scholarly journals Gender equity and sexual and reproductive health in Eastern and Southern Africa: a critical overview of the literature

2014 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 23717 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eleanor E. MacPherson ◽  
Esther Richards ◽  
Ireen Namakhoma ◽  
Sally Theobald
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Health ◽  
Gender Equity ◽  
Southern Africa ◽  
Sexual And Reproductive Health ◽  
Eastern And Southern Africa ◽  
Critical Overview

scholarly journals Committing to comprehensive sexuality education for young people in Eastern and Southern Africa

2018 ◽  
Vol 26 ◽  
pp. 138
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Bruce
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Reproductive Health ◽  
Southern Africa ◽  
Sexuality Education ◽  
Sexual And Reproductive Health ◽  
National Curriculum ◽  
Reproductive Health Services ◽  
Comprehensive Sexuality Education ◽  
Sexually Transmitted ◽  
Eastern And Southern Africa

The Ministerial Commitment on Comprehensive Sexuality Education and Sexual and Reproductive Health Services for Adolescents and Young People in Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA), or the ESA Commitment, was affirmed December 7, 2013, by 21 countries located across this region during the 17th International Conference on AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections in Africa. The ESA Commitment speaks to the numerous practices and challenges of school age populations stemming from interplay among education, health, and contextual issues varying by country. Analysis of this policy is approached using methodology drawn from Bartlett and Vavrus (2014, 2017) and using a lens of policy borrowing, particularly focused on incorporating agency, process, impact, and timing (Steiner-Khamsi, 2000, 2010). This analysis seeks to understand the ESA Commitment and national curriculum subsequently implemented in Zambia by situating these actions among broader international, regional, and national discourse in the area of sexual and reproductive health and education for young people between 1994 and 2016. Through analysis considering its effectiveness in terms of implementation, scalability, and sustainability, its ability to enable progress towards improving the lives of young people, especially through increased knowledge of HIV/AIDS prevention, is examined and recommendations are presented.

Sexual and Reproductive Justice for LGBTQI Youth in Policy Responses Across Eastern and Southern Africa

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ingrid Lynch ◽  
Finn Reygan
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Reproductive Health ◽  
Sexual And Reproductive Health ◽  
Gender Diversity ◽  
Minority Youth ◽  
Reproductive Justice ◽  
Policy Narratives ◽  
Sexual And Gender Minority ◽  
Eastern And Southern Africa ◽  
And Gender

Both significant progress and profound backlash have occurred in the inclusion of sexual and gender diversity across eastern and southern Africa. This includes the decriminalization of homosexuality in Mozambique in 2015 and the introduction of the Anti-Homosexuality Act (later annulled) in Uganda in the preceding year. Simultaneously there is increased pressure on Ministries of Education to engage more robustly with sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) education in education systems across the region. Emerging regional research points to a narrow, heteronormative focus in comprehensive sexuality education; access barriers to sexual and reproductive health services; and pervasive school-related gender-based violence, including homophobic and transphobic violence. Civil society organizations (CSOs) play a key role in developing best practice in advancing the SRHR of sexual and gender minority youth and are therefore a valuable resource for government SRHR policies and programmatic responses. The regional SRHR education policy landscape is underpinned by two policy narratives: that of young people’s SRHR as a public health concern and a focus on young people’s human rights. These policy narratives not only underpin SRHR policy in the region but also in many instances are drawn on in CSO advocacy when positioning the SRHR of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex (LGBTQI) young people as an important policy concern. These two dominant policy narratives, however, have a narrow focus on young people’s risks and vulnerabilities, may inadvertently perpetuate stigma and marginalization of LGBTQI youth, and may limit youth voice and agency. These narratives also do not sufficiently engage local sociocultural and structural conditions that drive negative SRHR outcomes for young people in the region. Research, advocacy, and policy development toward the full realization of the SRHR of sexual and gender minority youth can address some of the limitations of health and rights-based policy narratives by drawing on a sexual and reproductive justice framework. Such a framework expands the policy focus on health risks and individual rights to include engagement with sociocultural and structural constraints on young people’s ability to exercise their rights. A sexual and reproductive justice framework provides a more robust toolkit when working toward full inclusion of sexual and gender diversity in regional school-based SRHR policy and programs.

