Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters, London (2026)

21/08/2026

What does it take to create lasting change in efforts to end child marriage, especially at a time of shrinking development budgets and growing humanitarian need?

🎧 In the latest episode of the SRHM Podcast, SRHM Chief Executive Eszter Kismodi speaks with Lara van Kouterik, Interim Co-CEO and Director of Strategy, Evidence and Impact at Girls Not Brides, about why current funding models are falling short and what needs to change.

Drawing on a recent SRHM blog by former Girls Not Brides CEO Dr Faith Mwangi-Powell, the conversation explores why short-term, project-based funding is often ill-suited to addressing complex, interconnected challenges such as child marriage.

🌏 Lara highlights the need for an ecosystem approach that brings together governments, civil society, donors and communities across sectors including education, sexual and reproductive health and rights, social protection and gender equality. She shares examples from India and Malawi showing how coordinated, long-term investment and strong political commitment can drive sustainable progress.

The episode also explores trust-based philanthropy, investment in grassroots organisations, and integrating child marriage prevention into humanitarian responses as conflict and climate crises place more girls at risk.

👉Despite the challenges, there is reason for optimism: we know what works - now we need the funding architecture to make it last.

🎧 Listen to the full conversation:
https://youtu.be/RI3u27S3VbU

Also available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and other major podcast platforms: https://www.srhm.org/srhm-podcast/

Resources:
🔹 Child Marriage Research to Action Network: https://www.girlsnotbrides.org/en/learning-resources/child-marriage-research-action-network/
🔹 International funding to end child marriage: https://www.girlsnotbrides.org/en/learning-resources/resource-centre/international-funding-end-child-marriage-2015-2024-report/
🔹 Where the evidence stands on child marriage: https://www.girlsnotbrides.org/en/learning-resources/resource-centre/evidence-child-marriage-stocktaking-summary-report/

21/08/2026

🏫 What does school-based gender-based violence look like through the eyes of adolescents themselves?

👉New research in Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters explores how adolescents in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, experience, understand and respond to gender-based violence in their schools.

The study involved 90 adolescents aged 15 to 17 across four high schools. Participants described multiple forms of violence, including physical abuse, humiliation, economic coercion and sexual harassment. The research also found that victim-blaming, fear of reputational harm and institutional norms often discouraged students from reporting violence.

🌍 The findings highlight the need for school and community-level approaches that challenge the norms that legitimise violence, strengthen accountability and protect students who speak out. Crucially, adolescents themselves must have a voice in shaping strategies to prevent and respond to school-based gender-based violence.

📖 Read the article by Julie H. Hernandez, Muanda F. Mbadu and Lorentz Murrairi: “What bothers the heart”: a phenomenological study of adolescents’ experiences and interpretations of school-based gender-based violence in Kinshasa, DRC

🔗 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/26410397.2026.2702756

19/08/2026

👉 What happens when people seeking fertility care experience discrimination, mistreatment and barriers to accessing assisted reproduction?

New research explores experiences of reproductive violence among people in France who sought medically assisted reproduction outside the legal and/or medical framework.

🌍 Based on interviews with 69 people, the study found that 28 participants had experienced reproductive violence during their assisted reproduction journey. Experiences included psychological, economic and physical violence, with single women and people who were older, had higher body weight or identified as non-heterosexual particularly affected.

✊ But the research also highlights pathways from violence to empowerment. Support from social networks, online communities and associations helped participants build knowledge, develop strategies of resistance, support others and challenge reproductive injustice.

📖 Read the open access article by Virginie Rozée, Hélène Malmanche and Elise de La Rochebrochard: From reproductive violence to empowerment: reconquering power in assisted reproduction: a qualitative study

🔗 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/26410397.2026.2694254

18/08/2026

👉 How can we better support adolescent girls and young women to access and use contraception?

🌍 New research in Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters examines this question through a cluster-randomised study of 802 young women aged 16 to 24 in Tshwane, South Africa.

The study tested the Young Women’s Health CoOp (YWHC), which provides young women with knowledge and skills, alongside facility-level training to reduce stigma and discrimination.

👉 The findings show that young women who participated in YWHC, either alone or alongside the stigma and discrimination intervention, were more likely to start using contraception over the nine-month follow-up period.

The research highlights the importance of tailored support, knowledge and skills, and safe and respectful environments as part of sexual and reproductive health services.

📖 Read the article by Ilene S. Speizer, Courtney P. Bonner, Laura Nyblade, Jacqueline Ndirangu, Alexandra Minnis, Khatija Ahmed, Tracy L. Kline, Felicia A. Browne, Brittni Howard and Wendee M. Wechsberg.

🔗 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/26410397.2026.2696689

14/08/2026

How do anti-rights movements build influence across generations?

🎙️ In the latest episode of the SRHM Podcast, we explore how anti-rights movements cultivate young people’s involvement through schools, universities and campus organisations, and create pathways into internships, professional training and political networks.

