On June 5-6, 2024, Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters (SRHM) Global and SRHM Francophone Africa Hub, in collaboration with Together for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights and the National Reproductive Health Centre, Mohammed V. University, Morocco, held a two-day meeting on Using Evidence for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) Action in Today’s World in Rabat, Morocco.  The context   In the current context, the field of SRHR has achieved important successes and experienced serious retrogressions. Laws, policies, and programmes across the world are increa ..read more

26 June is observed as the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, to speak out against the crime of torture, and honour victims and survivors of torture. In 1987 on this day, the UN Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment came into effect. Torture is any act through which extreme physical or mental pain or suffering is inflicted intentionally on a person, as a form of punishment, discrimination, or to gain third party information or a confession. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights condemns torture and other degrading and crue ..read more

May 28 is celebrated annually as World Menstrual Hygiene Day, and this year’s theme is ‘Together for a Period Friendly World.’ Despite being a natural biological process that millions of people with uteruses of reproductive ages undergo worldwide, menstruation continues to be associated with taboo, social stigma, and a lack of awareness in many parts of the world. This directly affects awareness regarding menstrual hygiene, a problem that is further exacerbated by the lack of access to clean sanitation, period-friendly restrooms, and affordable and safe menstrual products. Poor menstrual hygie ..read more

On 6 May 2024, SRHM, in collaboration with Global Health Justice Partnership (GHJP) of Yale Law and Public Health Schools, conducted a webinar on the topic ‘What do oral contraceptives have to do with human rights abuses in sports?’ This webinar comes at a crucial time, days before the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights is scheduled to hear double Olympic champion runner Caster Semenya’s complaint on May 15, 2024, against regulations introduced by World Athletics in 2018, requiring certain female athletes to suppress their natural testosterone levels, often by taking oral cont ..read more

Written by Gunjan Khorgade, Snehal Sinha and Pramila Sharma, Action Research and Training for Health (ARTH) “It feels good when your periods stop. You don’t have to worry while travelling, you become tension-free”, said 35-year-old Fefli Bai1 with a smile, triggering peals of infectious laughter among the assembled women. On World Contraception Day (26 Sep 2023), Action Research and Training for Health (ARTH), a non-profit working on SRHR in rural and tribal communities of Rajasthan, India, convened a consultation with twenty-six women to discuss their experiences around menstrual bleeding c ..read more

Written by Ananya Asad, a global health professional from Bangladesh with 9+ years of experience in public health interventions focused on adolescent and youth well-being in South Asia, the Caribbean, and Sub-Saharan Africa.  Adolescence is a transitional phase marked by physical, emotional, and social changes. This is the time when young individuals embark on a journey of self-discovery, navigating the complexities of identity, relationships, and sexuality. Comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) plays a crucial role in equipping adolescents with the knowledge and skills they need to nav ..read more

By Bridget Kelly, Bhakthi Sahgal, and Ornsiree Junchaya What’s more distressing: a cancer diagnosis or grappling with the devastating infertility resulting from the treatment? For many, it’s the fertility loss. Thankfully, newly diagnosed cancer patients in Alabama are still able to access fertility preservation services after Gov. Kay Ivey signed a bill last month protecting IVF providers in response to the state’s Supreme Court decision that granted legal personhood to frozen embryos. While many now can breathe a sigh of relief, it doesn’t do much to reduce the pressure of a hostile reproduc ..read more

March 31 is celebrated as the International Transgender Day of Visibility every year, to raise awareness on the discrimination and struggles faced by transgender people, and to celebrate their contributions to society. Although the transgender movement has grown considerably over the last few decades, there remain several challenges, including pushback by anti-trans groups and right-wing political actors, that undermine the rights of transgender people, making them more prone to discrimination, poor health, and violence. This has serious negative consequences for the transgender community, esp ..read more

By Laura Hurley Laura Hurley is Communications Lead at the Safe Abortion Action Fund (SAAF), a global fund dedicated to safe abortion. The original version of this blogpost can be found on the SAAF website: https://saafund.org/the-feminist-joy-of-abortion-work  Abortion is so often depicted as something traumatic, sad, unfortunate. Even those who fully support access to abortion can have a tendency to ‘apologise’ for it, and focus on negative situations to justify the need for safe services. Certainly, many people around the world face incredibly difficult situations due to the restr ..read more

By Rupankar Dey Rupankar holds a Master’s in Development Studies from Erasmus University Rotterdam. He has worked as a Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) researcher for Liliane Fonds, a Dutch NGO dedicated to disability rights in Sub-Saharan Africa. Published on International Women’s Day 2024 In Uganda, many women with disabilities face big challenges when it comes to their sexual and reproductive health. They’re often ignored or overlooked because they’re women, they have disabilities, and society doesn’t always think they should have a say in their own sexual health. Even thoug ..read more