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Samson Otiago (R), a doctor specializing in reproductive health, attends to a patient at his clinic in Nairobi, Kenya, in the densely populated, low-income neighborhood Kayole. Otiago’s clinic provides services to victims of sexual violence. (Tony Karumba / AFP via Getty Images)

BY VICTORIA BOYDELL and KATE GILMORE | “You need to stop this work. We know where your children go to school.”

Around the world, frontline reproductive healthcare workers are facing physical and verbal abuse, public shaming and humiliation, both in-person and online, harassment, legal threats, death threats, sexual assault and rapes—simply for doing their jobs. Yet, many of those who commit acts of violence against SRHR workers, or those who publicly incite antagonism, largely escape accountability for the consequences of their actions. Enough is enough.

(Click here to read more)

Momina Kohistani (L), head midwife at Norwegian Afghanistan Committee (NAC)-run Comprehensive-Continuum of Care Centre, a maternity hospital, shows a catalogue to fellow midwife Zainab Dawlatzai, in the facility at Gardez, the capital of Afghanistan’s Paktia province, on Dec. 7, 2023. (Kobra Akbari / AFP via Getty Images)

BY ANASTASIIA CARRIER | In the Taliban’s Afghanistan, it’s not uncommon for three women to share a hospital bed. Nor is it rare for premature babies to share incubators. Families often cannot afford a trip to the doctor to get help for women or children, and more women are dying on their way to the hospital from pregnancy complications because they need to travel hours or even days to get care.

“It’s a perfect storm: less access to healthcare, less access to reproductive choice, and a declining number of healthcare professionals,” Heather Barr of Human Rights Watch said.

(Click here to read more) 

Ayo Edebiri poses with the award for Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Series: Musical or Comedy for The Bear at the 81st annual Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Jan. 7, 2024. (Robyn Beck / AFP via Getty Images)

BY AASTHA JANI | Not only does Ayo Edebiri shut down misogynistic questions with grace, but she reminds interviewers that the Globes are a place of work.

(Click here to read more) 

Listen to United Bodies—a new podcast about the lived experience of health, from Ms. Studios, on Apple Podcasts + Spotify. 

One of the most present themes in our lived experience of health in the past few years is the war on bodily autonomy, whether it’s the overturn of Roe v. Wade and the loss of legal abortion for millions, or the repeated pernicious efforts to ban gender affirming care for trans and nonbinary people. But the origins of the ideology driving these attacks is not new. It lies in the history of eugenics, racism, and ableism. And in many ways, it’s experienced in the everyday lives of disabled people. Think of us as canaries in the coalmine. Disability activist and creator Imani Barbarin says none of this is surprising. We’ve been dealing with this for a long time.

We hope you'll listen, subscribe, rate and review today!

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