Russian Roulette – The Obstacles and Needs of Young People in Family Planning in St. Petersburg and Riga

In Latvia and Russia the challenging demographic situation has increased discussion regarding the government’s role in the implementation and protection of sexual and human rights. In demographic politics one can see the social situation and its´ possibilities to support young people with their family planning needs. The focus of research is also on the structure of services at the individual level. I study family planning from a holistic viewpoint, in which different interdependent paths appear.

An interesting object of focus is the unique transition of the former Soviet Union. Family planning is part of sexual and human rights. Guidance and counseling are both activities which belong to it. Family planning includes social, educational and medical perspectives. An understanding of morals and economics as well as policy and personal viewpoints are also included. My focus is on the obstacles and needs of young people in Riga and St. Petersburg.

My approach is social historical and ethnographic. With the help of these frameworks, traditional, cultural and individual actions are possible to understand. The empirical data includes information from interviews with both authorities´ and young peoples´ in Riga and St. Petersburg. It includes newspaper articles related to the demographic situation in Latvia and Russia as well as observation of sexual education practices in St. Petersburg. In both the soviet times as well as today, the emphasis has been on the expectation of population growth supported by moral and gender education. The significance of the social conditions and the structure of society can be seen in the results of the analysis. Institutions which allow for integration in post socialist risk society are missing. This is manifested in social irresponsibility. Universal services are mostly a heritage from the socialist era. Market oriented services offer only limited technical individual interventions in family planning such as contraception methods. Youngsters are left to their own devices.

In Latvia preventive methods are taken into account through a law of reproductive health, but its´ weak implementation resembles earlier socialist cultural conventions, in which quantitative output and secondary prevention had value. In Russia the emphasis is on aftercare services.

Foucault´s analysis tells about a strategy in which a person internalizes power as part of her/his own understanding, thoughts and activities. In this perspective the individual, societal and historical levels are linked together. The forms of power are in the structure of society. With the help of demographic policy, information is produced and governance aims are shaped. Some of the young interviewees adopted passivity towards society as part of her/his own activity and didn´t question its´ justification. They didn´t recognize the shortage of services. In some of the newspaper articles and interviews of authorities there was support to get rid of sexual education. This gives space to populist viewpoints and ignores sexual and gender minorities´ rights. In both countries the objective is population growth. An awareness of international sexual rights has increased, but the role is limited, because some religious groups have resisted sexual education and other forms of family planning services. By denying sexual education as a social intervention there is an influence on the morals of the citizens.

During socialism, social welfare and public health care was implemented in a totalitarian closed society governed by limited resources. Since that time specialists have adopted a medicalized and technical approach, which prevent youngsters´ empowerment. Weak guidance and incomplete education continue to influence professionals. One harmful belief, which guided the actions of authorities, was difficulties caused by hormonal contraception. In addition, people as well as specialists were afraid of infertility caused by abortion. The belief is still alive, as some specialists encourage that the first pregnancy should conclude in childbirth. This view has had a tendency to pass from generation to generation also among individuals. Traditional socialization is emphasized within the significant networks of relatives and the surrounding networks for teens in managing their daily lives. Besides these beliefs, the weak economic situation guides them to use natural contraception methods. From a socialist tradition, negativity towards sexuality influenced the inability to talk about it. Lack of general preventive guidance leads many young people towards model learning, in which examples are observed coincidentally.

On the other hand, the inventiveness and initiative of the authorities in different situations, following different, procedures and in the establishment of family planning organizations tells us about the ethical sense of responsibility towards young people and the implementation of family planning and its´ possibilities. To improve the information supply related to family planning, the authorities have set up peer groups for young people. In addition, one of the new official approaches, which was forbidden during Soviet times is psychotherapy. Also services directed by law via institutions towards young people were mainly individually oriented, which was supported partly due to worker commitment.

The goal of this research is to arouse society´s sense of responsibility particularly towards vulnerable groups. Young people are, with their limited knowledge and experience, in a relatively powerless situation. From a social political perspective, the public and preventative services have an essential importance particularly among those, who need a myriad of services and they are passive applicants of information. The research highlights the multidimensionality of the services and their target group, in which cultural myths, belief, taboos, activities and knowledge are linked together. The goal to opening these paths in this research was to improve the recognition of obstacles and to find solutions.