Main description:

This expansive survey spotlights pervasive issues affecting girls' and women's sexual and reproductive health across the lifecourse. Research from diverse countries around the world analyzes the complex relationships among biological, psychological, sociocultural, and economic issues-particularly in terms of inequities-as they shape women's lives. Major challenges and possibilities for intervention are examined in their national context and with their global implications, including child marriage/motherhood, reproductive care and access, fertility, childbearing, contraception, abortion, HIV/STIs, gender-based violence, sexual pleasure, and menopause. In these forceful dispatches, a consistent human rights perspective emphasizes women's control, autonomy, and agency in all stages of their lives.

A sampling of topics covered:

Girl child marriage: a persistent global women's health and human rights violation

Investigating challenges and resilience among women living with obstetric fistula in Kenya
A qualitative exploration of mainstream and social media reflections on abortion
A continuum of severity of sexual intimate partner violence among black women in the United States
Economic empowerment to improve sexual and reproductive health among women and girls

Summarizing an interdisciplinary field on research and practical levels, Global Perspectives on Women's Sexual and Reproductive Health Across the Lifecourse will be an invaluable text for undergraduate and graduate courses in a wide range of fields, including public health, global health, women's studies, sociology, anthropology, gender studies, and human rights.

Contents:

Introduction: Intersections and New Imperatives in Global Women's HealthJennifer Toller Erausquin (University of North Carolina Greensboro)
ForewordSofia Gruskin (USC)

Section 1: Marriage and Fertility
Chapter 1.1 Mellissa Withers (USC) The role of Balinese culture in explaining inconsistencies between fertility intentions and reproductive outcomes.
Chapter 1.2 Ann Anaebere-Aneke (Omenala Service Learning Collaborative)Sexual decision-making and African women.
Chapter 1.3 Lwendo Moonzwe Davis (ICF International)Women's partner relationships and reproductive and sexual health in Lusaka, Zambia
Chapter 1.4 Marie Brault (Yale University)The role of premarital empowerment in delaying marriage and first pregnancy in urban India
Chapter 1.5 Rohini Pande (UNICEF)How does fertility decline influence gender equality? Evidence from Tamil Nadu, India
Chapter 1.6 Funmi OlaOlorun (University of Ibadan, Nigeria)Household decision-making and contraceptive use among women ages 35-49 years in 24 sub-Saharan African countries

Section 2: Childbearing and Reproductive Health
Chapter 2.1 Aparajita Gogoi (Centre for Catalyzing Change, India)Linking women to services: Mobile Monitor for Quality of Maternal Care (MOM-QC) in India
Chapter 2.2 Priscilla Hall (Emory University)Getting what you really want in labor: Women's experience of agency during childbirth
Chapter 2.3 Noah Kojima (UCLA)Providing prenatal care and STI prevention to pregnant women through a mobile clinic project in India
Chapter 2.4 Kara Fransisco (University of Florida)Vaginal birth after cesarean: informed choice and a source of empowerment among black women in the U.S.
Chapter 2.5 Brittany Chambers (University of North Carolina Greensboro)Reframing the way we think about teenage motherhood.
Chapter 2.6 Charlotte Warren (Population Council)"Sickness of shame": investigating challenges and resiliency amongst women living with obstetric fistula in Kenya

Section 3: Abortion
Chapter 3.1 Michele Eggers (University of Connecticut)Experiences of Chilean women with the criminalization of abortion.
Chapter 3.2 Bayla Ostrach (Boston University) Stigma as a factor in abortion legality and reproductive morbidity.
Chapter 3.3 Julia McReynolds-Perez (University of Wisconsin)Abortion as empowerment: Reproductive rights activism in a context of illegality
Chapter 3.4 Natalie Whaley (University of Rochester)Claiming the abortion narrative: a qualitative exploration of mainstream and social media reflections on abortion
Chapter 3.5 Laura Pascoe (UC Davis)Women's reproductive autonomy and engaging men on termination of pregnancy in Zambia and Uganda

Section 4: Education, Economics, and Development
Chapter 4.1 Jade Sasser (University of California Riverside) Women and development: A critical examination of the Sustainable Development Goals.
Chapter 4.2 [Author to be confirmed]The promise of cash-incentive programs for improving reproductive health of marginalized women
Chapter 4.3 Eunice Muthengi (Population Council, Kenya) The critical role of education in sexual behavior and reproductive life planning for young women in Kenya.
Chapter 4.4 Jennifer Toller Erausquin (University of North Carolina Greensboro)Multilevel influences of women's education on vulnerability to HIV in two Caribbean countries.
Chapter 4.5 Goleen Samari (University of Texas at Austin)Education and Fertility in Egypt: The Role of Women's Empowerment
Glossary
Chapter Questions
Funding and Acknowledgements
Contributors