| CODE | GRS3011 | ||||||||||||
| TITLE | Social and Gendered Intersections of Sexual and Reproductive Health | ||||||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 03 - Years 2, 3, 4 in Modular Undergraduate Course | ||||||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | Not Applicable | ||||||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 4 | ||||||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Gender and Sexualities | ||||||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | Sexual and reproductive health is understood as a product of the social environment and the day-to-day realities of women’s lives. This study-unit will explore the interaction between socio-cultural realities and gender, starting with influences on girls’ experience of menarche, such as sociocultural contexts, the preparation received for this event and the age at which the menarche occurs. Menstruation and more broadly, the menstrual cycle are often dismissed and derided. The same goes for menopause, at the further end of the reproductive life span. This study-unit will transgress this narrative, resisting the norm of menstrual (and menopausal) concealment. This biological process will be socialized across cultures and historical eras, and an inquiry into its form, function, meaning and hiding explored. Cultural and religious practices through narratives peering inside what’s at stake when menstruation is regarded as a structural issue, one ripe for policy interventions, with real-life implications for human beings will be delved into. The reproductive justice approach has as its starting point the acknowledgment of the intertwining of the individual and the societal. Women’s ability to control if and when to have children is a fundamental human right, and contraception is therefore a keystone of reproductive justice. Contraception is central to empowering women, but it has also been used to disempower them. This study-unit will probe the importance of contraception to women’s lives, which is now recognized within the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Pregnancy and childbirth are located within particular intersecting power relations, kept in place by normative assumptions constructed by classist, heteronormative and gendered discourses and practices. Thus, differences between pregnancy outcomes for older and younger women due to confounding variables, such as adequacy of antenatal care, marital status, maternal health behaviors and socio-economic status will be explored. Abortion is always embedded in sociocultural and political contexts. The occurrence of induced abortion belies considerable diversity in the social, political and medical contexts in which abortions are performed, as well as the diverse social and cultural meanings surrounding abortion. These aspects will be discussed in light of the range of ethical stances that induced abortion has brought forward in some locales and at some points in history. Sexual and reproductive health, in particular the spread of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and the incidence of unplanned pregnancies, are greatly influenced by social, economic and behavioral factors. The access to services not only depends on the structural factors including the availability of accessible and acceptable services for the user but also on the individual’s agency to access sexual health services based upon attitudes in relation to sexual health and the services offered. Despite global efforts to increase awareness, stigma still acts as a significant barrier for individuals to seek help when they suspect they may have been exposed to an STI (including HIV) or have any symptoms which warrant investigation. This may hold people back from getting tested, acting as a limiting factor to public health efforts to control the spread of such infections. Gender-inequality and gender-based social norms shape women’s interactions with sexual partners in ways that can increase their vulnerability to sexually transmitted infections. Such vulnerability is often an outcome of multiple social inequalities – including socio-economic status, race, ethnicity and sexuality - each of which intersects with gender. Contexts of stigma, marginalization and discrimination create inequalities in the experiences of sexual and reproductive health of LGBT+ individuals. Nuanced policies and practice that fail to address diversity also fail to embrace non-binary and non-heteronormative definitions of identity and sexuality as well as poly-gendered relationships. This study-unit will explore sexual and gender identities and how these intersect with sexual and gender expression, providing a background to understanding intimate relationships and experiences of reproduction and family creation. Study-unit Aims: The study-unit aims to provide an an understanding of how sexual and reproductive health is experienced, in relation to personal agency over sexuality and sexual relationships and access to education and clinical care amongst other variables, drawing attention to the relationship between social and structural factors. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: • Recognize the influences on girls’ experience of menarche, such as the sociocultural context, the preparation received for this event and the age at which the menarche occurs; • Evaluate prevailing cultural views and cultural constructions of menstruation; • Identify how contraception is central to empowering women, but it how it can also be used to dis-empower them; • Appraise the complex nature of fertility control and of reproductive health for women across the world; • Value the intersecting power relations and normative constructions of pregnancy; • Relate to diverse ethical, social and cultural meanings surrounding abortion; • Interpret how sexual health is affected by social determents of health, namely social, economic and behavioral factors; • Comprehend the impact and consequences of socio-cultural structures on sexual and reproductive health; • Demonstrate critical knowledge related to cultural constructions of sexual and reproductive health that impact sexual and gender minorities; • Discern between ethical, social and cultural meanings surrounding sexual and reproductive health. 2. Skills By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: • Conceptualize socio-cultural, political and structural influences on sexual and reproductive health and rights; • Analyze normative assumptions of sexuality and gender and gendered structures and their impact on concepts of sexual and reproductive health; • Assess how intersectional identities influence the individual’s agency on sexuality and sexual health; • Critically reflect on sexual and reproductive health outcomes based on social determinants of health. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: Main Text: - Ussher, J.,Chrisler J.,and Perz ,J.(Eds), (2022). Routledge International Handbook of Women's Sexual and Reproductive Health. Routledge. - Bobel,C., Winkler, I.,Fahs,B., Hasson, K.,Kissling, E., and Roberts, T. (Eds), (2020). The Palgrave Handbook of Critical Menstruation Studies. Palgrave. - Dibben, A. (2022). Reproductive politics: Policy responses to teenage pregnancy and motherhood. In Social Welfare Issues in Southern Europe (pp. 160-178). Routledge. - Family Planning NSW (2020) Contraception in Australia 2005-2018. Ashfield, Sydney. - Fenech Conti, F. (2022). Family planning and contraception practices of Maltese women. https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/bitstream/123456789/111389/1/2218SWBGDS500805058083_1.PDF - Decolonizing Contraception. Long Acting Reversible Contraception in the UK. Shine Aloud UK. https://www.bpas.org/media/3477/larc-report-final-laid-up.pdf - Dibben, A., Stabile, I., Gomperts, R., & Kohout, J. (2023). Accessing abortion in a highly restrictive legal regime: characteristics of women and pregnant people in Malta self-managing their abortion through online telemedicine. BMJ Sexual & Reproductive Health 49 (3). - Pierson, C., & Caruana-Finkel, L. (2021). Abortion care in highly restrictive legal regimes: the experiences of health and social care professionals in Malta. https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/3128310/1/MaltaBriefingPaperMay2021FINAL.pdf - Cassar, J. (2021). Sexual behaviour trends among young people in Malta.Symposia Melitensia, 17, 1-14. - Padovese, V., Farrugia, A., Almabrok Ali Ghath, S., & Rossoni, I. (2021). Sexually transmitted infections’ epidemiology and knowledge, attitude and practice survey in a set of migrants attending the sexual health clinic in Malta. Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology, 35(2), 509-516. - McCarthy, M. (2009, May). ‘I have the jab so I can't be blamed for getting pregnant’: Contraception and women with learning disabilities. In Women's Studies International Forum (Vol. 32, No. 3, pp. 198-208). Pergamon. |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture and Online Learning | ||||||||||||
| METHOD OF ASSESSMENT |
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| LECTURER/S | Claire Lucille Azzopardi Lane Maria Bugeja Andreana Dibben Lara Maria Dimitrijevic Mariella Micallef |
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2024/5. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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