Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters Podcast

Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters (SRHM)

The SRHM Podcast explores new research and emerging trends in the field of sexual and reproductive health and rights. Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters or SRHM promotes sexual and reproductive health and rights globally. At the heart of SRHM is a multidisciplinary, open-access, peer-reviewed journal. SRHM also creates and participates in spaces that motivate improvements in research, policy, services and practice. It contributes to capacity building in knowledge generation. Learn more at srhm.org. Music by Tiber Krisztián and Salamon Botond Sound editing by We Edit Podcasts

  1. 3D AGO

    Power and authorship in gender and sexual and reproductive research

    Who produces knowledge on gender and sexual and reproductive health in Africa, and whose voices shape the evidence that informs policy and practice? In this episode of the SRHM Podcast, Sapna Desai, Editor-in-Chief of the SRHM Journal, speaks with researchers Woldekidan Amde and Kéfilath Bello about their recent scoping review examining authorship, geography, and funding in research on gender approaches to sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) across Africa. Analysing 45 publications from 2012 to 2022, the study reveals striking imbalances. Most first and senior authors were based outside Africa, funding overwhelmingly came from high income countries, and over one fifth of papers had no local authors at all. These patterns raise critical questions about power in knowledge production, the credibility and relevance of research, and the ability of evidence to influence policy and practice locally. The conversation explores why these inequities persist despite growing calls to decolonise global health. It also looks at what must change: strengthening local research ecosystems, expanding mentoring for early career researchers, supporting south–south collaboration, and ensuring equitable funding and authorship practices. Together, the speakers reflect on how more locally led, contextually grounded research is essential not only for equity, but for better quality knowledge and meaningful change in sexual and reproductive health. Read the full paper, 'Imbalances in authorship, geographic and institutional contexts, and funding sources in research on gender approaches to sexual and reproductive health in Africa: a scoping review' by Woldekidan Amde, Kéfilath Bello, Tanya Jacobs, TK Sundari Ravindran & Asha S. George at srhmjournal.org.

    32 min

  2. FEB 24

    Survival strategies and health repercussions in forced displacement: Transactional sex in focus

    In this episode of the Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters Podcast, Eszter Kismődi speaks with Dr Shirin Heidari and Professor Monica A. Onyango about their multi-country study, Survival Strategies and Health Repercussions in Forced Displacement. Drawing on research conducted between 2021 and 2024 in Jordan, Lebanon, Türkiye, Greece and Switzerland, they examine how transactional sex emerges within conditions of legal precarity, restricted asylum regimes, housing insecurity and limited access to work and services. The conversation challenges binary notions of “choice” and “force”, highlights intersecting health consequences including sexual and reproductive health outcomes, and calls for integrated, rights-based responses grounded in lived realities.Read the full paper at srhmjournal.org.

    35 min

  3. FEB 13

    Finding the Cosmos of Intimacies: Send Us Your Love Letters

    This Valentine’s Day and World Condom Day, SRHM turns to pleasure. In this episode, we spotlight the editorial of SRHM’s Pleasure Collection developed in collaboration with The Pleasure Project and Agents of Ishq. Too often, sexual and reproductive health and rights are framed only through risk, prevention and harm. This editorial invites us to think differently. It calls for a politics of pleasure that is decolonial, grounded in lived experience, and willing to challenge hierarchies about who produces knowledge and what counts as credible. Marking 13 and 14 February, we also highlight a clear message backed by evidence: when pleasure is centred, condom use increases. Pleasure and protection belong together. Featuring a reading by Anne Philpott and Elena Ascione from The Pleasure Project, this episode is also an open invitation. Send us your love letters. Send your papers, blogs, poetry, podcast ideas, art, as we celebrate sexual pleasure as a key aspect of sexual and reproductive health and rights for all. Because pleasure is progress. Pleasure matters. Useful links: Read the editorial, 'Finding the cosmos of intimacies: where pleasurable safe sex dances with liberation' by Anne Phihlpott and Paromita Vohra at srhmjournal.org.Explore the Pleasure Collection of the SRHM Journal at srhm.org.

    23 min

  4. FEB 6

    Re-release - Female genital mutilation in Africa: Politics of criminalisation

    On 9 September 2025, SRHM hosted a thought-provoking webinar to launch the open-access book Female Genital Mutilation in Africa: Politics of Criminalisation, edited by Satang Nabaneh, Assistant Professor of Practice at the University of Dayton Human Rights Center, and affiliated faculty at the Center for Human Rights, University of Pretoria. Introduced by Eszter Kismödi, Chief Executive of SRHM, the event brought together contributing authors to reflect on the complex and evolving debates around FGM in Africa, particularly the role and limits of criminalization. Speakers: Satang Nabaneh (Moderator) - Beyond legislation: Examining the efficacy of criminalisation of female genital mutilation in AfricaAngela J Dawson - Research and female genital mutilation prevention: Evidence from AfricaSamuel Kimani - Medicalisation of female genital mutilation/cutting: Ethical dimensionsLaura Nyirinkindi - A case commentary on law and advocacy for women in Uganda v the Attorney General: Exploring the legal steps taken in abolishing the practice of female genital mutilation and challenges with implementing the decisionThis episode is being re-released on the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation 2026.

