The Sex, Research & Resistance Podcast (The OU Research Group on Reproduction, Sexualities and Sexual Health)

In this episode, speakers Laura Ramos Tomás (TabuTabu), Anne Philpott (The Pleasure Project), Justin Hancock (Bish Training) and host Elizabeth Ascroft (Open University) discuss sexuality education beyond the confines of the classroom. Tune in to hear about sex ed as a continuous learning experience of bodies, relationships, identities and pleasure from youth and into our adult life. Our panelists draw from their experience working across cultures and contexts and share insight into their creative approaches of engagement with policy makers, learners, and educators. If you’re looking for inspiration to think outside of the classroom box, this episode is for you! 

Recorded on Wednesday 17 May 2023 as a live podcast hosted by the Open University’s Reproduction, Sexualities and Sexual Health Research Group. 

This episode was produced by Elizabeth Ascroft.

Links to resources mentioned during the podcast: 

Anne Philpott

https://thepleasureproject.orghttps://thepleasureproject.org/the-pleasure-principles/

Laura Ramos Tomás

https://www.tabu-tabu.com/about

https://www.anaautoestima.com.br/

Justin Hancock

https://bishtraining.com/

https://justinhancock.co.uk/

Elizabeth Ascroft

https://www.open.ac.uk/people/ea5326

In this episode, speakers Edem Ntumy (Reproductive Justice Initiative), Professor Emeritus Patricia Maguire (Feminist Trailblazers & Good Troublemakers Podcast), Dr Camilla Fitzsimons (Maynooth University) and host Elise Denis-Ramirez (Open University) meet to discuss reproductive justice in the context of participation and feminist knowledge creation.

Listen in on a thought-provoking intergenerational podcast about autonomy, reproductive resistance, and the importance of centring community knowledge. Our panellists draw from their experiences linking feminist research and activism while advocating for social change.

Recorded on Wednesday 21 June 2023 as a live podcast hosted by the Open University’s Reproduction, Sexualities and Sexual Health Research Group. 

This episode was produced by Elise Denis-Ramirez.

Links to resources: 

Edem Barbara Ntumy

https://decolonisingcontraception.com/

Professor Emeritus Patricia Maguire

https://www.parfemtrailblazers.net/  

Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/3oWKMvXTjOrfzuO1bryd2n  

Dr Camilla Fitzsimons
Digital Repository of Ireland where some of the raw data from research I carried out prior to Ireland’s referendum on abortion has been uploaded along with chapter 1 of my book Repealed. https://repository.dri.ie/catalog/2n506t51c 

Elise Denis-Ramirez

https://www.open.ac.uk/people/ebdr2

Want to read more about Reproductive Justice? See here recommended sources from our speakers here:

https://www.sistersong.net/reproductive-justice

https://read.dukeupress.edu/meridians/article-abstract/10/2/42/138498/What-is-Reproductive-Justice-How-Women-of-Color?redirectedFrom=fulltext

https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520288201/reproductive-justice

Norwood, Carolette, Farrah Jacquez, Thembi Carr, Stef Murawsky, Key Beck, and Amy Tuttle. "Reproductive Justice, Public Black Feminism in Practice: A Reflection on Community-Based Participatory Research in Cincinnati."  Societies 12, no. 1 (2022): 17. 

Soto-Ponce, Belen, Manuel Garcia-Ramirez, and Lucía Jiménez. (2023) "Romani Girls Matter: Developing a Participatory Action Research Protocol for Reproductive Justice."  In Healthcare, vol. 11, no. 5, p. 755. MDPI, 2023. 

Wilson, K. (2018). For reproductive justice in an era of Gates and Modi: the violence of India's population policies. Feminist Review, 119(1), 89-105. 

Sama Women’s Health & Surabhi Sharma, documentary (commercial surrogacy, India) – “Can we see the baby bump, please?’ https://samawomenshealth.in/can-we-see-the-baby-bump-please/  

DAWN on their work on sexual and reproductive health and rights, including their groundbreaking work on Reproductive Rights and Population: Feminist Voices from the South produced for the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), held in 1994. It placed SRHR firmly within development, questioning neoliberalism and neoconservatism. 

Nandagiri, Rishita (2022) ‘I feel like some kind of namoona’: examining sterilisation in women's abortion trajectories in India. In: Boydell, Victoria and Dow, Katharine, (eds.) Technologies of Reproduction Across the Lifecourse: Expanding Reproductive Studies. Emerald Studies in Reproduction, Culture and Society. Emerald Publishing Limited, Bingley, UK, 29 - 47. ISBN 9781800717343 

Nandagiri, Rishita (2021) What’s so troubling about ‘voluntary’ family planning anyway? A feminist perspective. Population Studies, 75 (S1). 221 - 234. ISSN 1477-4747 http://doi.org/10.1080/00324728.2021.1996623 (OA)

Berro Pizzarossaa, Lucía and Nandagiri, Rishita (2021) Self-managed abortion: a constellation of actors, a cacophony of laws? Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters, 29 (1). ISSN 2641-0397 http://doi.org/10.1080/26410397.2021.1899764 (OA)

“Intersectionality has been hailed as one of the most transformative theoretical developments in critical legal studies, political theory, feminist and critical race studies and its influence is felt in a range of policy areas: social work and social justice, education, urban studies. Intersectionality emerged out of activist movements and continues to be shaped by activism. So intersectionality as a theory is indivisible from intersectionality as an activist stance and approach to real-world instances of injustice and inequality.”

But what is intersectionality?

In this episode, Professor Peter Keogh invites guests Fiona de Londras and Naomi Connor to explore the context of abortion law reform in the North and South of Ireland. Tracing the roots of intersectionality, the speakers offer a definition of the term and then explore how and why intersectionality is needed to contexualise abortion services in Ireland, identify the faultlines in reproductive health and rights and forge solidarities across movements.

”In a truly intersectional space, your colleagues will force you to stop and think again about what you think the answers must be, and how that can be rooted in the structures that are deeply oppressive” (Fiona de Londras).

”We are hailed as having the best abortion law in perhaps the world, but it’s the application of that is where the intersections fall away” (Naomi Connor).

Biographies

• Peter Keogh is Professor of Health and Society at the School of Health, Wellbeing and Social Care at the Open University. His background is in community-based research and knowledge co-creation in the areas of HIV, LGBT+ health and rights and reproductive justice. For many years, Peter was qualitative research lead for Sigma Research and a Qualitative Research Director at NatCen Social Research.

• Fiona de Londras is Director of Research for the College of Arts and Law and Professor of Global Legal Studies at Birmingham Law School. Her research concerns constitutionalism, human rights, and transnationalism. She is particularly interested in the role and function of rights in contentious policy fields, inquiring into how (if at all) rights shape the making of law and policy in complex contexts of, for example, counter-terrorism, reproductive rights, government and parliamentary responses to COVID-19, and the implementation of international legal standards. Professor de Londras undertakes this through her academic scholarship, public engagement, and advisory work.

• Naomi Connor is Co-convenor of Alliance for Choice and has been active in the campaign for decriminalisation and since then in pushing for access to legal services. Naomi is also a long-time Trade Union activist. As a woman who was forced to travel from Northern Ireland to England to access abortion services, Naomi has first hand experience of the difficulties that women and pregnant people in NI face when seeking to access abortion healthcare. She is an outspoken advocate of women’s rights and reproductive justice.

