Reducing high maternal mortality rates in western China: a novel approach
Among the Millennium Development Goals, maternal mortality reduction has proven especially difficult to achieve. Unlike many countries, China is on track to meeting these goals on a national level, through a programme of institutionalizing deliveries. Nonetheless, in rural, disadvantaged, and ethnically diverse areas of western China, maternal mortality rates remain high. To reduce maternal mortality in western China, we developed and implemented a three-level approach as part of a collaboration between a regional university, a non-profit organization, and local health authorities. (Source: Reproductive Health Matters)
Source: Reproductive Health Matters - November 1, 2014 Category: Global & Universal Authors: Kunchok Gyaltsen (Gongque Jianzan), Lhusham Gyal (Li Xianjia), Jessica D Gipson, Tsering Kyi (Cai Rangji), Anne R Pebley Tags: ISSUES IN CURRENT SERVICE DELIVERY Source Type: research
Movement and counter-movement: a history of abortion law reform and the backlash in Colombia 2006–2014
In 2006, the Constitutional Court of Colombia issued Decision C-355/2006, which liberalized the country’s abortion law. The reform was groundbreaking in its argumentation, being one of the first judicial decisions in the world to uphold abortion rights on equality grounds, and the first by a constitutional court to rule on the constitutionality of abortion within a human rights framework. It was also the first of a series of reforms that would liberalize the abortion regulation in four other Latin American countries. (Source: Reproductive Health Matters)
Source: Reproductive Health Matters - November 1, 2014 Category: Global & Universal Authors: Alba Ruibal Tags: FEATURE Source Type: research
Considering strategic litigation as an advocacy tool: a case study of the defence of reproductive rights in Colombia
Women’s Link Worldwide developed a test to determine when an environment is conducive to social change through strategic litigation. We first present our understanding of strategic litigation, and then discuss four conditions for successful and sustainable change using strategic litigation: (1) an existing rights framework; (2) an independent and knowledgeable judiciary; (3) civil society organizations with the capacity to frame social problems as rights violations and to litigate; and (4) a network able to support and leverage the opportunities presented by litigation. (Source: Reproductive Health Matters)
Source: Reproductive Health Matters - November 1, 2014 Category: Global & Universal Authors: Mónica Roa, Barbara Klugman Tags: FEATURE Source Type: research
Conservative litigation against sexual and reproductive health policies in Argentina
In Argentina, campaigns for the recognition of sexual and reproductive rights have sparked opposition through litigation in which the dynamics of legal action have come from self-proclaimed “pro-life” NGOs, particularly since 1998, when the conservative NGO Portal de Belén successfully achieved the banning of emergency contraception through the courts. The activities of these groups, acting as a “civil arm” of religion, are focused primarily on obstructing access to legally permissible abortions and bringing about the withdrawal of a number of recognized public policies on sexual and reproductive health, particula...
Source: Reproductive Health Matters - November 1, 2014 Category: Global & Universal Authors: María Angélica Peñas Defago, José Manuel Morán Faúndes Tags: FEATURE Source Type: research
Gender inequality in Russia: the perspective of participatory gender budgeting
Gender-based discrimination is found in all economies in the world. Women’s unpaid work accounts for about half of the world GDP, yet women remain under-valued and under-represented in national policies worldwide. The question of gender budgeting and citizens’ participation in budgeting and governance processes has gained attention in recent years, but Russia is far from implementing these. Instead, blindness to gender issues dominates in national strategies and budgets. This paper explores these issues and looks in-depth at them in the decentralisation process in Bashkortostan, a central Russian republic. (Source: Rep...
Source: Reproductive Health Matters - November 1, 2014 Category: Global & Universal Authors: Venera Zakirova Tags: FEATURE Source Type: research
The Global Commission on HIV and the Law: recommendations for legal reform to promote sexual and reproductive health and rights
The Global Commission on HIV and the Law was established in 2010 to identify and analyse the complex framework of international, national, religious and customary law shaping national responses to HIV and the well-being of people living with HIV and key populations. Two years of deliberation, based on an exhaustive review of international public health and human rights scholarship, as well as almost 700 testimonials from individuals and organizations in more than 130 countries, informed the Commission’s recommendations on reform to laws and practices that criminalize those living with and vulnerable to HIV, sustain or mi...
Source: Reproductive Health Matters - November 1, 2014 Category: Global & Universal Authors: Shereen El Feki, Tenu Avafia, Tania Martins Fidalgo, Vivek Divan, Charles Chauvel, Mandeep Dhaliwal, Clifton Cortez Tags: FEATURE Source Type: research
Righting the mismatch between law, policy and the sexual and reproductive health needs of young people in the Asia-Pacific Region
The context of sexual relations is changing in the Asia-Pacific. While the age of sexual debut remains the same, young people are generally marrying later and sex outside of marriage is increasing. The first systematic review of how laws and policies govern young people’s access to sexual and reproductive health services was conducted in 2013. The study considered >400 national documents and held focus group discussions with >60 young people across three countries in the region. This paper examines the study findings in light of epidemiological data on young people’s sexual behaviour and health, exposing a critical mis...