    56 min

  5. JAN 30

    The Global Gag Rule Expanded: How Anti-Rights Ideology Is Governing U.S. Foreign Aid

    In a new episode of the Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters (SRHM) podcast, SRHM convenes leading experts and advocates to unpack the implications of three newly issued U.S. foreign assistance rules and what they mean for sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) worldwide. To explore the nature, scope, and consequences of these rules, SRHM Chief Executive, Eszter Kismődi, is joined by Elizabeth Sully, Director of International Research at the Guttmacher Institute; Amy Friedrich-Karnik, Director of Federal Policy at the Guttmacher Institute; and Mina Barling, Director of External Relations at the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF). Together, they bring complementary perspectives spanning policy analysis, evidence generation, and frontline service delivery and advocacy.

    36 min

  6. JAN 23

    Extractivism, Gold Mining, and Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in Kenya: Community Realities and Wider Implications

    Eszter Kismodi, Chief Executive of SRHM, is joined by Allan Maleche (KELIN), Mercy Kalemela and Audrey Bigeti (Girls to Women Kenya) to explore how extractive industries are reshaping land, power and sexual and reproductive health and rights in Kenya. Focusing on gold mining in Kakamega County, the episode examines land dispossession, mercury exposure, gender-based violence and the everyday health risks faced by women and girls, while situating these harms within a broader global pattern of extractivism. A timely conversation on development, justice and why SRHR must be central to debates on land and resource extraction.

    35 min

  7. 12/12/2025

    ACORCA: Building an African-led movement for safe abortion

    At a time when sexual and reproductive health and rights are under renewed political and ideological attack globally, African researchers and advocates are strengthening their collective voice and leadership on abortion. In this SRHM Podcast episode, Eszter Kismődi spokewith Naa Dodoo, Ramatou Ouedraogo and Béniel Agossou about the work of ACORCA – the African Coalition for Research, Communication and Abortion and itsvision for an Africa where every woman and girl can access safe, high-quality abortion services without stigma or fear.

    28 min

  8. 11/07/2025

    Sex, Satisfaction, and Switching: The Questions Contraceptive Research and Implementation Forgot to Ask

    On World Contraception Day, SRHM, in partnership with The Pleasure Project and WHO, hosted a powerful webinar launching a landmark systematic review: Sex, Satisfaction, and Switching: The Questions Contraceptive Research and Implementation Forgot to Ask. This review provides the first systematic evidence on the extent to which sex life concerns influence contraceptive discontinuation and switching. Key findings highlight that 1 in 20 contraceptive users discontinue while still in need due to the impact on their sex life. This rivals other commonly cited reasons such as cost and access, yet is rarely considered in counselling, research or policy. The review also shows just how little sexual acceptability has been studied in relation to contraceptive use – underscoring the urgent need to bring pleasure, intimacy and lived experience into sexual and reproductive health (SRH) research and practice. Speakers included: Welcome by Sapna Desai | Editor-in-Chief, Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters (SRHM)Introductory poem by Theresa Mae Caragan | Youth Advisor, Plan International PilipinasDr Lianne Gonsalves | Scientist, Human Reproduction Special Programme (HRP), World Health Organization (WHO)Dr Faysal El Kak | President, World Association of Sexual Health and Director of the Women Integrated Sexual Health (WISH) Program Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, American University of Beirut Medical CenterDr Samukeliso Dube | Executive Director, FP2030Moderated by Anne Philpott | Founder, The Pleasure Project The contributions from the research team, global advocates and practitioners, as well as youth voices and poetry reminded us that pleasure is not a luxury, but a right tied to dignity, safety and self-worth. Speakers called for urgent action to: Make pleasure a priority in the global SRHR agenda.Ask users directly about how methods affect their sex lives.Normalise positive framing of contraception as enabling safe and pleasurable sex. This research represents a crucial step toward humanising contraceptive delivery, challenging over-medicalised narratives, and designing SRHR services that reflect people’s realities. Read the full paper, 'The sex effect: the prevalence of sex life reasons for contraceptive discontinuation. A systematic review and meta-analysis' at srhmjournal.org.

    57 min
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About

The SRHM Podcast explores new research and emerging trends in the field of sexual and reproductive health and rights. Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters or SRHM promotes sexual and reproductive health and rights globally. At the heart of SRHM is a multidisciplinary, open-access, peer-reviewed journal. SRHM also creates and participates in spaces that motivate improvements in research, policy, services and practice. It contributes to capacity building in knowledge generation. Learn more at srhm.org. Music by Tiber Krisztián and Salamon Botond Sound editing by We Edit Podcasts

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