Suggested reading and links

Shreya Atrey (2019) Intersectional Discrimination - Shreya Atrey - Oxford University Press (oup.com)

Fiona Bloomer and Emma Campbell (2022) Decriminalizing Abortion in Northern Ireland: Legislation and Protest: Fiona Bloomer: Bloomsbury Academic

In this episode, Elise Denis-Ramirez is in conversation with Palestinian activist Ammal Awadallah and Sudanese activist Wafa Adam to learn more about the feminist sexual and reproductive rights resistance in Palestine and Sudan. We are hearing from two humanitarian contexts substantially influenced by war, displacement, and unprecedented unmet sexual and reproductive health needs. Recognising that both countries face a myriad of urgent humanitarian needs, we focus this conversation on sexual and reproductive rights and health. We reflect on the past and ongoing challenges and successes, while pondering on what feminist community-led knowledge production is needed in the future.

This podcast episode is a testament to bearing witness and listening as a method of feminist solidarity. Hearing from Ammal Awadallah and Wafa Adam, we learn more about the sexual and reproductive health needs, responses and everyday resistance in Palestine and Sudan. Join us for a conversation about reproductive (in)justice and the importance of solidarity and action in a global feminist debate on sexual and reproductive rights.

Bios:

Ammal Awadallah, a Palestinian women activist has been working with the Palestinian Family Planning and Protection Association (PFPPA) since 2006. Ammal remains steadfast in working and being committed to providing sexual and reproductive health and rights services in a protracted humanitarian crisis reaching particularly vulnerable women and girls, determined that they have the human right to live a life of respect, dignity and protected from any form of gender-based violence.  Ammal is dedicated to striving that one day “All people in the State of Palestine enjoy full and comprehensive sexual and reproductive health and rights, freedom of choice, and access to services without discrimination”.

Wafa Adam, is a Sudanese sexual and reproductive health consultant and researcher, and a reproductive justice advocate from Sudan. She has an MSc in Reproductive Science and Women's Health from University College London and is an Alumni of Lund University SRHR programme. Wafa is a trustee at AmplifyChange and a co-founder of Young Activist Network for Abortion Advocacy (@YANAA). She was also the Sudan national advocacy coordinator for the RCOG Making abortion safe programme and one of the Sudan SRHR champions.

Elise Denis-Ramirez (Host) is a feminist researcher and consultant who works in gender and reproductive justice research and advocacy. Elise is committed to engaging in critical participatory action research that is creative, gender transformative, and intersectional. Elise is a PhD Candidate at the Open University with a focus on feminist approaches. Her PhD explores the complexities of sexuality, autonomy, and abortion through co-production with young women.

The episode was produced by Elise Denis-Ramirez.

In this ThinkBites episode, Dr Rebecca Jones is in conversation with Dr Helen Bowes-Catton and Dr Sarah Jen about researching bisexuality and queerness across generations.  

In part 1, Rebecca, Helen, and Sarah explore how meaning around identities, behaviours and attractions are made among bisexual and queer communities. Reflecting on the liminalities of age, they bring our attention to the richness of bisexual and queer identities and foreground the need to reflect this in our research.  

In part 2, Rebecca, Helen, and Sarah offer their experiences as life course researchers and speak to some of their approaches and methods connecting with bisexual and queer communities. In this episode, you’ll hear about the realm of possibilities that emerge from cornucopias of craft materials, visual maps, life history reviews and love letters. Tune in to hear about their visions for future research and an exciting opportunity to contribute to the new Routledge book of bisexuality too!  

Bios:  

  Dr Rebecca Jones (she/her) @remembermyhat (X/Bluesky) - is a Senior Lecturer in Health at The Open University, UK. She researches and teaches about sexuality across the life course and reimagining ageing in more inclusive ways. She specialises in the ageing of LGBTQ+ people and is particularly known for her work on bisexuality and ageing.  

Dr Helen Bowes-Catton @helenbowescatton (X) (she/her)- is a Lecturer in Social Research Methods at The Open University, UK. She researches lived experiences of subjectivity and space in a variety of contexts, and is currently co-editing The Routledge International Handbook of Bisexuality, for which she is seeking further submissions-  https://helenbowescatton.com/2023/09/30/second-call-for-chapter-proposals-routledge-international-handbook-of-bisexuality/  

Dr Sarah Jen (she/her) - Sarah is an Assistant Professor at the University of Kansas School of Social Work. Her research applies mainly qualitative and creative methods to examine the experiences of bisexual individuals in mid- to later life.  

This episode was produced by Elizabeth Ascroft (she/her).

In Part 2 of this episode, Open University researcher Elizabeth Ascroft invites guests Ashlee Beatrice-Burnett, Dr Rebecah MacGilleEathain and Isabel Steele to explore youth sexual reproductive health and rights (SRHR) in rural and island communities. This conversation explores the strategies for working in collaboration with communities in for the enhancement of SRHR. Drawing from their own work, the guest speakers discuss taking a whole-school approach to sexuality education, innovative contraceptive delivery services and online support platforms for young people. The guests also delve into the dynamics of being an ‘insider’ versus an ‘outsider’ in research initiatives or programme delivery services. Ultimately, the discussion emphasises the significance of creating safe spaces for youth engagement, and the necessity of destigmatizing conversations around sexual health.

Resources mentioned in the episode:

• ⁠Sexual well-being among young people in remote rural island communities in Scotland: a mixed methods study | BMJ Sexual & Reproductive Health⁠
• ⁠Cool2Talk⁠
• ⁠Famia Planea Aruba⁠

Biographies

⁠Elizabeth Ascroft⁠ is an ESRC-funded doctoral researcher at the Open University in partnership with Famia Planea Aruba and IPPF. Her current research explores ⁠arts-based, co-creative approaches⁠ to sexuality education with young people in Aruba, and her previous work ⁠investigated gender violence and sexuality education in Barbados.⁠ With a focus on small island contexts, Elizabeth’s research considers how the concept of ‘islandness’ moulds SRHR discourses in the international development sector. Elizabeth is a keen bean for learning and is most inspired when in a room with other activists, researchers and creatives working in the advancement of young people’s SRHR.

⁠Ashlee Burnett⁠ is a Trinbagonian educator, organiser, and researcher, serving as ⁠IPPF’s⁠ Global Lead on Comprehensive Sexuality Education; leading on CSE partnerships, evidence generation, and supporting MA-led initiatives like the Centre of Excellence on CSE to deliver innovative programmes and youth-centred care. She holds an MSc Education Policy and International Development from the University of Bristol and has been awarded the Colin Robinson Hard Head Award fortransformational activism in Trinidad and Tobago. Socials: ⁠Instagram⁠ and⁠ X⁠

Dr Rebecah MacGilleEathain is a Senior Specialist Lead at the ⁠National Centre for Remote and Rural Health and Care⁠, hosted by National Health Service (NHS) Education for Scotland. Rebecah has a background in working within PublicHealth and Heath Improvement in clinical, third sector and academic research settings. Rebecah’s specialist research subject focuses on reproductive and sexual health, sex education curriculum in schools, and access to sexual wellbeing support for underrepresented communities and young people in remote, rural and island areas.

