NGOs and advocacy communications on sexual and reproductive health and rights: From the North to the South

ABSTRACT

Women in developing and developed countries can still suffer from constraints on their ability to exercise their reproductive rights, being subject to gendered norms and forms of control over their bodies and encountering various difficulties to accessing healthcare services. Sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) thus continue to matter for the advancement of gender equality, whilst communications when strategically used can shape support for progressive policies. This project seeks to advance research on gender development and advocacy communications for social change. A core question asked here is how can communications be better used for advocacy on SRHR? Making use of a mixed-methods approach, this research engages with a sample of 52 feminist and health NGOs, located in both the North and the South. In-depth interviews with gender experts from the organizations were combined with a survey applied to the communication professionals, followed by content and discourse analysis of their institutional websites and social media engagement. This paper provides a condensed examination of the early research findings and core theoretical frameworks, arguing over the need to deconstruct discourses around SRHR under challenging times and concluding that NGOs need better communication strategies and practices in their advocacy communication efforts.

KEYWORDS:

• Gender development
• SRHR
• NGOs
• advocacy
• communications

Disclosure statement

The author declares no conflict of interest. Two PhD research students, Alessandra Brigo and Tatiane Leal (IESP UERJ Brazil), one consultant Ambika Tandon (Centre for Internet and Society, India) and another student from City, University of London, Sarah Molisso, provided some research assistance at different stages of the project.

Notes

1. See https://twitter.com/IbisRH/status/1110642376928907264.

2. The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the UN Women in March 2020 alerted to the detrimental impact that the coronavirus pandemic could have on women’s rights, compromising the UN’s 2030 deadline to achieve gender equality under the Global Goals for Sustainable Development.

3. Influenced by the political pressure of the Trump administration, the Bolsonaro government in Brazil has engaged in a series of attacks on SRHR, including undermining words such as “gender” from previously signed international documents. It further abstained from voting on sexual and reproductive health and rights at the UN Human Rights Council in June 2019.

4. Interviewed in March, 2019.

5. Sexual and reproductive health and rights encompass include a range of reproductive health and sexuality concerns, from HIV/Aids and sexually transmitted diseases, to maternity health, family planning and contraceptives, womb cancer, fertility treatment, FGM, comprehensive sexuality education to the role of male reproductive bodies, including adjunct areas linked to sexuality, such as gender identity and LGBT rights.

6. These were policy reports, press releases, media articles, publications, facts, CEO speeches and archives (for information); information (emotional), campaigns, events, discussion forums, membership, volunteering and newsletter (for advocacy); emails, discussion forums, contact organisation, member profiles, local events, workshops, training and international agenda (for community engagement); donations, funding, partners and lobbying politicians (for fundraising) and online petitions, action alerts, protests and organisation of campaigns (for mobilization).

7. Interviewed in March, 2019.

8. Interviewed in May 2019.

9. Interviewed in March 2019.

10. Interviewed in March 2019.

11. Responded to the gender and communications questionnaires in April 2019.

Additional information

Funding

The work was funded by the Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF), which supports research that addresses the challenges faced by developing countries. The GCRF is a £ 1.5 billion fund that forms part of the UK's Official Development Assistance (ODA) commitment. The GCRF is administrated by a number of delivery partners, including four UK funding bodies.

Notes on contributors

Carolina Matos

Carolina Matos is Senior Lecturer in Media and Sociology, PD of the Media MAs at the Department of Sociology, City, University of London, and author of Media and politics in Latin America, winner of the Premio Jabuti prize in 2014. Her research is the field of development, gender, and international communications. E-mail: [email protected]