Citation

Pugh S. Sex. Reprod. Health Matters 2019; 27(2): 1662616.

Affiliation

Academic Editor, Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters, Cape Town, South Africa . Correspondence: spugh@srhm.org.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/26410397.2019.1662616

PMID

31524106

Abstract

For many, the very word “politics” has taken on a negative hue, imbued with connotations of misused power, corruption, electioneering, and populism. But politics is much more than this. The study of politics is, in many respects, the study of power, who is able to exercise power, under what circumstances and to what ends.

The capacity of people to access and realise their sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) has long been influenced by the shifting tides of politics and the various configurations of political power that hold sway in specific times and specific places. As the articles in this issue make clear, pronounced shifts towards far right-wing and conservative politics are threatening hard-won progress in SRHR. This is happening globally, regionally, nationally and locally, affecting progress in many areas, such as access to safe abortion, access to contraception, the protection of the sexual and reproductive rights of migrants and refugees including those in humanitarian settings, and the advancement of the rights of LGBTI+ individuals ...

Language: en