Isabel Steele is a Senior Health Improvement Office in the ⁠Public Health Department of the National Health Service (NHS) Western Isles⁠. She is local to the Outer Hebrides and has lived there most of her life and has worked with young people for over 35 years. She has been employed by the NHS in the Western Isles for 30 years in various roles around sexual health, Blood Born Viruses, young people and substance misuse. She has gained her MSc in Health Improvement & Public Health and enjoys engaging in learning and research around issues that affect young people. She is very passionate about young people’s rights and supports the principles of the UNCRC to ensure that children & young people have the information they need to keep themselves safe. 

“Intersectionality has been hailed as one of the most transformative theoretical developments in critical legal studies, political theory, feminist and critical race studies and its influence is felt in a range of policy areas: social work and social justice, education, urban studies. Intersectionality emerged out of activist movements and continues to be shaped by activism. So intersectionality as a theory is indivisible from intersectionality as an activist stance and approach to real-world instances of injustice and inequality.”

But what is intersectionality?

In this episode, Open University Professor Peter Keogh invites guests Fiona de Londras and Naomi Connor to explore the concept of intersectionality in the context of abortion law reform in the North and South of Ireland. Tracing the roots of intersectionality, the speakers offer a definition of the term and then explore how and why intersectionality is needed to contexualise abortion services in Ireland, identify the faultlines in reproductive health and rights and forge solidarities across movements.

”In a truly intersectional space, your colleagues will force you to stop and think again about what you think the answers must be, and how that can be rooted in the structures that are deeply oppressive” (Fiona de Londras).

”We are hailed as having the best abortion law in perhaps the world, but it’s the application of that is where the intersections fall away” (Naomi Connor).

Biographies

• Peter Keogh is Professor of Health and Society at the School of Health, Wellbeing and Social Care at the Open University. His background is in community-based research and knowledge co-creation in the areas of HIV, LGBT+ health and rights and reproductive justice. For many years, Peter was qualitative research lead for Sigma Research and a Qualitative Research Director at NatCen Social Research.

• Fiona de Londras is Director of Research for the College of Arts and Law and Professor of Global Legal Studies at Birmingham Law School. Her research concerns constitutionalism, human rights, and transnationalism. She is particularly interested in the role and function of rights in contentious policy fields, inquiring into how (if at all) rights shape the making of law and policy in complex contexts of, for example, counter-terrorism, reproductive rights, government and parliamentary responses to COVID-19, and the implementation of international legal standards. Professor de Londras undertakes this through her academic scholarship, public engagement, and advisory work.

• Naomi Connor is Co-convenor of Alliance for Choice and has been active in the campaign for decriminalisation and since then in pushing for access to legal services. Naomi is also a long-time Trade Union activist. As a woman who was forced to travel from Northern Ireland to England to access abortion services, Naomi has first hand experience of the difficulties that women and pregnant people in NI face when seeking to access abortion healthcare. She is an outspoken advocate of women’s rights and reproductive justice.

Suggested reading and links

Shreya Atrey (2019) Intersectional Discrimination - Shreya Atrey - Oxford University Press (oup.com)

Fiona Bloomer and Emma Campbell (2022) Decriminalizing Abortion in Northern Ireland: Legislation and Protest: Fiona Bloomer: Bloomsbury Academic

In this episode, speakers Rachel Grocott, Dr Mandi Tembo, Dr Camilla Mørk Røstvik and host Dr Victoria Newton discuss pathways to end period poverty to ensure that everyone who menstruates experiences affordable, dignified and stigma-free periods. The panel explore what period poverty is and how it affects people around the world, how periods are represented in popular media and what communities can do to overcome stigma and shame. The episode ends with a call to action; what can academics, campaigners and practitioners doing to shine a light on period poverty? And what can we all do end a culture of period stigma and silence?

Recorded on Tuesday 18 April 2023 at a live webinar hosted by the Open University’s Reproduction, Sexualities and Sexual Health Research group. This episode was produced by Martha Nicholson.

See below for links to the speakers’ work and research mentioned in this episode:

Chiedza research project in Zimbabwe: https://www.chiedza.co.zw/Mandi' Tembo’s website the Bleed Read https://thebleedread.com/

Bloody Good Period website: https://www.bloodygoodperiod.com/ and Bloody Good Employers: https://www.bloodygoodemployers.com/

Dr Camilla Mørk Røstvik’s academic profile: https://www.uia.no/en/kk/profil/camillamr, and her latest book about menstrual capitalism: https://www.uclpress.co.uk/products/141636?_pos=1&_sid=28095e641&_ss=r

We are launching our new series ThinkBites!

HIV/AIDS continues to be a poorly understood and stigmatised topic in the UK and elsewhere. A recent UK National AIDS trust study of public knowledge and attitudes reported that knowledge of HIV is patchy. The study found little awareness that treated HIV is untransmissible and many agreed that people with HIV face negative judgement. In recent years digital health interventions have been developed to support people with preventing HIV, managing their condition or to normalise HIV as an everyday part of healthcare.

In this episode Dr Tom Witney is joined by Dr Emily Jay Nicholls, Simon Moore and Rach Hart to discuss their work and research with people living with and affected by HIV. They share experiences of developing and using digital health solutions, and critically engage with challenges and opportunities that these platforms can present.

Links to the work and research mentioned in this episode: Avert, Preptrack, Intuit project

Read more about our research group here: https://wels.open.ac.uk/research/projects/reproduction-sexualities-sexual-health-research-group

This episode was produced by Martha Nicholson.

In this two-part ThinkBites episode, Elizabeth Ascroft and Elise Denis-Ramirez reflect on their PhD research working with young people in the field of sexual reproductive health and rights in Latin America and the Caribbean. This episode captures their ongoing conversations around curating and facilitating spaces for creative, participatory, and action-based research.  

In part 1, they ask each other questions about making connections with participants, how it felt the morning of their first workshop and their standout moments. In part 2, the two reflect the tensions around ethics and collective knowledge production and what this means for practice. They wrap up with some of their top tips for those looking to enhance their practice working with young people. 

This episode offers food for thought on power and creativity in action-based approaches and is a thoughtful resource for all those interested in participatory research.  

Bios: 

Elizabeth Ascroft is a PhD student at Open University in the UK and her research explores the process of co-creating sexuality education materials with young people in Aruba. Elizabeth is a researcher, activist and a creative and is most inspired when delving into her never-ending creative methods.  

Elise Denis-Ramirez is a Danish/Chilean feminist researcher. Her PhD research at the Open University is exploring abortion, reproduction and sexuality during adolescence in Chile. Elise is driven by participatory research that is creative, gender transformative and intersectional.

This episode was produced by Elizabeth Ascroft.

This episode is a collaboration between the Sex, Research and Resistance Podcast and the Centre for the Global Study of Development at the Open University. 

In this episode hosted by Dr Ayomide Oluseye (Member of the OU research group on Reproduction, Sexuality and Sexual Health), we explore the intersections and societal impact of shame and stigma in the diverse contexts of abortion, poverty and foster-care. We explore how societal judgment surrounding these topics creates a web of challenges for especially people on the margins while affecting their ability to take an equal part in society. 

We will hear from researchers at the Open University, Dr Carrie Purcell, Dr Justin Rogers and Dr Keetie Roelen, experts on reproductive health, foster care and social protection as they walk us through the implications of stigma as an individual and systemic issue. Finally, we discuss ways to normalise and dismantle these stigmas, from policy changes that promote affordable abortion care and social safety mechanisms to shifting the harmful language and discourses.  

