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

28/10/2026

🌍 How is abortion care regulated around the world, and what does this mean for access to care?

A new paper published in S*xual and Reproductive Health Matters, “A global, descriptive analysis of the sources used to regulate abortion care”, by Sanhita Ambast, Hazal Atay and Antonella Lavelanet, examines abortion regulations across 183 countries.

🔎 Key findings:

169 countries regulate abortion through their Criminal or Penal Code.
In 27 countries, criminal law is the only source regulating abortion.
In 90 countries, abortion-related information is spread across five or more documents.
In 109 countries, conscientious objection is not regulated by any document.

The findings reveal a complex and fragmented regulatory landscape that can reinforce abortion exceptionalism, increase stigma and create barriers to accessing quality abortion care.

The authors highlight the need to rethink how abortion is regulated to better safeguard the health and rights of people seeking abortions.

📖 Read the full paper: https://doi.org/10.1080/26410397.2026.2710920

*xualAndReproductiveHealth

28/09/2026

Legal rights are only the beginning. How do we make them real?

This , listen to our latest podcast exploring the realities of safe abortion access in Benin following the country’s 2021 legal reform.

A conversation between Laura Ferguson, Ramatou Ouedraogo, Njeri Mbuthia, Jonna Both and Vanessa Sekpon.

Together, they discuss what research tells us about the barriers women and girls continue to face, including limited information, cost, stigma, conscientious objection and gaps in health services. They also highlight the vital role of civil society in providing information, referrals and support, and share lessons for turning legal rights into meaningful access.

🎧 Listen to “Beyond the Law: Making Safe Abortion Rights a Reality in Benin”: https://pod.link/1558099164/episode/YzVlM2UzMzMtNGZkMS00NWNhLWExNGMtYjFmNDQwMThlZjgx

22/09/2026

How can we transform knowledge production to centre the voices, lived experiences and expertise of communities that have historically been excluded from research?

Join S*xual and Reproductive Health Matters (SRHM) and the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) for Rights-Based Knowledge Creation, the first webinar in the Reclaiming Knowledge Production initiative.

📅 8 October 2026
🕓 16:30–18:00 SAST
💻 Online and open to all

The moderated panel will bring together activists, advocates and researchers to explore community-led and participatory research, the challenges of reclaiming knowledge production, and how research can better serve the communities whose lives it seeks to understand.

Speakers:

• Eszter Kismődi, SRHM
• Nihal Said, IPPF
• Subha Sri Balakrishnan, Researcher and advocate
• Morgan Carpenter, InterAction for Health and Human Rights
• Renu Khanna, SAHAJ (Society for Health Alternatives)
• Kartik Gore, Foram Foundation
• Dudu Dlamini, S*x Workers Education and Advocacy Taskforce (SWEAT)
• Luca Stevenson, IPPF

Come join the conversation and consider what it takes to make knowledge production more inclusive, equitable and rights-based.

👉 Register now: https://events.humanitix.com/rights-based-knowledge-creation

*xualAndReproductiveHealthAndRights

16/09/2026

If we designed the HIV response around the girls who need it most, what would we do differently?

🎙️ In this episode of the SRHM Podcast, Laura Ferguson speaks with Sarah Malaba of TIKO and Lindsay Hayden of the Elton John AIDS Foundation about rethinking the global HIV response amid funding cuts and a wave of new prevention technologies.

They explore:
🔹 Putting adolescent girls and communities at the centre of care.
🔹 Breaking down stigma and barriers to prevention.
🔹 Integrating HIV services with sexual and reproductive health and rights.
🔹 Building resilient, country-led responses.
🔹 Why access must matter as much as innovation.

🎧 Listen now wherever you find your podcasts and at srhm.org. https://open.spotify.com/episode/0HxtNuQkhYxiVczupPvUOv

16/09/2026

How can Communities of Practice help turn sexual and reproductive health and rights research into action?

A new study in S*xual and Reproductive Health Matters explores how international Communities of Practice support knowledge translation across eight Share-Net International hubs.

The researchers found that Communities of Practice can create context-specific knowledge, foster learning and collaboration, and produce practical knowledge products. But political resistance, unequal power dynamics, limited resources and gaps in dissemination and monitoring can limit their impact.

The study highlights the importance of locally responsive approaches, strong facilitation, cross-hub collaboration and learning-oriented monitoring and evaluation to help bridge the gap between knowledge and action.

📖 Read the full article by Noa E.M. Kolpa, Nicole Moran, Joyce L. Browne, Julia Addison, Martin Heine, Dorine Thomissen, Manouk A.W. van de Klundert, Jeroen van Dillen, Robert A.J. Borst, Dima Abusharkh, Jannatul Munia, Laura Cala-Vergel, Julia Ahmed, Edgard Mugenzi, Zoungrana Issoufou, Adriana M. Pérez-Rodríguez, Lindsay van Clief, Semenhe Fekadu, Jan Reynders, Shannon Mathew and Razan Al-Azzeh, on behalf of the Community of Practice Study Group.

🔗 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/26410397.2026.2714691

14/09/2026

🩺 “I am proud to be a midwife because I save a lot of lives.”

In South Sudan, midwives play a vital role in supporting safe and healthy pregnancies and births, despite working in a health system affected by underfunding, insecurity and shortages of trained health workers.

