Medan, September 7, 2026 — Discussions of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) have long centered on adolescents and people of reproductive age: puberty, pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections. The voices of older women are barely heard in these conversations — even though sexuality remains part of every person’s life, throughout their lifetime.
Older women still have needs and face various issues related to sexual health. Yet they don’t always have a safe space to talk about their experiences and needs.
To mark International Sexual Health Day 2026, the PERMAMPU Consortium (Perempuan Sumatera Mampu, or “Capable Sumatran Women”) held a hybrid gathering themed “Celebrating SRHR Across the Life Cycle.” The event paid special attention to older women above age 60 and pre-elderly women above age 45.
Talking about sexual health isn’t easy for women in these age groups. Safe spaces to share experiences remain limited, stigma makes many reluctant to discuss sexuality, and sexual health services are still largely oriented toward people of reproductive age.
For PERMAMPU Consortium Coordinator Dina Lumbantobing, this reality underscores that SRHR is an integral part of human rights.
“Older women face complex sexual health dynamics, but are held back by the lack of safe spaces to discuss them critically, as well as high social stigma,” she said.
The gathering was held both online and in person, through around 25 gathering points across districts and cities in 10 provinces in Sumatra, where PERMAMPU’s member organizations operate.
Medical and geriatric expert Dr. Nur Rivati, Sp.PD, K-Ger, also stressed the importance of meeting the sexual needs of older adults.
Sexuality is a lifelong need. If this aspect is neglected, it can affect older people’s quality of life and psychological health, even contributing to depression,” she explained.
Yet older women’s concerns risk going unheard. Some stay silent, reluctant to burden their families, while the people around them may not recognize these needs at all.
Understanding the needs of older and pre-elderly women
The gathering identified a number of strategic needs related to SRHR among older and pre-elderly women. Assessment results showed that the challenges they face are tied not only to physical changes that come with age, but also to their ability to understand, voice, and access services suited to their sexual health needs.
Taboos and misconceptions about sexuality in older age are among the main barriers. Sexuality is still often understood narrowly as sexual intercourse. In reality, for older adults, sexuality also encompasses bodily autonomy, intimacy, touch, and affection, as well as the many changes that occur during perimenopause and postmenopause.
The availability of sexual health information and services also remains skewed toward people of reproductive age. Meanwhile, the specific needs of women from perimenopause through postmenopause are still not adequately recorded or served.
A shortage of specialists, along with uneven access to geriatric and sexual health services down to the community health center (puskesmas) level, adds to the challenge. This narrows older women’s access to the information, check-ups, and consultations they need.
Sexual health as a basic right
Growing older does not erase a person’s need for sexuality. The right to sexual health for older women is therefore part of a basic need that must be fulfilled throughout the life cycle.
Fulfilling SRHR takes more than providing information. It requires a service system that allows older women to access check-ups and consultations safely, respectfully, without judgment, and with their confidentiality protected.
At the community level, PERMAMPU, with support from INKLUSI, is strengthening SRHR fulfillment through family- and community-based sexuality education that spans all age groups. This work goes hand in hand with building safe spaces where older women can share experiences, discuss, and recognize their own sexual health needs.
To drive change at the policy and service levels, PERMAMPU and its member organizations are also mapping SRHR issues specific to older women across different regions, as part of their advocacy agenda.
PERMAMPU is also pushing to integrate SRHR into health services through partnerships with relevant government health offices, while working toward local policies that are more responsive to older women’s needs.
SRHR is a right that belongs to everyone, for life. For older women, sexual health needs can grow more complex alongside the changes that come with age. Yet the space to access information and voice these needs often grows more limited instead.
It’s time for the experiences, voices, and needs of older women to find their place in both health services and public policy.
