Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters

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Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters

Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters (SRHM) promotes sexual and reproductive health and rights globally. www.srhm.org

05/11/2025

🌍 Addressing Reproductive Coercion and Intimate Partner Violence in Family Planning Services

A new study in Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters examines the ARCHES programme, designed to support women experiencing reproductive coercion (RC) and intimate partner violence (IPV) in family planning (FP) clinics in and around Nairobi, Kenya.

🔎 Key findings from client and provider perspectives:

- Clients felt empowered by learning about discreet contraception options, IPV services, and their reproductive rights, enabling more informed FP decisions.

- Providers reported increased confidence in addressing RC and IPV, improving client relationships.

- Screening for RC and IPV was widely accepted, with clients often recognising abuse for the first time.

- Educational booklets reinforced learning and allowed women to share information within their communities.

🔵 Challenges: IPV referrals remained difficult, counselling time was limited, and involving male partners raised concerns about safety and confidentiality.

Overall, ARCHES was positively received and shows promise as a scalable model for integrating FP and gender-based violence interventions in Kenya and comparable contexts. Future adaptations should focus on enhancing IPV referral, provider training, and client-centred counselling.

📖 Article: Strategies to address reproductive coercion and intimate partner violence in Nairobi family planning services: qualitative client and provider perspectives
✍️ Authors: Jasmine Uysal, Emilie Schwarz, Wilson Liambila, Seri Wendoh, Ruvani W Fonseka, Ricardo Vera Monroy, Sabrina C Boyce, Erin Pearson & Jay G Silverman
🔗 Read the full paper: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/26410397.2025.2570528

04/11/2025

✊ Reclaiming Knowledge: Latin American Feminist Contributions to Self-Managed Abortion (SMA)

A new commentary in the Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters Journal critiques the framing of self-managed medical abortion (SMA) as a recent innovation of Western biomedicine, highlighting the radical contributions of Latin American feminist movements.

🔎 Key insights:

-Core concepts such as autonomy, empowerment, person-centred care, privacy, confidentiality, and demedicalisation have long been central to feminist SMA activism.

-When these concepts are appropriated by mainstream healthcare systems without recognising their political foundations, they often lose transformative potential.

-Over-medicalisation, neoliberal self-care policies, and pill commodification can limit access and responsibility, undermining reproductive justice.

-The authors advocate for meaningful, horizontal collaborations between SMA activists and biomedical professionals, recognising activists as knowledgeable experts in abortion care.

👉This commentary underscores the importance of honouring the political and historical roots of SMA activism to ensure that reproductive health interventions are truly empowering and equitable.

📖 Article: Hegemonic medicine and self-managed abortion: reclaiming Latin American feminists’ contributions to knowledge and practice development
✍️ Authors: Sara Larrea & Suzanne Veldhuis
🔗 Read the full commentary: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/26410397.2025.2576263

03/11/2025

🏥 Healthcare Provider Bias and Contraceptive Care for Transgender & Gender-Diverse Patients

A new qualitative study published in the SRHM Journal explores biases in contraceptive care experienced by transgender and gender-diverse (TGD) patients. Interviews with healthcare providers reveal systemic and individual challenges in delivering gender-inclusive care.

🔎 Key insights:

🔵Many providers struggle to understand gender identity and apply gender-inclusive frameworks.

🔵Systemic biases exist within healthcare institutions, compounded by providers’ limited experience with TGD patients’ medical needs, pronouns, and identities.

🔵Providers highlighted potential solutions, including structural and institutional changes to create trans-inclusive, affirming clinics.

🔵Findings emphasise the need for awareness, training, and systemic reform to improve access and quality of care for TGD individuals.

📖 Article: A qualitative study on healthcare providers’ biases toward transgender and gender-diverse people accessing contraceptive care
✍️ Authors: Yasaman Zia, Connie Folse, Adrien Lawyer, Felix Zeid, Alejandra Alvarez, Erica Somerson, Kathryn Albergate Davis, Dane Menkin, Mitzi Hawkins, Jen Hastings & Cynthia Harper
🔗 Read the full paper: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/26410397.2025.2577002

31/10/2025

⚖️ A landmark win for reproductive rights in Kenya

In this episode of the SRHM Podcast, SRHM Chief Executive Eszter Kismodi speaks with Allan Maleche (KELIN) and Jerop Limo (Ambassador for Youth and Adolescent Rep Health Programme - Ayarhep) about the recent High Court ruling on Kenya’s National Reproductive Health Policy (2022–2032).