Whether you are passionate about reproductive rights, social justice, or simply want to learn more about the entanglements of stigma and shame, this episode will give you an overview of stigma as a societal and systemic issue. Join us as we untangle the web of stigma across different social sectors.

Bios:

Dr Carrie Purcell is a Research Fellow in the Faculty of Wellbeing, Education and Language Studies at the Open University. Carrie’s background is in medical sociology and qualitative methods, and she leads the Reproduction, Sexualities and Sexual Health Research Group. Her main research interests are around sexual and reproductive health (SRH), stigma and pain. She currently leads the Gender Pain Gap study and the Sexual and Reproductive Justice Scotland knowledge exchange project, and has led numerous studies on abortion and contraception, including the Sexuality and Abortion Stigma Study (SASS). SASS took a ‘big qual’ qualitative secondary analysis approach to analysing UK datasets on abortion spanning 10+ years, to inform understanding of abortion stigma and normalisation.

Dr Justin Rogers is a lecturer in social work at The Open University and has a background working with children and young people in alternative care. He has worked in fostering and adoption teams in the UK and also managed a secure residential unit. Additionally, he has worked in leadership roles in the charity sector with responsibilities for nonprofit fostering services globally. He has also contributed to care reform projects in various countries. Justin's research interests centre around children’s and families’ experiences of alternative care.

Dr Keetie Roelen is a Senior Research Fellow and Co-Deputy Director of the Centre for the Study of Global Development (CSGD) in the Faculty of Wellbeing, Education and Language Studies (WELS) at the Open University, UK. Her research focuses on areas of poverty, social protection and anti-poverty interventions in relation to children, women and psychosocial wellbeing. She is also host of her own podcast Poverty Unpacked, and has previously spoken with journalist and author Mary O’Hara in an episode about shame and stigma associated with poverty.

Dr Ayomide Oluseye is a Nigerian Lecturer at The Open University. Her PhD explored the lived experiences of pregnancy, motherhood and stigma among unmarried young mothers in rural Nigeria.

This episode was produced by Elise Denis-Ramirez.

In this second ThinkBites episode, Dr. Aaron Mvula and Dr. Ayomide Oluseye are in conversation with (host) Elise Denis-Ramirez about their PhD research on early parenthood in Nigeria and Zambia. Aaron and Ayomide both used creative methods to explore early parenthood. This episode is an honest reflection about the inspiration, joy, and the difficult decisions they had to make along their creative PhD research journey.  

In Part 1, Aaron and Ayomide reflect on how questioning gender norms and morals influenced their decision to focus on early parenthood. They discuss how to navigate both being an “insider” and “outsider” in their research contexts, while exploring power dynamics and finding creative ways for the research participants to bring their full selves into the research. In Part 2, they continue the conversation around creative research through a practical reflection around the challenges of using photo elicitation and how to navigate ethical concerns during the research process. They end Part 2 with an inspiring reflection on their findings on challenging negative understandings of early parenthood.

Bios

Aaron Mvula recently completed his PhD at the Open University. His PhD research focused on young fatherhood, exploring lived experiences of unmarried fathers in rural Zambia.

Ayomide Oluseye is a Nigerian postdoctoral fellow at The Open University and her PhD explored the lived experiences of pregnancy and motherhood among unmarried young mothers in rural Nigeria.

Elise Denis-Ramirez is a Danish/Chilean feminist researcher. Her PhD research at the Open University is exploring abortion, reproduction and sexuality during adolescence in Chile. Elise is driven by participatory research that is creative, gender transformative and intersectional.

This episode was produced by Elise Denis-Ramirez.

This episode is a collaboration between the Sex, Research and Resistance Podcast and the Centre for the Global Study of Development at the Open University. 

In this episode hosted by Dr Ayomide Oluseye (Member of the OU research group on Reproduction, Sexuality and Sexual Health), we explore the intersections and societal impact of shame and stigma in the diverse contexts of abortion, poverty and foster-care. We explore how societal judgment surrounding these topics creates a web of challenges for especially people on the margins while affecting their ability to take an equal part in society. 

We will hear from researchers at the Open University, Dr Carrie Purcell, Dr Justin Rogers and Dr Keetie Roelen, experts on reproductive health, foster care and social protection as they walk us through the implications of stigma as an individual and systemic issue. Finally, we discuss ways to normalise and dismantle these stigmas, from policy changes that promote affordable abortion care and social safety mechanisms to shifting the harmful language and discourses.  

Whether you are passionate about reproductive rights, social justice, or simply want to learn more about the entanglements of stigma and shame, this episode will give you an overview of stigma as a societal and systemic issue. Join us as we untangle the web of stigma across different social sectors.

Bios:

Dr Carrie Purcell is a Research Fellow in the Faculty of Wellbeing, Education and Language Studies at the Open University. Carrie’s background is in medical sociology and qualitative methods, and she leads the ⁠Reproduction, Sexualities and Sexual Health Research Group⁠. Her main research interests are around sexual and reproductive health (SRH), stigma and pain. She currently leads the ⁠Gender Pain Gap⁠ study and the ⁠Sexual and Reproductive Justice Scotland⁠ knowledge exchange project, and has led numerous studies on abortion and contraception, including the ⁠Sexuality and Abortion Stigma Study (SASS)⁠. SASS took a ‘big qual’ qualitative secondary analysis approach to analysing UK datasets on abortion spanning 10+ years, to inform understanding of abortion stigma and normalisation.

Dr Justin Rogers is a lecturer in social work at The Open University and has a background working with children and young people in alternative care. He has worked in fostering and adoption teams in the UK and also managed a secure residential unit. Additionally, he has worked in leadership roles in the charity sector with responsibilities for nonprofit fostering services globally. He has also contributed to care reform projects in various countries. Justin's research interests centre around children’s and families’ experiences of alternative care.

Dr Keetie Roelen is a Senior Research Fellow and Co-Deputy Director of the Centre for the Study of Global Development (CSGD) in the Faculty of Wellbeing, Education and Language Studies (WELS) at the Open University, UK. Her research focuses on areas of poverty, social protection and anti-poverty interventions in relation to children, women and psychosocial wellbeing. She is also host of her own podcast ⁠Poverty Unpacked⁠, and has previously spoken with journalist and author Mary O’Hara in an ⁠episode⁠ about shame and stigma associated with poverty.

Dr Ayomide Oluseye is a Nigerian Lecturer at The Open University. Her PhD explored the lived experiences of pregnancy, motherhood and stigma among unmarried young mothers in rural Nigeria.

This episode was produced by Elise Denis-Ramirez.

In this ThinkBites episode, three researchers Erica Millar, Camille Maes and Martha Nicholson share experiences of conducting research with abortion providers in three health care systems – Australia, Italy, and Northern Ireland. 

In part one, they share what motivated them to start working in abortion research, the contexts that they work in, and the contested identities of health professionals who provide abortion care in each setting, in particular midwives. Their discussion frames abortion as both an essential health issue and a key political issue. 

