BOX 7. AGEING WOMEN AND REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS (CONT.) incidence of cervical cancer in the future. Meanwhile, it is crucial to provide ageing women pap smear screening or other low-cost prevention and screening technologies. NHRIs working with reproductive rights must try to dispel the myth that older women are not sexually active. Sexual health care, education and knowledge about STIs and HIV/AIDS are important not only for women of reproductive age, but for girls and for women in all stages of life. NHRIs should allow and promote the participation and representation of older people, and older women in particular, in HIV/AIDS programme planning at local, district and national levels to improve the response to HIV/AIDS. Another concern connected to ageing women and reproductive rights is abuse and gender-based violence in the home. Many older women are abused or neglected while sometimes still remaining caregivers to those who abuse them. Older women who are abused are more likely to suffer from depression, anxiety and physical disabilities. The effects may also be fatal as a result of homicide, severe injury, or suicide. NHRIs have to address violence against women and include older women in their programmes of action. PARTICIPATION AND INCLUSION Participation is a human right guaranteed in several human rights instruments. Participation and inclusion means that every person and all groups are entitled to active, free and meaningful participation in, contribution to and enjoyment of development in which human rights and fundamental freedoms can be realized. This ensures that everyone feels ownership to both the processes and the results. Participation and empowerment are interrelated. Participation is not only about consultation, but also about actual empowerment of people, enabling them to take part in decision-making processes that affect them. It is necessary to create specific channels for participation throughout any programming process focusing especially on the most vulnerable and marginalized groups. Where reproductive rights are concerned, focus must be put on women, especially adolescent girls. Young men and adolescent boys must also be included, in particular when the use of contraceptives is concerned and when steps are taken to alter conceptions of gender roles. It is important to empower women so that they can freely decide on the issues that affect their bodies and to educate men to support gender equality. Empowerment further entails inclusion and accountability. Consequently, beneficiaries, stakeholders and partners must be included when deciding about reproductive rights strategies and goals, and services providers must always be held accountable. Empowerment should not only be a concern for the outcome of development, but also for the process by which it is achieved and for the organizations implementing it. 81