The legal battlefield of sexual and reproductive rights: drivers, dynamics and health consequences

Across the globe we see increasing polarization and judicialisation of sexual and reproductive rights (SRR) domestically and at the international level, including in low-income countries, such as Kenya, Nepal and Uganda. The battle-lines are particularly stark with regard to abortion rights, access to emergency contraception and rights of sexual minorities (LGBTI). Social and political actors are using legal institutions both to expand the rights and to restrict them. Yet, there is limited knowledge about the consequences of these legal battles on the enjoyment of the rights, on sexual and reproductive health, and on central health policy goals (such as the Millennium Development Goals). Equally little is known about the political and social dynamics, an d the nature of the relationship and interactions between progressive and regressive use of legal mobilization. The broader aim of this application is to develop a comparative research project looking into the judicialisation of SRR as it unfolds in six low-income countries (Bangladesh, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Nepal and Uganda), with particular focus on the consequences for women and child health. The main vehicles will be: a workshop bringing together key scholars working on these issues from the per spective of the global south; a public seminar where scholars engage with practitioners working on legal campaigns over sexual and reproductive rights. The events will in themselves contribute to a better understanding of legal mobilization on SRR as it p lays out in the developing world. They will also serve as the basis for forming a joint research agenda and a comparative research project that can provide a more systematic understanding of the legal-political dynamics involved, and how legal mobilizatio n influences policy efforts to improve health of vulnerable groups as women and LGBTI in low income countries.