Jamie Vernaelde, Senior Researcher for Global Policy and Advocacy at Ipas and She Decides Champion, joins the conversation to explore how these strategies build long-term influence in law, medicine, communications and policy, shaping legal systems, healthcare and public narratives.

What can the sexual and reproductive health and rights community learn from these approaches, and how can we better invest in the next generation of SRHR advocates and leaders?

🎧 Listen to the latest episode of the SRHM Podcast:
https://www.srhm.org/news/future-proofing-the-professionalisation-of-an-anti-rights-youth-generation/

13/08/2026

👉 How are adolescents using AI to find information about sexuality, relationships and sexual and reproductive health?

In their new blog, Hannah Kabelka (KIT Royal Tropical Institute) and Marko Bachl (Institute for Media and Communication Studies, FU Berlin) explore why we know so little about adolescents’ use of AI for sexuality-related information.

The authors examine the ethical and methodological challenges involved in researching young people’s use of AI, and consider what is needed to better understand how adolescents navigate these emerging technologies when seeking information on sensitive topics.

🔗 Read the blog: https://www.srhm.org/news/too-risky-to-ask-why-were-not-hearing-from-adolescents-about-their-use-of-ai-for-sexuality-related-information/

07/08/2026

What do women want from family planning self-care interventions?

👉In this paper, Funmilola M. OlaOlorun, Fredrick Makumbi, Simon Peter Sebina Kibira, Elena Lebetkin, Ndola Prata, Philip Anglewicz, Peter Gichangi, Elizabeth Omoluabi, Aisha Siewe, Mary Thiongo, Musa Sani Zakirai and Aurélie Brunie examine women's interests and preferences for accessing family planning information and self-administered contraceptive methods in Kenya and Nigeria.

🌍 Using survey data from more than 12,000 women, the authors found strong interest in receiving family planning information via voice and text messages, with health facilities remaining the preferred source for self-administered contraceptive products.

Many women also valued access through pharmacies, drug shops and home delivery, while emphasising the importance of provider support when starting or using contraception.

👉The findings highlight the need for self-care interventions that expand choice, reflect women's preferences and remain well connected to the health system.

Read the paper: https://doi.org/10.1080/26410397.2026.2681342

05/08/2026

🌍 New research by Linda Grace Alanyo, Sofie Vindevogel, Emmanuel Kimera, Lynn M. Atuyambe and Johan Bilsen explores the barriers and facilitators of reproductive autonomy among adolescent girls in western Uganda.

Based on interviews with 31 in-school and out-of-school girls aged 15–19, the study highlights how parental and partner control, limited sexual and reproductive health knowledge, low self-efficacy, financial dependence and unmet basic needs can restrict reproductive autonomy.

🔵 Schooling and supportive relationships emerged as key facilitators, underscoring the need for multi-level interventions that strengthen families, improve access to education and support adolescent girls' ability to make informed decisions about their sexual and reproductive health and rights.

🔗 Read the paper online and open-access: https://doi.org/10.1080/26410397.2026.2683272

04/08/2026

🌏 In their new article, 'Evolution of the humanitarian roster system for sexual and reproductive health', Alison Greer, Rima Pai, Mihoko Tanabe, Lara Martin and Nguyen Toan Tran examine how humanitarian roster systems are evolving to better support SRH responses in emergencies.

👉 The authors argue for a shift away from reliance on international standby rosters towards stronger national, regional and community-based capacity, recognising that local responders are often the first to act and are essential to building more resilient humanitarian systems.

🔗 Read the article: https://doi.org/10.1080/26410397.2026.2686033

03/08/2026

👉 Young people want contraception care built on trust, autonomy and informed consent.

New research by Sarah Munro, Madeleine Ennis, Kaiya Jacob, Bimbola Olure, Zeba Khan, Hajar Seiyad, Ayla Arhinson, Ruby Abramson, Victoria Paller, Andrea Carson, Andrea J. Hoopes, Wendy V. Norman & Giuseppina Di Meglio explores the experiences of young people and healthcare providers across Canada.

🔵 The findings highlight the importance of shared decision-making, anti-oppressive care, and respecting young people's reproductive autonomy, that young people value shared decision-making and want to feel that they and their healthcare provider are "in this together".

Participants described experiences of contraception being "pushed" on young people, as well as medical discrimination that undermined trust, safety and reproductive autonomy.

✊ The findings highlight the need for person-centred, anti-oppressive contraception care that is grounded in trust, informed consent and respect for young people's right to make decisions about their own bodies. These findings are especially important as many young people face increasing barriers to accessing contraception.

📖 Trust, autonomy, and informed consent: a qualitative investigation of youth experiences accessing contraception in Canada

Read the full paper open-access: https://doi.org/10.1080/26410397.2026.2678063

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