Tanzania was an early, ardent believer in family planning. Now it joins a growing number of developing nations that see potential advantage in having a huge and growing workforce.
Abortion appears to be illegal and clandestine in large parts of the Muslim world. Yet, women continue to challenge the status quo and archaic laws through their daily practices and activism.
The notion that religious groups are opposed to sex-ed is simply not true. And our youth need it more than ever to take control over their lives, their bodies and their decisions.
On the 50th anniversary of Humanae Vitae, an encyclical released by Pope Paul VI calling for prohibition on contraceptive use, a scholar describes the struggles of Catholic women, as well as their activism.
Unlike condoms, which need to be used every time with sex, or the pill, which must be taken every day, LARC doesn’t require any action after placement in the body and is immediately reversible.
Male contraceptives have been under development for at least the past 50 years, because of the success of the female pill and pessimism about men taking a pill.
Women on the pill are able to manipulate or suppress their menstrual cycles to have fewer “periods”, or to avoid bleeding at important or inconvenient times.
Before the pill, contraceptive options were extremely limited and generally required the cooperation of the male partner. Almost 60 years later, the pill remains the mainstay of contraception.
Mozambique has one of the highest maternal death rates in the world. Researchers hope to reduce this, with an ambitious project aimed at empowering women and girls.
Once young women could access health insurance through their parents, they seemed to make very different decisions about contraception, abortion and marriage.
Gilles Pison, Muséum national d’histoire naturelle (MNHN)
The world’s population has reached 8 billion and is expected to climb to nearly 10 billion by 2050. Why will population growth inevitably continue? Should we try to reduce or stop this growth?
Anthropologue et démographe, professeur émérite au Muséum national d’histoire naturelle et conseiller de la direction de l'INED, Muséum national d’histoire naturelle (MNHN)
Director, SPHERE NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence in Women's Sexual and Reproductive Health in Primary Care and Professor and Head of the Department of General Practice, Monash University