Racism in Sexual and Reproductive Health with Annabel Sowemimo

Listen to "Racism in Sexual and Reproductive Health with Dr Annabel Sowemimo" on Spreaker.

In this episode, Hannah is joined by sexual and reproductive health doctor Annabel Sowemimo, who is also the founder of Decolonising Contraception, a black & people of colour led collective that is striving for reproductive justice. Annabel discusses inequality in healthcare and research, including the maternity experience of black women and women of colour, and also the colonial history of contraception. She talks about the intervention of Western governments in the sexual healthcare of other countries and the damaging effects of this, such as with the Mexican City Policy. Finally, Hannah and Annabel talk about the impact of sex education community currently being largely made up of cis, white people, and how Decolonising Contraception are working to address this.

Read the episode transcript here!

SHOW NOTES

What we chat about…

What is Decolonising Contraception, and how did the organisation start?
Why don’t we take a holistic approach when discussing contraception?
Cuts around sexual health and how cuts to certain services affect certain groups of people
The important of research, and also equality in research
The maternity experience of black women and women of colour compared to their white counterparts
The colonial history of contraception
Sims Speculum and campaigns to rename it
Eugenic beliefs and how that feeds into contraception
Mexico City Policy, and Western governments intervening in the sexual health of other countries
Why do we not trust experts anymore
Decolonising Contraception’s Sex Fest
The Sex Education community being predominantly white and cis