HPV 'research project'??

I am passing this request on to you because it is very relevant to us. As you may know there is opposition from some religions and religious people to the introduction of HPV (Human Papilloma Virus) vaccination of young girls.

It is not clear from the e-mail whether it this questionaire is organised by these anti- vaccination campaigners, as a publicity exercise, or to collect ammunition for their opposition campaign, but you may want to fill in the questionaire anyway.

Call me suspicious, and I may be wrong, but the wording of the questions suggests to me that it may be posing as a bona fide university research project by a group of religious anti- vaccination campaigners.

(Fear of STDs -Sexually Transmitted Diseases - has traditionally been seen as a good way to prevent women from having sex outside of marriage, getting rid of them by developing vaccines or cures or preventing them by condom use is opposed by the religions who see them as one of God's punishments for transgressing.)

Sue

It reads:-
Thank you for clicking on our post. We would like to invite you to
take part in an university project that we are conducting in our
capacity as students at the University Of Birmingham, UK.

Although this is a health related questionnaire, we would like
responses from people who are part of non-health related forums.

Your responses are entirely confidential and we will not be asking
for details that can identify you such as your name, postal address
and email address. If you are a female living in the UK then you can
take part. The questionnaire takes around of couple of minutes to
fill out.

If you would like more information about our study please email us at
hpv.study1@yahoo.co.uk.

The link for our questionnaire is:

http://www.surveymonk...

[QUOTE="Kamila"]I agree the tone sounds very pro religion and opposes the HPV in favor of abstention. Typical of right wing Christians, they believe if women have sexual choices and freedoms (over contraception, abortion) they should pay the price. In Austria right wing Christians opposed an easy to use abortive pill on the basis that it would be too easy to use. And if women are to have sex outside of marriage, abortions they should at least suffer for it.

Germain Greer raised a really good point about HPV at the Feminist Conference last Saturday. I agree with her, we need to question why we give 11-12 year old girls HPV? We vaccinate very young girls in preparation for unprotected sex in the future.

This grooms girls to accept unprotected sex, and give up their bodily autonomy. From such a young age girls loose control over their bodies, vaccinated on mass, without their consent (only parental consent is needed).

What does HPV really prepare girls for later in life?

I don't agree with the religious opposition to the HPV. But I do think we need view this as a 'quick fix' to much greater social problem. [/QUOTE]


Hello everyone

I see this differently - this is merely another vaccination in the life on the average human being. Children are vaccinated for measles, mumps, meningitis, so why not for HPV, which targets females? The argument of mass vaccination might well be applied to all children (at least where they do undergo vaccinations early in their lives), but there's a lot less furore surrounding such necessary measures - they not only require parental consent, but are required by law. There appears to be a religious motivation (yet again!) surrounding the rumour (and that's all it is, since none of it is based in fact) that this vaccination encourages wanton sex. Sexually transmitted diseases are widespread, but this hasn't particularly stopped women (and girls) from having sex. It appears to be nothing but wild speculation that girls would have unprotected sex; the vaccination doesn't negate the need for contraception - nowhere has this been stated by proponents - so it's hard to imagine a massive increase in the number of young girls engaging in sex.
I agree that there is a social problem in terms of why so many young people (boys and girls) are engaging in sex so early on, but such a discussion needs to be held separate from a health issue, which is what the issue of HPV falls under.
I answered the questionnaire honestly, because I think that the results should speak for themselves - the dissenting religious groups must realise that no amount of sensationalism can detract from essential, non-religious, real-life issues.

Following my warning about the motive of this 'survey' I have received several emails including this one,
--------------------------------
Sue, Not just the wording is wrong.

It's "University of Birmingham", not "University Of
Birmingham", plus a bona-fide research project would have a
university e-mail address (not yahoo) and would not be using
shareware like SurveyMonkey.

Almost certainly the work of (lying) fundamentalist religious
nutters.
----------------------------------

.....................so please pass on my warning - Sue

Hi RS

Yes I certainly agree that girls should be taught that there
are dangers in having sex at a young age, and the Catholic church's
refusal to allow safe sex education is a serious problem that should and
could be addressed by our lily livered policiticians. I would like to see childrens rights higher on the agenda than beliefs rooted in historic religious attitudes towards women
and sexuality. And it is evident that the anti-vaccination lobby will
use this argument to mislead and divert people from the real issues on
sexual safety and choice on which they campaign so unscrupulously.

It also diverts attention from the fact that important as it is HPV is
only one of many STDs and it does not protect against the others - or
the other punishments for 'sinful sex' unwanted pregnancy and motherhood
that the Catholic church is so intent on keeping. But I think that even
if it does encourage young women to have sex before marriage and even
underage sex, that is nowhere near as terrible as getting cervical
cancer in later life.

As anyone who has nursed such patients in hospital
will testify, it is one of the most distressing experiences as the
suffering it causes, often in the prime of life with young families. It
is a variation of the attitude that leads to cruelty and 'dishonour
killings' - 'Better Dead than Defiled'.

Sue

Following my warning about the motive of this 'survey' I have received several emails including this one,
--------------------------------
Sue, Not just the wording is wrong.

It's "University of Birmingham", not "University Of
Birmingham", plus a bona-fide research project would have a
university e-mail address (not yahoo) and would not be using
shareware like SurveyMonkey.

Almost certainly the work of (lying) fundamentalist religious
nutters.
----------------------------------

.....................so please pass on my warning - Sue

Thanks for the warning Sue. I have to say that I recently completed a research project at university, but didn't use the university email address for convenience reasons. It might well be the work of a less seasoned researcher.
Furthermore, I think the results should speak for themselves. Still, it's good to bear the warning in mind :)