In part two, Erica, Camille and Martha take a deep dive into the intersection of the role of midwives and abortion care. They discuss institutional abortion stigma, objectification of female-dominated health professions and misunderstood policies on conscientious objection, and what this means for the ways that abortion knowledge is contested or absent from many institutions of work and learning. They talk about how abortion care is intrinsically linked with relations of power: gender-based power, social inequalities, medical dominance, and institutional authority. Along the way, you’ll hear about Erica, Camilla, and Martha’s research approaches, including their research frustrations and hopes for the future. 

Participants

Martha Nicholson: PhD Student in the Reproduction, Sexualities and Sexual Health research group at the Open University in the UK. Current research is a feminist ethnography on how nurses and midwives learn about abortion care in Northern Ireland.

Erica Millar: Senior Research Fellow in Crime, Justice & Legal Studies, and Lecturer at La Trobe University in Australia. Current research explores institutional abortion stigma: Identifying, understanding, and enacting the institutional and cultural change required for equitable access.

Camille Maes: PhD Student in the Department of Social Sciences of Gender and Sociological Theory at the University of Liège in Belgium. Current research is exploring midwives’ roles in abortion care in Italy.

Hosted and produced by Martha Nicholson.

To share feedback, please email Martha.nicholson@open.ac.uk

“Dignity means different things for different people, and it’s difficult to deny the importance of the notion in understandings of human existence. So when we use dignity as a given of a quality to being human, we need to dig into what human means and who grants what a human with rights is.”  Lisa Käll.

“Person-centred care is only reserved for some people entering healthcare systems, and not for others.” Sarah Hamed.

The question of human dignity is crucial in the fight for birthing rights for racially minoritised people in Sweden and the UK. Who is understood to be worthy of dignified care, what should dignified care look like and what is the responsibility of the health system? These troubling questions are discussed by our multidisciplinary panel from a philosophical, sociological and activist perspective in this powerful episode on Dignity in Maternity Care. In Part 1, speakers explore the concept of dignity and how it is used in research and practice. In Part 2, speakers review what their research shows about how black and brown people are treated in maternity care, what can be done to ensure that women and birthing people can maintain their rights, autonomy and a sense of dignity through supportive and caring communities. Speakers end with calls to learn from transformative justice and to build a collaborative movement to end mistreatment and harm in maternity care.

“We need solutions and pressure on government to think bigger and more radically about how to transform maternity care so that it becomes something that enables all women and birthing people to access life-affirming rights, respecting safe care.” Shanthi Gunesekera

For more information on topics raised in this episode:

• https://www.blackthrive.org/
• Birthrights - your human rights during pregnancy and maternity care

Biographies

Lisa Käll, Professor in Gender Studies at Stockholm University. Lisa is head of the department for Ethnology, History of Religion and Gender studies at Stockholm University, leads the Nordic network for gender, body and health, and writes and edits publications within her research interests of feminist philosophy, especially phenomenology and philosophy of subjectivity, body/embodiment theory and many other areas.  

Shanthi Gunesekera, Co-CEO at Birthrights UK, the leading authority on the rights of women and birthing people during pregnancy and birth in the UK. Shanthi and her job share partner Janaki previously led the Greater London Authority’s policy and programmes delivered under the Mayor of London’s Social Integration Strategy. 

Sarah Hamed, Researcher in Medical Sociology at Kings College London and Head of Research and Evaluation at Black Thrive Global. Sarah focuses on migration and health inequalities, racism and racialisation in healthcare and is currently conducting a study on racism in maternity care in Sweden and the UK.  

Restrictive laws, poor implementation of services, or stigma can often prevent people from accessing abortion services in their own communities. In all of these situations, mobility plays a crucial role in preserving sexual and reproductive health rights.
In this episode RSSH member Professor Lesley Hoggart is in conversation with Mara Clarke, founder of the UK-based Abortion Support Network and Dr Cordelia Freeman, senior lecturer in political geography at the University of Exeter, UK.

This episode was produced by Elise Denis-Ramirez.
Read more about the research group here: https://wels.open.ac.uk/research/projects/reproduction-sexualities-sexual-health-research-group

In this ThinkBites episode, three researchers Erica Millar, Camille Maes and Martha Nicholson share experiences of conducting research with abortion providers in three health care systems – Australia, Italy, and Northern Ireland.

In part one, they share what motivated them to start working in abortion research, the contexts that they work in, and the contested identities of health professionals who provide abortion care in each setting, in particular midwives. Their discussion frames abortion as both an essential health issue and a key political issue.

In part two, Erica, Camille and Martha take a deep dive into the intersection of the role of midwives and abortion care. They discuss institutional abortion stigma, objectification of female-dominated health professions and misunderstood policies on conscientious objection, and what this means for the ways that abortion knowledge is contested or absent from many institutions of work and learning. They talk about how abortion care is intrinsically linked with relations of power: gender-based power, social inequalities, medical dominance, and institutional authority. Along the way, you’ll hear about Erica, Camilla, and Martha’s research approaches, including their research frustrations and hopes for the future.

Participants

Martha Nicholson: PhD Student in the Reproduction, Sexualities and Sexual Health research group at the Open University in the UK. Current research is a feminist ethnography on how nurses and midwives learn about abortion care in Northern Ireland.

Erica Millar: Senior Research Fellow in Crime, Justice & Legal Studies, and Lecturer at La Trobe University in Australia. Current research explores institutional abortion stigma: Identifying, understanding, and enacting the institutional and cultural change required for equitable access.

Camille Maes: PhD Student in the Department of Social Sciences of Gender and Sociological Theory at the University of Liège in Belgium. Current research is exploring midwives’ roles in abortion care in Italy.

To share feedback, please email martha.nicholson@open.ac.uk

Hosted and produced by Martha Nicholson.

In Part 1 of this episode, Open University researcher Elizabeth Ascroft invites guests Ashlee Beatrice-Burnett, Dr Rebecah MacGilleEathain and Isabel Steele to explore youth sexual reproductive health and rights (SRHR) in rural and island communities. The guests share insights from their work in the Scottish Hebrides and Western Isles, Aruba, Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago. The conversation highlights the unique challenges faced by young people in contexts where “everyone knows everyone”. The guests outline the diversity of local cultures between islands, and advocate for tailored strategies to improve SRHR education and access.   

Resources mentioned in the episode:

• Sexual well-being among young people in remote rural island communities in Scotland: a mixed methods study | BMJ Sexual & Reproductive Health
• Cool2Talk
• Famia Planea Aruba

Biographies

Elizabeth Ascroft is an ESRC-funded doctoral researcher at the Open University in partnership with Famia Planea Aruba and IPPF. Her current research explores arts-based, co-creative approaches to sexuality education with young people in Aruba, and her previous work investigated gender violence and sexuality education in Barbados. With a focus on small island contexts, Elizabeth’s research considers how the concept of ‘islandness’ moulds SRHR discourses in the international development sector. Elizabeth is a keen bean for learning and is most inspired when in a room with other activists, researchers and creatives working in the advancement of young people’s SRHR.

Ashlee Burnett is a Trinbagonian educator, organiser, and researcher, serving as IPPF’s Global Lead on Comprehensive Sexuality Education; leading on CSE partnerships, evidence generation, and supporting MA-led initiatives like the Centre of Excellence on CSE to deliver innovative programmes and youth-centred care. She holds an MSc Education Policy and International Development from the University of Bristol and has been awarded the Colin Robinson Hard Head Award fortransformational activism in Trinidad and Tobago. Socials: Instagram and X

Dr Rebecah MacGilleEathain is a Senior Specialist Lead at the National Centre for Remote and Rural Health and Care, hosted by National Health Service (NHS) Education for Scotland. Rebecah has a background in working within PublicHealth and Heath Improvement in clinical, third sector and academic research settings. Rebecah’s specialist research subject focuses on reproductive and sexual health, sex education curriculum in schools, and access to sexual wellbeing support for underrepresented communities and young people in remote, rural and island areas.

