“We Are Missing Our Colorful Lives”: Centering Adolescents’ Understandings of the Complex Influence of Societal Structures on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in a Slum in Dhaka, Bangladesh

Abstract

In urban slums, adolescent sexual and reproductive health and rights (ASRHR) are shaped by societal structures which contribute to vulnerabilities, health inequities, and adverse ASRHR outcomes. There have been increasing calls for meaningful youth engagement to foster positive change. The Together Project is a youth-led research project implemented in Kallyanpur slum in Dhaka (Bangladesh) aiming to answer the question: How are societal structures shaping ASRHR structural vulnerabilities and agency? Working with 10 adolescent community co-researchers (8 girls, 2 boys), we recruited 22 participants (16 girls, 6 boys) for a photovoice study exploring ASRHR experiences. We collected 58 photos analyzed through Visualizing DEPICT, a participatory method, and co-developed three themes. First, “Navigating limited ASRHR awareness through a broken system” demonstrates how perspectives of ASRHR are structured within a restrictive system. Second, “Facing gender-based inequities from girlhood to womanhood” highlights gendered inequities that influence structural vulnerabilities affecting adolescent girls. Third, “Shaping ASRHR through community and social pressure” summarizes how social structures shape ASRHR. By centering adolescents’ understandings of ASRHR in an urban slum of Dhaka, we present a discussion of how ASRHR are shaped through oppressive structures. Our findings underscore the urgent need for structurally informed ASRHR interventions to support transformative societal changes.