scholarly journals Prioritising gender, equity, and human rights in a GRADE-based framework to inform future research on self care for sexual and reproductive health and rights

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. e002128
Author(s):  
Nandi Siegfried ◽  
Manjulaa Narasimhan ◽  
Carmen H Logie ◽  
Rebekah Thomas ◽  
Laura Ferguson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Reproductive Health ◽  
Gender Equity ◽  
Sexual And Reproductive Health ◽  
Self Care ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Methodological Challenges ◽  
Guidelines Development ◽  
Study Results ◽  
Research Questions

IntroductionIn January 2019, the WHO reviewed evidence to develop global recommendations on self-care interventions for sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). Identification of research gaps is part of the WHO guidelines development process, but reliable methods to do so are currently lacking with gender, equity and human rights (GER) infrequently prioritised.MethodsWe expanded a prior framework based on Grading of Evidence, Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) to include GER. The revised framework is applied systematically during the formulation of research questions and comprises: (1) assessment of the GRADE strength and quality rating of recommendations; (2) mandatory inclusion of research questions identified from a global stakeholder survey; and (3) selection of the GER standards and principles most relevant to the question through discussion and consensus. For each question, we articulated: (1) the most appropriate and robust study design; (2) an alternative pragmatic design if the ideal design was not feasible; and (3) the methodological challenges facing researchers through identifying potential biases.ResultsWe identified 39 research questions, 7 overarching research approaches and 13 discrete feasible study designs. Availability and accessibility were most frequently identified as the GER standards and principles to consider when planning studies, followed by privacy and confidentiality. Selection and detection bias were the primary methodological challenges across mixed methods, quantitative and qualitative studies. A lack of generalisability potentially limits the use of study results with non-participation in research potentially highest in more vulnerable populations.ConclusionA framework based on GRADE that includes stakeholders’ values and identification of core GER standards and principles provides a practical, systematic approach to identifying research questions from a WHO guideline. Clear guidance for future studies will contribute to an anticipated ‘living guidelines’ approach within WHO. Foregrounding GER as a separate component of the framework is innovative but further elaboration to operationalise appropriate indicators for SRHR self-care interventions is required.

scholarly journals Addressing Health-Care System Inequities in the Management of Erectile Dysfunction: A Call to Action

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (5) ◽  
pp. 155798832096507
Author(s):  
Arthur L. Burnett ◽  
Natalie C. Edwards ◽  
Tonya M. Barrett ◽  
Krista D. Nitschelm ◽  
Samir K. Bhattacharyya
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Erectile Dysfunction ◽  
Reproductive Health ◽  
Gender Equity ◽  
Sexual And Reproductive Health ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Access To Treatment ◽  
Call To Action ◽  
Self Worth ◽  
And Gender

Erectile dysfunction (ED) is a common, burdensome, and costly urologic condition strongly related to all aspects of general health, from physical to mental. ED has profound consequences as it may interfere physical well-being, quality of life (QoL), self-esteem, relationships, self-worth, and productivity. It is therefore important to ensure that all types of effective ED treatments are consistently accessible to patients. While federal and state mandates ensure access to treatment for women’s breast health, female-factor infertility, and gender affirmation to ensure that these individuals do not experience a diminished QoL, there are no comparable mandates for men’s sexual and reproductive health. The burden of ED necessitates a call to action to improve the accessibility of ED treatments. The call to action steps include: (a) coverage for pharmacological, surgical, and other ED treatments should be viewed in the same way as coverage for other health issues, whether male or female and regardless of the stages of treatment, physical dysfunction, or physical changes; (b) American Urological Association (AUA) guidelines for the management of ED should be followed, including implementation of templates in electronic medical records (EMRs) to support adherence to the guidelines; and (c) coverage criteria should explicitly state that the criteria are intended to support gender equity for sexual and reproductive health care and should not be used to prevent men from receiving medically necessary ED treatments. This call to action offers a pathway to support every man who seeks treatment for ED as a medically necessary intervention by removing systemic health-care barriers.

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