ABSTRACT
A number of young women from a country in the global south1 were recently granted a government scholarship to study abroad. There was, however, a condition to this scholarship, and this was that they were required to have a contraceptive implant before they were allowed to travel. Their country has a constitution that guarantees through a Bill of Rights in clause 9.3 that “the state may not unfairly discriminate directly or indirectly against anyone on one or more grounds, including race, gender, sexual orientation, age” and in clause 12.2 that everyone has the right to bodily and psychological integrity that includes the right (a) to make decisions about reproduction, (b) to security in and control over their body, and (c) not to be subjected to medical or scientific experiments without
their informed consent (Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996). The young men who were also awarded these study scholarships were not required to have any contraceptive interventions.
