A few months after Equipop, in collaboration with a committee of experts, organized a symposium on SRHR in Cotonou, we are pleased to announce that theresulting report and the replay of the report launch event are now available.
This report is the result of fruitful discussions that took place during this event, which brought together 40 feminists from academic and activist circles from 14 countries in Benin in March 2024 to rethink and repoliticize sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR).
The report highlights the key issues concerning SRHR that are driving feminists in 2024. It places the participants' voices at the heart of the analysis and accurately brings together experiential and academic knowledge.
The launch of the report provided an opportunity to hear insightful presentations from:
- Mounia El Kotni, anthropologist, consultant-trainer, lecturer, and author of the report.
- Odome Angone, professor and researcher at Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar, specializing in decolonial and feminist issues in French-speaking Africa, among other topics.
- Dieynaba Ndiom, sociologist and feminist activist, member of the Voices of Women in Mauritania collective and member of the Network of Francophone West African Feminists.
- Sarah Memmi Machado, socio-demographer, sexual and reproductive health and rights advisor at Equipop.
The speakers first questioned this type of space for dialogue between activism and research as a tool in the fight against anti-rights movements and patriarchy. A discussion session highlighted the power of sisterhood that was evident during this event.
The discussion then focused on the main recommendations from the symposium, based on the various panels and cross-cutting themes.
- Panel 1: Comprehensive sexuality education through the lens of the life cycle;
- Panel 2: From discussion groups to the women's liberation handbook: different perspectives on valuing experiential knowledge;
- Panel 3: Our bodies, our choice, our right: bodily autonomy and reproductive justice;
- Panel 4: Gynecological and obstetric violence and health inequalities;
- Panel 5: At the intersection of oppressions: how to defend universal access to SRHR in the face of anti-rights movements in hostile contexts?
- Cross-cutting reflections: how to foster dialogue between academia and activists, and the need to "take care" of activists as a means of fighting for the abolition of patriarchy.
While acknowledging the uniqueness of each individual experience and the existence of specific forms of oppression, the speakers emphasized the importance of identifying priorities to defend together and building a desirable future as an alternative to the dominant narrative on SRHR.
Finally, discussions focused on prospects for action to continue these exchanges and collectively promote a feminist advocacy around SRHR. The speakers reiterated the importance of considering these rights as fundamental and viewing them in the context of power relations and political choices.
What should be done with all this knowledge? The report produced by the symposium and the discussions that followed are tools that everyone can use.
Together, let's continue to advance sexual and reproductive rights and health, and build this "space of our own" that is essential to our feminist struggles!