They discuss how youth activists and women’s rights defenders challenged discriminatory provisions — and what this partial victory means for access to care, bodily autonomy, and inclusive, rights-based policy.

🎧 Listen now: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0fBRP15lmVY7QSK5971AKW

30/10/2025

🌍 Systematic Review: Climate Crisis and Reproductive Justice

A new article in the SRHM Journal explores how the climate crisis intersects with reproductive health, rights and justice. This systematic review examines global evidence on how environmental degradation and climate-related disasters affect reproductive autonomy and health outcomes.

🔎 Key findings:

🌍No studies were found addressing the impact of climate change on the right not to have children—a major gap in the literature.

🌏Climate-related events such as heatwaves, hurricanes, floods and droughts are linked to:
↑ Pregnancy loss
↑ Preterm birth
↓ Birth weight

🌏Ecological instability and uncertain futures are altering reproductive decision-making, pushing some to postpone or forgo childbearing.

🌎The climate crisis exacerbates structural inequalities, disproportionately affecting already marginalised communities.

The authors argue that climate change must be recognised as a reproductive justice issue, threatening people’s ability to have children, not have children, and raise families in safe and sustainable environments.

📖 Article: From conception to care: a systematic review of the impact of the climate crisis on reproductive justice
✍️ Authors: Martina Yopo Díaz, Valentina Gómez Aguirre & Loreto Watkins

🔗Read the full paper, open-access: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/26410397.2025.2576365

29/10/2025

🧾 New Systematic Review on Maternal and Infant Healthcare Access for Undocumented Migrants

Undocumented migrant women and their infants face profound inequities in accessing essential healthcare during the first 1,000 days of life—a critical period for long-term health and development. A new article published in Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters synthesises evidence from 52 peer-reviewed studies across diverse contexts to examine barriers and facilitators to maternal and child healthcare access among undocumented migrants.

Key findings include:

🔻 Barriers to access

-Legal and policy barriers: restrictive eligibility criteria, fear of deportation, complex administrative procedures, and the criminalisation of migration

-Structural and social barriers: poverty, discrimination, lack of insurance, language difficulties, and limited health system literacy

-Cultural barriers: mistrust of institutions and stigma

🔺 Facilitators of access

-Protective health policies and inclusive services for undocumented populations

-Community-based initiatives, translation services, and social support networks

-Ethical and human rights frameworks that promote non-discriminatory care

The review underscores that upholding access to maternal and infant healthcare is both a public health imperative and a human rights obligation. Shifting from exclusionary to rights-based health systems is essential to achieving universal health coverage and advancing health equity.

📖 Article: Facilitators and barriers of maternal and infant healthcare access for undocumented migrants in the first 1000 days of life: a systematic review of the literature
✍️ Authors: Caterina Montagnoli, Nathalie Bettina Neeser, Bernice Simone Elger & Tenzin Wangmo

🔗 Read the full article here: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/26410397.2025.2560189

28/10/2025

📰 How does the media shape perceptions of self-managed abortion in the United States?

Self-managed abortion (SMA) remains legal in most jurisdictions of the United States, yet criminalisation is increasing in the post-Dobbs context.

A new thematic analysis published in the SRHM Journal examines how national news media report on cases of self-managed abortion criminalisation. Despite SMA being legal in most US states, arrests are rising – and media narratives may be part of the problem.

Analysing 41 articles from major US newspapers (2000–2023), researchers found troubling patterns:

👉Personifies the foetus and frames it as a victim, reinforcing moral judgment

👉Vilifies individuals involved in SMA through selective personal histories

👉Reproduces state and law enforcement bias by presenting police narratives as objective fact

👉Normalises criminalisation and subtly legitimises punitive responses to SMA

The authors argue that media discourse functions as a mechanism of reproductive governance, contributing to stigma, surveillance, and criminalisation of reproductive autonomy.