A new study in S*xual and Reproductive Health Matters explores the experiences of graduates from International Medical Corps’ midwifery education programme in South Sudan.

Among 314 graduates surveyed, 76.4% were working as midwives and nearly half (47.5%) were based in rural areas. Graduates reported high satisfaction with their training and a strong sense of pride in their profession, while also highlighting challenges including inadequate infrastructure, medical supplies and insecurity.

The study, by Sara E. Casey, Guma Patrick Isa, Abdou Sebushishe, Preethika Sundararaj, Megan Piccirillo, Javed Ali and Shiromi M. Perera, highlights the importance of investing in midwifery education and supporting health workers in conflict-affected settings.

📖 Read the open-access article: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/26410397.2026.2694248

*xualAndReproductiveHealth

09/09/2026

🎬 How does contemporary Spanish cinema portray unplanned pregnancy?

A new study in S*xual and Reproductive Health Matters examines 14 Spanish films released between 2014 and 2024, asking what stories cinema tells about unplanned pregnancy, motherhood and abortion.

The findings reveal a striking pattern:

🔹 Abortion is largely absent. Legal abortion is explicitly represented in only two of the 14 films analysed.

🔹 Motherhood dominates the narrative. Most films portray women ultimately accepting motherhood, or depict unsuccessful attempts to end a pregnancy.

🔹 Choice is shaped by inequality. Socio-economic circumstances strongly influence how characters experience and respond to unplanned pregnancy.

🔹 Representation remains limited. Characters are notably homogeneous in terms of class, race and other structural factors, narrowing the range of reproductive experiences shown on screen.

The authors argue that more diverse and realistic representations are needed to challenge conventional narratives and broaden cultural understandings of reproductive rights, agency and reproductive justice.

📖 Read Representation of unplanned pregnancy in contemporary Spanish cinema: from voluntary abortion to unwanted motherhood by Mariona Visa Barbosa, Margarida Carnicé and Joana Soto Merola.
🔗 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/26410397.2026.2713898

07/09/2026

🌍 Rethinking abortion law reform in Malawi: a multi-method study

Why has Malawi’s proposed abortion law reform remained stalled for more than a decade?

👉 A new article in S*xual and Reproductive Health Matters examines the policy process behind abortion law reform in Malawi, drawing on document analysis and interviews with 14 people involved in the reform process.

The study identifies several pathways that could help advance reform, including:

🔹 stronger coordination between advocacy organisations
🔹 continued use of local evidence and lived experiences to demonstrate the harms of unsafe abortion
🔹 meaningful engagement with communities and trusted local champions
🔹 strategic timing around political cycles and funding constraints
🔹 strategic litigation to clarify the scope of existing law
🔹 sustained investment in advocacy, including rural outreach

The authors also highlight the importance of how abortion is framed and discussed, and draw lessons from abortion law reform experiences across sub-Saharan Africa.

🔗 Read the open access article by Carmen Hall, Judith Daire, Delia Hendrie and Genesis Chorwe-Sungani:
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/26410397.2026.2702233

*xualAndReproductiveHealth

03/09/2026

🌍 Every Body, everywhere.

September is World S*xual Health Month, with World S*xual Health Day on 4 September. This year’s theme, Every Body, affirms that sexual health, rights, justice and pleasure belong to every person, in every body, without exception.

👉 This week, SRHM is pleased to be represented at the World S*xual Health Assembly in Stellenbosch, bringing together organisations and advocates working towards shared priorities for sexual health, rights and justice. We are also proud to reaffirm our commitment to the Porto Proclamation on S*xual Health, Rights and Justice.

📚 Explore our Special Collection on S*xual Pleasure, created in partnership with The Pleasure Porject and Agents of Ishq.

Pleasure is central to sexual health, yet too often overlooked. Our collection brings together research exploring pleasure, sexuality, health and rights across diverse contexts.
🔗 https://www.srhm.org/sexual-pleasure/

🎙️ Join the World S*xual Health Day panel | 4 September

Hosted by the World Association for S*xual Health and moderated by Eszter Kismödi (SRHM, WAS), the live-streamed panel will explore sexual health, rights, justice and pleasure, with panellists including Julia Ehrt, Judy Amina, Crystal Hendricks, Kristen Mark, Vic McKinney and Zahra Stardust.

The panel will open with Faysal El Kak and Constance Matlholwa, with poetry by Esben Esther Pirelli Benestad, followed by an exhibition by artist Robert Hamblin.
🔗 Register here: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_LuRptPuxSOusEJR73jSLWA #/registration

👉 Explore the SRHM Special Collection on S*xual Pleasure and join us in celebrating Every Body this World S*xual Health Day.

02/09/2026

SRHM is pleased to share a learning session hosted by the Just Futures Collaborative, inviting colleagues and friends working to prevent and respond to gender-based violence, particularly from a public health perspective.

The session will introduce the Justice Beyond Jails interactive storytelling tool and use two stories to explore the limits of criminal law as a response to GBV. Together, participants will consider non-carceral approaches that centre healing, accountability, safety and prevention.

The session offers a co-learning space to draw on shared knowledge and critically examine how we can respond more effectively to people who have experienced harm, while addressing the social and economic conditions that drive GBV.

🗓️ Join the session and take part in the conversation.

👉 Learn more and register:
https://events.humanitix.com/rethinking-our-responses-to-gender-based-violence

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