PHASE Testimony in the Media

The PHASE teen staff is in the news! Leslie Cameron and Folami Irby-Motley were featured in an October 22, 2009 Washington Post article on their testimony to DC Council.

Read more to hear about the excellent advocacy from these teen women.

Our teen staff is taking strong action towards their goals of influencing policy makers. On October 21, 2009, two Peer Educator- Advocates, Leslie Cameron and Folami Irby-Motley from the PHASE teen staff presented testimony to Councilman David Catania, chairman of the DC Council Committee on Health, at a hearing on the Youth Sexual Health Project.

The young women shared the experiences of themselves and their peers around the condom availability policy and the campaign the PHASE staff is undertaking. They spoke about a lack of organization with regard to the policy and discomfort with the current distribution methods with the school nurses. Folami shared recommendations to the council in implementing the policy, and the steps the PHASE team is planning on taking. The peer educator-advocates also advocated for the role of peer educators in delivering comprehensive sexual health education in DC schools. Leslie spoke out about removing the taboos related to sexual health topics not often discussed- such as pregnancy options like adoption and abortion, as well as sexual orientation. The young women left the council meeting excited about sharing the PHASE team’s findings and recommendation, and helping the city move toward better reproductive health education and contraceptive access. We are proud of them, and excited to see who they will influence next!

 Click here to hear Folami and Leslie deliver their testimony to council and David Catania’s response. The hearing is October 21’s Public Roundtable, Committee on Health, and Folami and Leslie begin their testimony at about 2:48.