Unmasking power as foundational to research on sexual and reproductive health and rights
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Date
2021
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
BMJ Publishing Group
Abstract
Relations 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.
Description
Keywords
Sexual and reproductive health, Sexual and reproductive rights, Health policy, Social relations
Citation
Schaaf, M. et al. (2021). Unmasking power as foundational to research on sexual and reproductive health and rights. BMJ Global Health, 6(4) doi:10.1136/bmjgh-2021-005482