📖 Article: Constructing criminality: a thematic analysis of national news media reporting on self-managed abortion criminalisation in the United States
✍️ Authors: Hayley V. McMahon, Naya Pearce, Alexis J. Smith, India C. Stevenson, Grace E. Howard, Sara K. Redd & Whitney S. Rice

🔗Read the full research article here: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/26410397.2025.2572890

24/10/2025

🎧 New SRHM Podcast episode!

What happens when ideology replaces science in reproductive health policy? From IVF restrictions to abortion bans, the consequences are life-changing.

In this episode, SRHM CEO Eszter Kismődi speaks with Prof. Silke Dyer, Prof. Alison Edelman, Prof. Joanna Erdman and Prof. Asha George about their powerful paper on the right to science and the legal status of the human embryo.

💡 Why this matters:

-Science must guide law and policy—not misinformation
-The right to science is a human right
-Reproductive autonomy depends on access to evidence and innovation
-Personhood rulings threaten SRHR globally

Listen now ➡️ on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and other podcast platforms: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5thaaIaCGwHIj9HtmKYfKA

20/10/2025

📚 New research explores the experiences of trans and gender-diverse (TGD) people with endometriosis—a condition traditionally studied only in women.

🌍 Focus groups with 14 participants across nine countries revealed:

-Gender identity and endometriosis symptoms are closely intertwined
-Body alienation during menstruation and challenges around key life events
-Discrimination in healthcare and mistrust of providers
-Concerns about long-term health and employment

These findings highlight the urgent need for inclusive, respectful, evidence-informed care for TGD individuals.

👉Read the full paper 'Insights from focus groups with trans and gender-diverse people with endometriosis: stories you tell, stories you don’t' by Maddalena Giacomozzi, Jasmine Brazelton, Khushi Jeswani, Donna Ruumpol, Petra Verdonk & Annemiek Nap

🔗https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/26410397.2025.2562682

20/10/2025

We sat down with , President of and director of .aubmc to discuss menopause care for .

Dr. El Kak highlights that it is our duty- as providers, researchers, and activists- to make menopause a positive and empowering life event for women.

17/10/2025

🌍 It’s been a week already since in Cape Town!

We were delighted to connect with colleagues, meet new researchers and authors, and share SRHM’s work and mission. The conversations, presentations, and energy throughout the conference were truly fantastic - reflecting the strength and diversity of the global SRHR community.

We also promoted our Call for Papers for SRHM’s Open Issue, inviting submissions that expand knowledge and evidence across sexual and reproductive health and rights.
🔗https://www.srhm.org/call-for-papers/

One of the highlights was signing the Safe Abortion Wall, pledging to support efforts to end all criminalisation related to abortion and to ensure access to safe, legal and quality abortion care for all.

📸 Here are some moments from the SRHM booth. Thank you to everyone who stopped by and shared their ideas, experiences and enthusiasm.

16/10/2025

🌟 New in Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters

“Between contraception and hormones: a qualitative analysis of the lived experiences of former contraceptive pill users”
by Jana Niemann, Lisa Glaum, Lea Hofmann, Nadja Freymüller & Liane Schenk

This study explores the full journey of contraceptive pill use in Germany, from initiation to after discontinuation, through 19 in-depth oral contraceptive pill biographies.

👉“Former users consider their contraceptive journey to be successful in preventing pregnancy, but desire more male contraceptive options and improved information and counselling services.”

🌏Findings highlight the complexity of pill use, including switching, stopping, and restarting, shaped by biopsychological factors, side effects, and evolving attitudes toward hormones and pregnancy risk. The study emphasises valuing former users’ lived experiences to inform research, policy, and practice, supporting healthcare providers in addressing diverse reproductive health needs.

🔗 Read the full article: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/26410397.2025.2563393

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RHM becomes SRHM

In February 2019, Reproductive Health Matters (RHM) changes its name to Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters (SRHM). Sexual health and rights have always been a part of the discourse of RHM, and we wish to fully represent the breadth and extensiveness of sexual health and rights, and reproductive health and rights, in our name.

Our name represents our vision: a world in which sexual and reproductive health and rights are recognized as fundamental human rights and matters of social justice; and in which the sexual and reproductive health needs and rights of people are fully respected, protected and fulfilled, regardless of age, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, geographical residence, race, colour, language, social status or other social, political or personal attributes.

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