SRHM Podcast Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters (SRHM)

In anticipation of the International Conference on Family Planning, this episode focuses on reproductive power and aligning actions with values in global family planning.

The conversation is moderated by Sara Gullo who works as an Independent Consultant. Sara is joined by Christine Galavotti a Senior Program Officer at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Feven Mekuria a Senior Advisor in Community Health systems at CARE.

This conversation is inspired by a recent article on reproductive power and family planning written by Christine and Sara which was published in the SRHM journal. The link to the article is available in the episode description or you can find it at SRHM.org.



Useful links:

Reproductive power matters: aligning actions with values in global family planning written by Christine Galavotti & Sara Gullo: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/26410397.2022.2082353

Jade Sasser’s book titled On Infertile Ground: https://nyupress.org/9781479899357/on-infertile-ground/

Reproductive Autonomy Scale: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24615573/

Contraceptive Autonomy: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24615573/

Op-Ed on contraception as ‘poverty cure’: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/02/opinion/iud-implants-contraception-poverty.html--

Summary of the project with married girls from Ethiopia: a4_tesfainvestigativeresearchbrief_print.pdf (care.org)

In this episode, four experts discuss the importance of pleasure for health and wellbeing and how it connects to family planning and contraception. They also discuss the pleasure deficit, why it exists and what we can do about it.

This episode is moderated by Anne Philpott who is the Founder and Co-Director of The Pleasure Project - an international education and advocacy organization working to eroticize safer sex. Anne is speaking with Ana Santos, an award-winning journalist who reports on the intersections of sexuality, sexual health, and female migrant labour. She is also a Pleasure Fellow at The Pleasure Project. Anne is also speaking with Mahmoud Garga, Lead Specialist in Strategic Communication, Media Relations and Digital Campaigning at the IPPF Africa Regional Office. He also leads their Treasure You Pleasure campaign across Sub-Saharan Africa. And lastly, Jessica Sanders is also joining the conversion. Jessica is an Assistant Professor at the University of Utah in the Division of Family Planning and Director of research at the ASCENT Center for reproductive and sexual health. She received her PhD in Public Health from the University of Utah with an emphasis in Women’s Health.

Useful links:

The Pleasure Project

The Pleasure Principles – guide to implementing pleasure based sexual health

The Systematic Review on 'What is the added value of incorporating pleasure in sexual health interventions?'

· Explanatory note

· Journal article

The World Association of Sexual Health Sexual Pleasure Declaration

The World Association for Sexual Health’s Declaration on Sexual Pleasure: A technical guide

World Sexual Health Day – Let’s talk Pleasure - 2022

Treasure your pleasure campaign

The campaign, in English, French and Portuguese aims to create a safe space for youth in Africa to talk about sex freely, reducing shame through bold communication that resonates with them and grabs their attention while also advocating for safe sex and the importance of pleasure.

Middle Me Podcast with Ana Santos

By Jessica Sanders:

Sex, poverty, and public health: Connections between sexual wellbeing and economic resources among US reproductive health clients

Measuring the Sexual Acceptability of Contraception: Psychometric Examination and Development of a Valid and Reliable Prospective Instrument

On June 24, the Supreme Court of the United States overturned Roe v. Wade and thus removed constitutional protection for abortion rights in the country. This decision will hurt millions of people – especially those who already face discriminatory obstacles to health care. In response, we recorded this episode of the SRHM Podcast to better understand the situation in the U.S. right now and the implications of this milestone ruling.

The conversation is moderated by Mindy Jane Roseman, Director of International Law Programs at Yale Law, the Director of the Gruber Program for Global Justice and Women’s Rights, and SRHM Associate Editor. Mindy is speaking with Elizabeth Nash, Principal Policy Associate, State Issues with the Guttmacher Institute in Washington, DC, and Rachel Rebouché, Interim Dean of Temple University Beasley School of Law and James E. Beasley Professor of Law.

Useful links:

The new abortion battleground by David S. Cohen, Greer Donley and Rachel Rebouché https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4032931

Updated map of abortion laws per state: https://states.guttmacher.org/policies/

New numbers on abortion in the US for 2019 and 2020: https://www.guttmacher.org/article/2022/06/long-term-decline-us-abortions-reverses-showing-rising-need-abortion-supreme-court

Take action:

If you can, consider donating to the Center for Reproductive Rights (https://reproductiverights.org/), Planned Parenthood (https://www.plannedparenthood.org/), or other advocacy groups or abortion clinics in the U.S.

In this episode, SRHM Chief Executive Eszter Kismodi speaks with five experts on sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) in relation to the war against Ukraine. Together, they cover issues such as access to SRHR in Ukraine and in neighboring countries, the complexity of delivering humanitarian aid, the nuances of surrogacy during wars, as well as the importance of humanitarian law, human rights law and criminal law.

Speakers:

Galina Maistruk - Obstetrician-Gynecologist in Ukraine

Wanda Nowicka - Member of Parliament in Poland

Alison Motluk - Freelance Journalist specialized in assisted reproduction

Dr. Henia Dakkak - Head of Policy and Liaison Unit, Humanitarian Office, UNFPA in Moldova 

Christina Zampas - Associate Director of Global Advocacy at the Center for Reproductive Rights

Resources:

SRHM editorial on SRHR in Ukraine

Ukraine’s Surrogacy Industry Has Put Women in Impossible Positions by Alison Motluk published in The Atlantic

HeyReprotech newsletter by Alison Motluk

Ukraine Surrogacy Dispatch newsletter by Alison Motluk

Following a call for poetry in September 2021, SRHM published its first poetry anthology on sexual and reproductive justice. To celebrate the release of the collection, we invited five poets and a member of the Selection Committee to read their poems and share what inspired them to write. This episode of the SRHM Podcast is the recording from the launch event.

SRHM's poetry collection is available online at http://www.srhm.org/poetry-for-sexual-and-reproductive-justice/

Poets:

Megan Spencer (poem: on mother’s day, our first together.)

Carmen Barosso (poem: Forgive me, Father)

Haiber Andres Logos Lemus (poem: Libertad + Amor / Freedom + Love)

Elizabeth Wright Veintimilla (poem: For the women who came before us)

Mahamuda Rahman (poem: My body is my soul)

Jane Cottingham (poem: This is where)

This episode features Avery Everhart, Blas Radi and A.J. Lowik. Together, they discuss the importance of inclusive language and best practices, how social movements for trans rights and reproductive justice are influenced by geographic contexts, and how the criteria for political participation are too often based on cisnormative logic. The episode concludes with several recommendations on how to be more inclusive.

Read Blas Radi’s article published by SRHM: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/26410397.2020.1824318

The transcript for this episode is available here: http://www.srhm.org/news/trans-reproductive-justice-podcast-transcript/

Other resources:

Florence Ashley: https://www.florenceashley.com/

Pregnancy: Reproductive Futures in Trans of Color Feminism by micha cárdenas: https://read.dukeupress.edu/tsq/article-abstract/3/1-2/48/91814/PregnancyReproductive-Futures-in-Trans-of-Color

Dr. A.J. Lowik’s manual on trans inclusive abortion services: https://www.ajlowik.com/transinclusive-abortion