3. BARRIERS IN ACCESSING RH SERVICES INCLUDE LACK OF INFORMATION AND MISINFORMATION ON RH, BREAKDOWN OF SERVICE DELIVERY NETWORKS, RELIGIOUS AND CULTURAL BARRIERS, AND UNPROFESSIONAL AND/OR UNETHICAL PRACTICES OF HEALTH SERVICE PROVIDERS In addition to policies which served as barriers to the full implementation of the RH law, the National Inquiry also documented other barriers and denial of access to RH services and information. Lack of/ Misinformation on RH One of the barriers identified throughout the cluster areas is the lack of information on RH and/or misinformation. Instances of misinformation due to religion or culture have also been documented which were shown to have affected women and men’s willingness to access RH services. Despite claims by government health workers and service providers on information being conducted, interviews continue to reveal that some women are unaware of the available services and commodities specially those living in geographically inaccessible and disadvantaged areas. In some cases, while women are generally aware of the available RH services, they are unwilling to avail of services due to misplaced religious beliefs or cultural practices. For instance, while a ‘fatwa’ has been issued on the acceptability of RH in Islam, not all Moro women are aware of the same. For IPs, while elders claim that it is not against the culture of IP’s, some women refuse to avail of RH services believing it is against their culture or that there is need seek the consent of their husbands. These led to recommendations on the need to improve information dissemination not only on the available RH goods and services, but also to include men, traditional and religious leaders in the RH agenda. In the case of Sorsogon City, the Commission found that the misinformation being undertaken by the City through sponsored radio programs and ‘Pro-Life’ conventions were found to have affected women’s willingness to avail of RH services and goods. The misinformation included claims that artificial contraceptives cause cancer and associating contraceptive use with abortion. Active religious resistance to artificial RH commodities have also been found in Sorsogon City and in some areas of Leyte and Samar. Breakdown of Service Delivery Networks 23