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

On 25 January 2024, SRHM and the USC Institute on Inequalities in Global Health hosted a webinar entitled “Battling Misinformation and Disinformation: Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in the Digital Age,”. Technology, social media, and digital health interventions have the potential to play positive and transformative roles in addressing sexual and reproductive health and rights. Increasingly, however, digital spaces are rife with misinformation and disinformation, intersecting closely with barriers in access to/control over technology, digital literacy, and online safety. This one-h ..read more

UN agencies and medical professional associations coming together to build support and to stand up to attacks on Comprehensive Sexuality Education Dr Venkatraman Chandra-Mouli Eight years into the Sustainable Development Goals era, there is strong global support for many areas of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) including addressing maternal mortality, reducing unintended pregnancies in married couples, and eliminating violence against women and girls. In some other areas, however, there is highly visible, better resourced, and better organized opposition to many aspects of Sex ..read more

Written by Maïmouna Balde Bah, Research Fellow, Population Council Inc, Nairobi, Kenya Growing up in Guinea, where FGM/C is widespread, dissenting voices against the practice were scarce, and typically originating from “outside”. By exploring the history of the fight against FGM/C, my aim is to inspire African changemakers to reclaim the legacy of past generations. Celebrating past initiatives led by Africans will strengthen their rightful role as leaders in the forefront of continuous endeavors to enable change in their communities and beyond. The Africa-Led Movement to End Female Genital Mut ..read more

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