Browsing by Author "Schaaf, Marta"
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Item Accountability for SRHR in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic(Taylor & Francis, 2020) George, Asha S.; Schaaf, Marta; Boydell, VictoriaGovernments and international organisations are focused on COVID-19 crisis decision-making. As a result, global and national health governance contexts are changing dramatically, as are the social and political determinants of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). Various gender dimensions of the pandemic are clear. While initial data suggest that men are more vulnerable to COVID-19 related mortality, in many high, middle, and low-income countries, the “essential workers” and informal workers who are disproportionately exposed are disproportionately lower social status women. (Boniol et al., 2019; Wenham et al., 2020) Intersecting injustices mean that certain disadvantaged groups are particularly hard hit. (Morgan & Davies, 2020) They are left to reconcile the often-incompatible demands of precarious jobs, potential exposure to COVID-19, the stress of caring responsibilities under lockdown and, particularly for women, increased isolation exacerbating Gender-Based Violence (GBV).Item Building a transformative agenda for accountability in SRHR: Lessons learned from SRHR and accountability literatures(Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters, 2019) Boydell, Victoria; Schaaf, Marta; George, Asha; Brinkerhoff, Derick W; Belle, Sara Van; Khosla, RajatGlobal strategies and commitments for sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) underscore the need to strengthen rights-based accountability processes. Yet there are gaps between these ambitious SRHR rights frameworks and the constrained socio-political lived realities within which these frameworks are implemented. This paper addresses these gaps by reviewing the evidence on the dynamics and concerns related to operationalising accountability in the context of SRHR. It is based on a secondary analysis of a systematic review that examined the published evidence on SRHR and accountability and also draws on the broader literature on accountability for health. Key themes include the political and ideological context, enhancing community voice and health system responsiveness, and recognising the complexity of health systems. While there is a range of accountability relationships that can be leveraged in the health system, the characteristics specific to SRHR need to be considered as they colour the capabilities and conditions in which accountability efforts occur.Item Unmasking power as foundational to research on sexual and reproductive health and rights(BMJ Publishing Group, 2021) Schaaf, Marta; Kapilashrami, Anuj; George, AshaRelations of power are intrinsic to the social determinants of sexual and reproductive health (SRH); they influence the content, quality and outcomes of SRH care; and they shape the negotiation and realisation of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) more broadly. Power dynamics pervade how SRHR is understood, studied and acted on, in ways that are distinct from other health issues.1 For example, the deeply held personal beliefs about women’s sexuality and childbearing, cultural mores regarding adolescent sexuality and state goals related to fertility all mark SRHR as a sphere with distinct and deeply contested power dynamics. Unmasking power as a central element in SRHR research is therefore crucial to developing a research agenda that can produce knowledge to transform hierarchies of power and advance SRHR.2 For example, key studies on violence against women and HIV that included explicit measures of power broke new ground by assessing how multilevel programmes impacted power relations and SRH outcomes, thus elucidating the importance of power relations, the factors that shape power relations and how these relations can be changed.3–5 In this Commentary, we summarise key ways power has been understood, defined and operationalised in SRHR research. We propose areas where further theoretical and empirical work and improved research processes could better interrogate power, yielding insights that can help transform policies, programmes and services.