Source: Reproductive Health Matters - November 1, 2014 Category: Global & Universal Authors: John Godwin, Gabrielle Szabo, Justine Sass, Josephine Sauvarin Tags: FEATURE Source Type: research
Can a restrictive law serve a protective purpose? The impact of age-restrictive laws on young people’s access to sexual and reproductive health services
This article explores the purpose, function and impact of legal restrictions imposed on children’s and young people’s involvement in sexual activity and their access to sexual and reproductive health services. Whilst there is no consensus on the age at which it is appropriate or acceptable for children and young people to start having sex, the existence of a minimum legal age for sexual consent is almost universal across national jurisdictions, and many states have imposed legal rules that place restrictions on children’s and young people’s independent access to health services, including sexual health services. (S...
Source: Reproductive Health Matters - November 1, 2014 Category: Global & Universal Authors: Elizabeth Yarrow, Kirsten Anderson, Kara Apland, Katherine Watson Tags: COMMENTARY Source Type: research
HIV and gender-based violence: welcome policies and programmes, but is the research keeping up?
The global HIV policy arena has seen a surge of interest in gender-related dimensions of vulnerability to HIV and violence. UNAIDS and other prominent actors have named gender-based violence a key priority, and there seems to be genuine understanding and commitment to addressing gender inequalities as they impact key populations in the AIDS response. In the quest for evidence-informed interventions, there is usually a strong connection between the research conducted and the policies and programmes that follow. (Source: Reproductive Health Matters)
Source: Reproductive Health Matters - November 1, 2014 Category: Global & Universal Authors: Sofia Gruskin, Kelly Safreed-Harmon, Chelsea L Moore, Riley J Steiner, Shari L Dworkin Tags: ISSUES IN CURRENT RESEARCH Source Type: research
Abortion in Chile: the practice under a restrictive regime
This article examines, from a human rights perspective, the experience of women, and the practices of health care providers regarding abortion in Chile. Most abortions, as high as 100,000 a year, are obtained surreptitiously and clandestinely, and income and connections play a key role. The illegality of abortion correlates strongly with vulnerability, feelings of guilt and loneliness, fear of prosecution, physical and psychological harm, and social ostracism. Moreover, the absolute legal ban on abortion has a chilling effect on health care providers and endangers women’s lives and health. (Source: Reproductive Health Matters)
Source: Reproductive Health Matters - November 1, 2014 Category: Global & Universal Authors: Lidia Casas, Lieta Vivaldi Tags: FEATURE Source Type: research
Sexual and reproductive health and rights in the sustainable development goals and the post-2015 development agenda: less than a year to go
Since the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in Cairo in 1994 there have been significant achievements in moving towards the goal of sexual and reproductive health and rights. Yet there have also been disappointments, as demonstrated in the Millennium Development Goals, even though in 2007 a target on reproductive health was added. Most recently, the 20-year review of the implementation of the ICPD Programme of Action, ICPD Beyond 2014, has taken place, which has moved forward the sexual and reproductive health and rights agenda. (Source: Reproductive Health Matters)
Source: Reproductive Health Matters - November 1, 2014 Category: Global & Universal Authors: Marianne Haslegrave Tags: SPECIAL REPORT Source Type: research
The shifting politics in multilateral development and human rights negotiations and the absence of accountability
The post-2015 development agenda⁎ currently being negotiated at the United Nations in New York will dictate development strategies and influence aid flows for the foreseeable future. It is vital, therefore, that what is agreed during these discussions focuses on the means by which to improve the lives and opportunities of those seeking to escape poverty and all that this entails. Yet negotiations on the new development framework have largely ignored a crucial component for addressing disparities and violations in all corners of the world: human rights. (Source: Reproductive Health Matters)
Source: Reproductive Health Matters - November 1, 2014 Category: Global & Universal Authors: Stuart Halford, Sandeep Prasad Tags: DISCUSSION Source Type: research
Sexual and reproductive health and rights of older men and women: addressing a policy blind spot
Global debate on required policy responses to issues of older persons has intensified over the past 15 years, fuelled by a growing awareness of the rapid ageing of populations. Health has been a central focus, but scrutiny of global policies, human rights instruments and reports reveals that just as older people are excluded from sexual and reproductive health and rights agendas, so are issues of sexual and reproductive health and rights wholly marginal to current agendas focused on older people. (Source: Reproductive Health Matters)
Source: Reproductive Health Matters - November 1, 2014 Category: Global & Universal Authors: Isabella Aboderin Tags: ISSUES IN CURRENT POLICY Source Type: research
The Holy See on sexual and reproductive health rights: conservative in position, dynamic in response
The Holy See has engaged extensively in United Nations negotiations on issues concerning sexual and reproductive health rights as they have emerged and evolved in a dynamic global agenda over the past two decades. A meta-narrative review of the mission’s official statements was conducted to examine the positions, discourses and tensions across the broad range of agendas. The Holy See represents a fundamentally conservative and stable position on a range of sexual and reproductive health rights concerns. (Source: Reproductive Health Matters)
Source: Reproductive Health Matters - November 1, 2014 Category: Global & Universal Authors: Amy L Coates, Peter S Hill, Simon Rushton, Julie Balen Tags: FEATURE Source Type: research
Round Up: The law, the courts, and sexual and reproductive rights
(Source: Reproductive Health Matters)
Source: Reproductive Health Matters - November 1, 2014 Category: Global & Universal Tags: Round Up Source Type: research