Isabel Steele is a Senior Health Improvement Office in the Public Health Department of the National Health Service (NHS) Western Isles. She is local to the Outer Hebrides and has lived there most of her life and has worked with young people for over 35 years. She has been employed by the NHS in the Western Isles for 30 years in various roles around sexual health, Blood Born Viruses, young people and substance misuse. She has gained her MSc in Health Improvement & Public Health and enjoys engaging in learning and research around issues that affect young people. She is very passionate about young people’s rights and supports the principles of the UNCRC to ensure that children & young people have the information they need to keep themselves safe. 

In this second ThinkBites episode, Dr. Aaron Mvula and Dr. Ayomide Oluseye are in conversation with (host) Elise Denis-Ramirez about their PhD research on early parenthood in Nigeria and Zambia. Aaron and Ayomide both used creative methods to explore early parenthood. This episode is an honest reflection about the inspiration, joy, and the difficult decisions they had to make along their creative PhD research journey.  

In Part 1, Aaron and Ayomide reflect on how questioning gender norms and morals influenced their decision to focus on early parenthood. They discuss how to navigate both being an “insider” and “outsider” in their research contexts, while exploring power dynamics and finding creative ways for the research participants to bring their full selves into the research. In Part 2, they continue the conversation around creative research through a practical reflection around the challenges of using photo elicitation and how to navigate ethical concerns during the research process. They end Part 2 with an inspiring reflection on their findings on challenging negative understandings of early parenthood.

Bios

Aaron Mvula recently completed his PhD at the Open University. His PhD research focused on young fatherhood, exploring lived experiences of unmarried fathers in rural Zambia.

Ayomide Oluseye is a Nigerian postdoctoral fellow at The Open University and her PhD explored the lived experiences of pregnancy and motherhood among unmarried young mothers in rural Nigeria.

Elise Denis-Ramirez is a Danish/Chilean feminist researcher. Her PhD research at the Open University is exploring abortion, reproduction and sexuality during adolescence in Chile. Elise is driven by participatory research that is creative, gender transformative and intersectional.

This episode was produced by Elise Denis-Ramirez.

Information about and access to sexual health services is vital for everyone's health and well-being. Repeatedly, information about sexual health is not inclusive of gender-diverse people's needs. These groups often experience discrimination and stigma when trying to access sexual health services.

In the second episode, Professor Peter Keogh is joined by Dr Anastacia Tomson, a South African medical doctor and activist, and Diana Moreno the Director of Advocacy at Pro Familia Colombia, for a conversation about trans and gender diverse experiences within clinical sexual health settings. 

This episode was produced by Elizabeth Ascroft.

Link to the report mentioned by Diana during the episode: MergedFile (profamilia.org.co) 

Read more about the research group here: https://wels.open.ac.uk/research/projects/reproduction-sexualities-sexual-health-research-group 

In this episode, Elise Denis-Ramirez is in conversation with Palestinian activist Ammal Awadallah and Sudanese activist Wafa Adam to learn more about the feminist sexual and reproductive rights resistance in Palestine and Sudan. We are hearing from two humanitarian contexts substantially influenced by war, displacement, and unprecedented unmet sexual and reproductive health needs. Recognising that both countries face a myriad of urgent humanitarian needs, we focus this conversation on sexual and reproductive rights and health. We reflect on the past and ongoing challenges and successes, while pondering on what feminist community-led knowledge production is needed in the future.

This podcast episode is a testament to bearing witness and listening as a method of feminist solidarity. Hearing from Ammal Awadallah and Wafa Adam, we learn more about the sexual and reproductive health needs, responses and everyday resistance in Palestine and Sudan. Join us for a conversation about reproductive (in)justice and the importance of solidarity and action in a global feminist debate on sexual and reproductive rights.

Bios:

Ammal Awadallah, a Palestinian women activist has been working with the Palestinian Family Planning and Protection Association (PFPPA) since 2006. Ammal remains steadfast in working and being committed to providing sexual and reproductive health and rights services in a protracted humanitarian crisis reaching particularly vulnerable women and girls, determined that they have the human right to live a life of respect, dignity and protected from any form of gender-based violence.  Ammal is dedicated to striving that one day “All people in the State of Palestine enjoy full and comprehensive sexual and reproductive health and rights, freedom of choice, and access to services without discrimination”.

Wafa Adam, is a Sudanese sexual and reproductive health consultant and researcher, and a reproductive justice advocate from Sudan. She has an MSc in Reproductive Science and Women's Health from University College London and is an Alumni of Lund University SRHR programme. Wafa is a trustee at AmplifyChange and a co-founder of Young Activist Network for Abortion Advocacy (@YANAA). She was also the Sudan national advocacy coordinator for the RCOG Making abortion safe programme and one of the Sudan SRHR champions.

Elise Denis-Ramirez (Host), is a feminist researcher and consultant who works in gender and reproductive justice research and advocacy. Elise is committed to engaging in critical participatory action research that is creative, gender transformative, and intersectional. Elise is a PhD Candidate at the Open University with a focus on feminist approaches. Her PhD explores the complexities of sexuality, autonomy, and abortion through co-production with young women.

The episode was produced by Elise Denis-Ramirez.

This episode is a collaboration between the Sex, Research and Resistance Podcast and the Centre for the Global Study of Development at the Open University.  

In this episode, hosted by Elizabeth Ascroft (co-founder of the podcast), we discuss girlhood in the context of international development. We are joined by Dr Jane Doka and Dr Alison Buckler, both experienced researchers in the field of education, inclusion, and youth transitions.

In Part 1, we focus on the idea of girlhood and identify some of the tensions around these narratives in the international development sector. Drawing from their own research in Zimbabwe, South Africa, Nigeria, the UK, Ghana and Kenya, Jane and Alison speak to girls’ agency in navigating girlhood and how this may differ at home, the community or within development-based programmes.

This two-part episode is a window into some of the issues that arise with dominant narratives around what youth transition should look like. The speakers advocate for celebrating alternative transition pathways and provide examples of how to better align our research approaches with girls’ realities. 

Bios:

Dr Jane Doka is a Research Associate in International Education and Development at the Open University. She recently completed PhD research focused on the agency and education of marginalised girls in Sub-Saharan Africa. Her expertise lies in the intersection of girls’ education and youth transitions. Currently, Jane is a co-researcher on the OpenSTEM Africa project, an initiative aimed at enhancing girls' transitions into tertiary education, specifically within STEM-related subjects, through stakeholder engagement across West and East Africa. She is experienced in narrative research approaches and participatory action-based methodologies. Dr Doka is an active member of the Centre for the Study of Global Development, where she collaborates with other experts to address global educational challenges and promote sustainable development. 

