Locating Men in Sexual and Reproductive Health, Rights, and Justice: Past, Present, Futures

Abstract

Since the International Conference on Population and Development in 1994, global policies, and agenda‐setting milestones have emphasized that universal sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) are unattainable without the meaningful engagement and inclusion of men. Despite this, the field of SRHR continues to struggle with how and in what ways men can and should be included in research, programs, and policies. In this commentary, we argue that the programmatic focus of SRHR limits the capacity to produce the data and evidence needed to inform gender transformational change. For men to be meaningfully engaged with by SRHR, researchers need an analytic lens that can capture the manifestations and outcomes of gender and power. We consider the conceptual complementarities between two theoretical frameworks: hegemonic masculinities and Reproductive Justice. We contend that bringing together these conceptual approaches to men and SRHR offers an analytic framework to iterate and innovate approaches to research. Such changes will allow for a greater interrogation of gender and power and the production of data and evidence necessary to grapple with the ongoing injustices that curtail people's sexual and reproductive freedoms.