This module provides students with advanced concepts and tools to help them understand how gender interplays with a variety of individual, social, and structural factors to determine individuals' access to sexual and reproductive health and services and their ability to realise their sexual and reproductive health rights. It considers ethical challenges in the current conceptualisation, design, and delivery of sexual and reproductive health services and the implications of this for individuals' and groups' sexual and reproductive health outcomes.

The overall module aim is to enable students to apply key theories and methods to support people in realising their reproductive rights.

Intended learning outcomes

Upon successful completion of the module a student will be able to demonstrate:

1. Articulate the importance of conducting a gender analysis when investigating people’s reasons for and use of reproductive health services;
2. Appreciate the importance of an intersectional approach to the analysis of factors that affect individuals' and groups' ability to meet their sexual and reproductive health and rights;
3. Explain and give examples of how gender-based violence affects individuals' and groups' sexual and reproductive health outcomes;
4. Apply reproductive justice as a theoretical approach to analyse structures and systems that control human reproduction and health service delivery;
5. Examining how gender affects sexual and reproductive health in unique ways across the life course and with specific attention to vulnerable populations (e.g. adolescents, people living with disabilities, LGBTQI+ populations);
6. Identify and explain public health and ethico-legal approaches to addressing reproductive injustice;
7. Assess potential policy and programming approaches to address reproductive injustice and be able to develop gender-sensitive campaigns to improve reproductive justice.

Mode of delivery

The programme will be delivered wholly online, with no in-person attendance. There will be a mix of live and interactive activities (synchronous learning) as well as recorded or self-directed study (asynchronous learning). Examples of synchronous learning are live online lectures, group discussions and seminars. Asynchronous learning includes pre-recorded lectures, independent reading and activities. Live synchronous lectures and class sessions usually take place Monday-Friday between 2 pm and 5 pm UTC.

Assessment

This module is assessed via a group report which will be worth 40% of students' marks, one section of which will be written individually and worth 60% of the student's mark. The group work assignment will require a group of approximately four students to conduct a gender/intersectional analysis on a specific sexual and reproductive health injustice.

Credits

• CATS: 15
• ECTS: 7.5

Module specification

For full information regarding this module please see the module specification.

Please note: information based on the 2024-25 module specification subject to change for 2025-26 entry.