Dr Alison Buckler is a Senior Research Fellow at The Open University where she is a convenor of the International Education research group and Deputy Co-Director of the Centre for the Study of Global Development. Her work focuses on using creative and narrative approaches to researching education, and she is the co-founder of the Ibali Network which supports people interested in using storytelling methodologies. She also co-leads a research strand of the SAGE (Supporting Adolescent Girls' Education) Programme, which is an FCDO-funded collaboration between the OU and Plan International.

Elizabeth Ascroft is a PhD research at Open University and her research explores the process of co-creating sexuality education materials with young people in Aruba. Prior to her PhD Elizabeth worked at Girl Effect, a programme provider for girls and young women in development contexts. Elizabeth is a researcher, activist and a creative and is most inspired when delving into her never-ending creative methods.

Follow us on X: @JaneDoka @AlisonBucklerEd @ElizAscroft

This episode has been produced by Elizabeth Ascroft.

"Dignity means different things for different people, and it’s difficult to deny the importance of the notion in understandings of human existence. So when we use dignity as a given of a quality to being human, we need to dig into what human means and who grants what a human with rights is.”  Lisa Käll.

“Person-centred care is only reserved for some people entering healthcare systems, and not for others.” Sarah Hamed.

The question of human dignity is crucial in the fight for birthing rights for racially minoritised people in Sweden and the UK. Who is understood to be worthy of dignified care, what should dignified care look like and what is the responsibility of the health system? These troubling questions are discussed by our multidisciplinary panel from a philosophical, sociological and activist perspective in this powerful episode on Dignity in Maternity Care. In Part 1, speakers explore the concept of dignity and how it is used in research and practice. In Part 2, speakers review what their research shows about how black and brown people are treated in maternity care, what can be done to ensure that women and birthing people can maintain their rights, autonomy and a sense of dignity through supportive and caring communities. Speakers end with calls to learn from transformative justice and to build a collaborative movement to end mistreatment and harm in maternity care.

“We need solutions and pressure on government to think bigger and more radically about how to transform maternity care so that it becomes something that enables all women and birthing people to access life-affirming rights, respecting safe care.” Shanthi Gunesekera

For more information on topics raised in this episode:

• ⁠https://www.blackthrive.org/⁠
• ⁠Birthrights - your human rights during pregnancy and maternity care⁠

Biographies

Lisa Käll, Professor in Gender Studies at Stockholm University. Lisa is head of the department for Ethnology, History of Religion and Gender studies at Stockholm University, leads the Nordic network for gender, body and health, and writes and edits publications within her research interests of feminist philosophy, especially phenomenology and philosophy of subjectivity, body/embodiment theory and many other areas.  

Shanthi Gunesekera, Co-CEO at Birthrights UK, the leading authority on the rights of women and birthing people during pregnancy and birth in the UK. Shanthi and her job share partner Janaki previously led the Greater London Authority’s policy and programmes delivered under the Mayor of London’s Social Integration Strategy. 

Sarah Hamed, Researcher in Medical Sociology at Kings College London and Head of Research and Evaluation at Black Thrive Global. Sarah focuses on migration and health inequalities, racism and racialisation in healthcare and is currently conducting a study on racism in maternity care in Sweden and the UK.  

This episode is produced in collaboration with the Sex, Research and Resistance Podcast and ⁠the Centre for Study of Global Development⁠ at the Open University.

Martha Nicholson (facilitator), Dr Joyce Wamoyi, Dr Kevin Deane, and Professor Peter Keogh discuss research on the social determinants of sexual and reproductive health. Drawing from different disciplines, research contexts and institutions, we explore how sexual and reproductive health is managed and negotiated in the context of structural inequality and complex social worlds. Research shows that where we live, the education and work opportunities we have access to and the gender norms we grow up with may all shape people's ability to negotiate risks and manage a disease like HIV.

In part 2, we explore the social determinants that may make someone more likely to engage in risky behaviours and contract a sexually transmitted disease. Peter, Joyce and Kevin present solutions to the challenges of research on social determinants. We end part 2 of this episode with proposals for a bold and multidisciplinary research agenda for the future.

Bios

Joyce Wamoyi: Social and Behavioural researcher at the National Institute for Medical Research, Tanzania. Joyce has an MSc in community health and a PhD in social and Behavioural Sciences. For over 20 years, Dr. Wamoyi has worked on: Adolescents and Young people’s Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) behaviour; Structural drivers of SRH risk; HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment; Parenting/ families and child outcomes; stigma and discrimination in access to SRH services; and qualitative and participatory research methods. In her work, she has explored the dynamics of transactional sex in adolescents and young women's sexual relationships in sub-Saharan Africa. She is currently working on the evaluation of the quality of implementation for the scale up of the Parenting for Lifelong Health programme in Tanzania. She is a member of the WHO Behavioural Insights Technical Advisory Group and UNICEF Advisory Board for a multi-country project.

Peter Keogh: Professor of Health and Society at the School of Health, Wellbeing and Social Care at the Open University. Peter’s background is in community-based research and knowledge co-creation in the areas of HIV, LGBT+ health and rights and reproductive justice. Peter’s research focuses on the role of intimacy, embodiment, affect and materiality in people’s experiences of their sexual and reproductive health and rights. He engages critically with contemporary SRHR epistemologies drawing on biomedicalization, post-colonial and Marxist theory. Peter is involved in many projects which involve the co-creation of useful and applied knowledges with, by and for key communities.

Kevin Deane: Senior Lecturer and interdisciplinary specialist in Economics, Political Economy and International Development. Research interests focus on the political economy of health with an application to the HIV epidemic in Eastern and Southern Africa. Kevin has worked on a range of topics related to HIV including gender, migration, workplace programmes, HIV testing and the relationship between socio-economic status and HIV. He is also interested in the political and social determinants of malaria. Kevin is primarily a qualitative researcher with experience of conducting fieldwork in East Africa.

Martha Nicholson (facilitator): PhD Student in the Reproduction, Sexualities and Sexual Health research group at the Open University in the UK. Current research is a feminist ethnography on how nurses and midwives learn about abortion care in Northern Ireland. Working with a group of nurses and midwives, Martha is mapping out how abortion knowledge is produced, and how centres of learning and work may distort, silence and challenge access to that knowledge through dialogues, processes, and organisational texts.

This episode is produced in collaboration with the Sex, Research and Resistance Podcast and the Centre for Study of Global Development at the Open University. 

Martha Nicholson (facilitator), Dr Joyce Wamoyi, Dr Kevin Deane, and Professor Peter Keogh discuss research on the social determinants of sexual and reproductive health. Drawing from different disciplines, research contexts and institutions, we explore how sexual and reproductive health is managed and negotiated in the context of structural inequality and complex social worlds. Research shows that where we live, the education and work opportunities we have access to and the gender norms we grow up with may all shape people's ability to negotiate risks and manage a disease like HIV.

In part 1, we critique the WHO definition of the social determinants of health, drawing from examples to show the importance of including social determinants in research on sexual and reproductive health. They share experiences of researching HIV in the UK and Tanzania and discuss how the disease has evolved from an ‘individual’ to a ‘social’ issue, relevant to social scientists as much as medical professionals.

