the better it works.

Another contraception called the copper intrauterine device (copper IUD) can also be used as emergency contraception up to 7 days after sex.

http://www.sexualityandu.ca/birth-control/emergency-contraception-morning-after-pill

Reproductive Technology

Selective Reproduction

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/parenting/unnatural-selection-is-evolving-reproductive-technology-ushering-in-a-new-age-of-eugenics/article1357885/?page=all

Apache Girl's Rite of Passage

http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/places/countries-places/united-states/us-apachegirl-pp/

Initiation into womanhood

Female initiation in South Africa can take on the form of either communal ceremonies or individual occasions. The most common communal ceremonies are those of the Venda vusha and domba, the Swazi reed dance and the Ndebele and Pedi bojale. The Zulu, Xhosa and other Nguni cultures (except the Ndebele) all have ceremonies that are more individual - with initiation taking place as each individual reaches puberty.
With the onset of her first menarche cycle, a girl has to attend these initiation ceremonies. There she will be instructed in matters relating to sexual behaviour, tribal etiquette, wifely duties, married life and agriculture. The teaching of these matters is left in the hands of the most senior women in the village, as the custodians of tradition.
Unlike the boys' initiation, which takes place outside in the field, the girls are usually housed in a special hut built for the occasion. These huts are situated in or near the chief's kraal. During this period the girls are secluded, sometimes smeared with white or ochre clay, and forbidden to speak with any male person. Strict dietary rules exist during this time and the girls endure almost merciless discipline.
After the initiation period the girls receive new clothes from their mothers, shave off their hair and receive new names signifying their adult status. Unlike the greater part of Africa, female circumcision and clitoridectomy (female genital mutilation) is not practised in any South African culture. The initiates pass from childhood into adulthood with dignity and self-respect

http://myfundi.co.za/e/Initiation_cycles_of_traditional_South_African_cultures

Cree tribe

Adolescence is the time of learning and preparation. Anne Cameron in her book Child of Her People describes preparations for girls in puberty in the Cree tribe. Since they turn 8, 9 they spend a part of each day with a specially selected Grandma representing the elders. She teaches them the origin story of the tribe, the story of First Woman, First Mother and the origins of Mother Earth. She teaches them what it means to become a woman, about changes in the body and the development of the psyche. Girls learn self-defence and practice it on the tribe’s boys. They gain knowledge about herbs soothing pain and preventing pregnancy. When they are finally ready, they spend time alone, in cleansing lodges. Only after two years of such preparation they are accepted into the tribe as women. They are perceived as those becoming Mother Earth, fertile, capable of creating and giving life.

http://www.miesiaczka.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=77%3Arituals-for-girls-in-different-cultures&catid=5%3A1-miesiaczka&Itemid=42

Bali Indonesia

In Bali it is a tradition to file the upper canines even with the upper incisors. The Bali people believe this ritual helps to remove any forces of evil around the person as they believe the teeth to be symbols of jealousy, lust, greed, anger, confusion and insobriety. They believe that filing the teeth takes the evil traits away and makes the person more beautiful while at the same time ushering them into adulthood. The tooth filing ceremony is conducted by the Brahmin or priest whenever possible and is conducted under very stringent conditions, including the time of the ceremony, the tools used and even the person who is undergoing the ritual being kept isolated the day before the ceremony. The adolescents who have their teeth filed are well aware of the significance of the ceremony and refuse to cry out.



http://akorra.com/2010/10/10/top-10-odd-puberty-rituals/

Barabaig Culture of East Africa

Among the many different cultures of the world that have rites of passage for young men transitioning to adulthood are the Barabaig cattle herding tribe of East Africa. These people believe that shaving the boy’s heads and cutting them down to the bone from ear to ear in three deep horizontal cuts would make them into men. The resulting scar, called a ‘gar’, is a symbol of manhood and the boys who have it wear it with pride



http://akorra.com/2010/10/10/top-10-odd-puberty-rituals/

Female Puberty Rituals Around the World

Most cultures mark the rites of passage in life with special ceremonies, observations or events. The first of these is usually an event for the naming of the child, followed for girls usually by a rite marking the transition to adulthood.

Customs vary throughout Africa according to region, nation and tribe. Villages in Ghana separate girls for several weeks from the rest of the village once they have their first period. During this time, girls are instructed in sex education and social mores regarding courtship and nonromantic relationships with males. Then a village-wide ceremony and celebration takes place, presenting the adolescent girls to the community.

Rites have significance beyond just honoring or acknowledging the change in the girl's life. Some cultures use this as a chance to teach ethics and sexual morality to girls, or to choose a mate for the girl. A Brazilian tribe (Urubu-Kaapor) crops a girl's hair at her first menstruation and separates her from the village for fasting and education. She can't be married until her hair has grown back to shoulder-length, giving her time in the community to develop into an adult.

http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/life/human-biology/female-puberty6.htm