Bios

Joyce Wamoyi: Social and Behavioural researcher at the National Institute for Medical Research, Tanzania. Joyce has an MSc in community health and a PhD in social and Behavioural Sciences. For over 20 years, Dr. Wamoyi has worked on: Adolescents and Young people’s Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) behaviour; Structural drivers of SRH risk; HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment; Parenting/ families and child outcomes; stigma and discrimination in access to SRH services; and qualitative and participatory research methods. In her work, she has explored the dynamics of transactional sex in adolescents and young women's sexual relationships in sub-Saharan Africa. She is currently working on the evaluation of the quality of implementation for the scale up of the Parenting for Lifelong Health programme in Tanzania. She is a member of the WHO Behavioural Insights Technical Advisory Group and UNICEF Advisory Board for a multi-country project.

Peter Keogh: Professor of Health and Society at the School of Health, Wellbeing and Social Care at the Open University. Peter’s background is in community-based research and knowledge co-creation in the areas of HIV, LGBT+ health and rights and reproductive justice. Peter’s research focuses on the role of intimacy, embodiment, affect and materiality in people’s experiences of their sexual and reproductive health and rights. He engages critically with contemporary SRHR epistemologies drawing on biomedicalization, post-colonial and Marxist theory. Peter is involved in many projects which involve the co-creation of useful and applied knowledges with, by and for key communities.

Kevin Deane: Senior Lecturer and interdisciplinary specialist in Economics, Political Economy and International Development. Research interests focus on the political economy of health with an application to the HIV epidemic in Eastern and Southern Africa. Kevin has worked on a range of topics related to HIV including gender, migration, workplace programmes, HIV testing and the relationship between socio-economic status and HIV. He is also interested in the political and social determinants of malaria. Kevin is primarily a qualitative researcher with experience of conducting fieldwork in East Africa.

Martha Nicholson (facilitator): PhD Student in the Reproduction, Sexualities and Sexual Health research group at the Open University in the UK. Current research is a feminist ethnography on how nurses and midwives learn about abortion care in Northern Ireland. Working with a group of nurses and midwives, Martha is mapping out how abortion knowledge is produced, and how centres of learning and work may distort, silence and challenge access to that knowledge through dialogues, processes, and organisational texts.

This episode is a collaboration between the Sex, Research and Resistance Podcast and the ⁠Centre for the Global Study of Development⁠ at the Open University.   

In this two-part episode, hosted by Elizabeth Ascroft (co-founder of the podcast), we discuss girlhood in the context of international development. We are joined by ⁠Dr Jane Doka⁠ and ⁠Dr Alison Buckler⁠, both experienced researchers in the field of education, inclusion, and youth transitions. 

In Part 2, we talk about working with girls to capture the diversity of their experiences and hopes for the future. Alison and Jane provide insight into their research approaches including their use of storytelling methodologies. 

This episode is a window into some of the issues that arise with dominant narratives around what youth transition should look like. The speakers advocate for celebrating alternative transition pathways and provide examples of how to better align our research approaches with girls’ realities.  

Bios: 

Dr Jane Doka is a Research Associate in International Education and Development at the Open University. She recently completed PhD research focused on the agency and education of marginalised girls in Sub-Saharan Africa. Her expertise lies in the intersection of girls’ education and youth transitions. Currently, Jane is a co-researcher on the OpenSTEM Africa project, an initiative aimed at enhancing girls' transitions into tertiary education, specifically within STEM-related subjects, through stakeholder engagement across West and East Africa. She is experienced in narrative research approaches and participatory action-based methodologies. Dr Doka is an active member of the Centre for the Study of Global Development, where she collaborates with other experts to address global educational challenges and promote sustainable development. 

Dr Alison Buckler is a Senior Research Fellow at The Open University where she is a convenor of the International Education research group and Deputy Co-Director of the Centre for the Study of Global Development. Her work focuses on using creative and narrative approaches to researching education, and she is the co-founder of the ⁠Ibali Network⁠ which supports people interested in using storytelling methodologies. She also co-leads a research strand of the SAGE (Supporting Adolescent Girls' Education) Programme, which is an FCDO-funded collaboration between the OU and Plan International. 

⁠Elizabeth Ascroft⁠ is a PhD research at Open University and her research explores the process of co-creating sexuality education materials with young people in Aruba. Prior to her PhD Elizabeth worked at Girl Effect, a programme provider for girls and young women in development contexts. Elizabeth is a researcher, activist and a creative and is most inspired when delving into her never-ending creative methods. 

Follow us on X: @JaneDoka @AlisonBucklerEd @ElizAscroft 

This episode has been produced by Elizabeth Ascroft. 

In this two-part ThinkBites episode, Elizabeth Ascroft and Elise Denis-Ramirez reflect on their PhD research working with young people in the field of sexual reproductive health and rights in Latin America and the Caribbean. This episode captures their ongoing conversations around curating and facilitating spaces for creative, participatory, and action-based research.  

In part 1, they ask each other questions about making connections with participants, how it felt the morning of their first workshop and their standout moments. In part 2, the two reflect the tensions around ethics and collective knowledge production and what this means for practice. They wrap up with some of their top tips for those looking to enhance their practice working with young people. 

This episode offers food for thought on power and creativity in action-based approaches and is a thoughtful resource for all those interested in participatory research. 

Bios: 

Elizabeth Ascroft is a PhD student at Open University in the UK and her research explores the process of co-creating sexuality education materials with young people in Aruba. Elizabeth is a researcher, activist and a creative and is most inspired when delving into her never-ending creative methods.  

Elise Denis-Ramirez is a Danish/Chilean feminist researcher. Her PhD research at the Open University is exploring abortion, reproduction and sexuality during adolescence in Chile. Elise is driven by participatory research that is creative, gender transformative and intersectional.

This episode was produced by Elizabeth Ascroft.

In this ThinkBites episode, Dr Rebecca Jones is in conversation with Dr Helen Bowes-Catton and Dr Sarah Jen about researching bisexuality and queerness across generations.  

In part 1, Rebecca, Helen, and Sarah explore how meaning around identities, behaviours and attractions are made among bisexual and queer communities. Reflecting on the liminalities of age, they bring our attention to the richness of bisexual and queer identities and foreground the need to reflect this in our research.  

In part 2, Rebecca, Helen, and Sarah offer their experiences as life course researchers and speak to some of their approaches and methods connecting with bisexual and queer communities. In this episode, you’ll hear about the realm of possibilities that emerge from cornucopias of craft materials, visual maps, life history reviews and love letters. Tune in to hear about their visions for future research and an exciting opportunity to contribute to the new Routledge book of bisexuality too!  

Bios:  

Dr Rebecca Jones (she/her) @remembermyhat (X/Bluesky) - is a Senior Lecturer in Health at The Open University, UK. She researches and teaches about sexuality across the life course and reimagining ageing in more inclusive ways. She specialises in the ageing of LGBTQ+ people and is particularly known for her work on bisexuality and ageing.  

Dr Helen Bowes-Catton @helenbowescatton (X) (she/her)- is a Lecturer in Social Research Methods at The Open University, UK. She researches lived experiences of subjectivity and space in a variety of contexts, and is currently co-editing The Routledge International Handbook of Bisexuality, for which she is seeking further submissions-  https://helenbowescatton.com/2023/09/30/second-call-for-chapter-proposals-routledge-international-handbook-of-bisexuality/  

Dr Sarah Jen (she/her) - Sarah is an Assistant Professor at the University of Kansas School of Social Work. Her research applies mainly qualitative and creative methods to examine the experiences of bisexual individuals in mid- to later life.  

This episode was produced by Elizabeth Ascroft (she/her).