(Ireland) Re(al)-Productive Health
Re(al)-Productive Health is a working group which aims to promote access to emergency hormonal contraception, or ‘the morning after pill’ in Ireland, and to improve reproductive rights and well-being more broadly for women living here. We aim to promote and disseminate information, challenge and dismantle the stigma which surrounds female sexuality and contraception and formally lobby for policy change.
Location: Dublin, Ireland
Key projects:
In May 2014 RPH launched our policy document; ‘Emergency: Contraception in Ireland’ submitted to the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland, the Health Service Executive and The Union of Pharmacists in Ireland. Our submission contains seven primary aims as follows:
- To remove the conscientious objection clause
- To make the consultation process optional
- To ensure advertisement of availability of emergency contraception outside/within pharmacies
- To ensure a standard price for emergency contraception
- To ensure that pharmacies in rural areas operate a Sunday rota system
- To ensure pharmacists are properly trained to dispense emergency contraception in a non-judgmental, understanding manner
Alongside this formal lobbying we continue to disseminate information about access to emergency contraception in Ireland alongside challenging and dismantling the stigma which surrounds this reproductive health care issue. Our work thus includes; consciousness raising through direct actions, stigma dismantling (through our ‘Map your M.A.P’. website initiative), through the organisation of talks and events, through contributions to the media and through working collaboratively with other pro-choice groups.
Expertise offered:
- Advice on the experience and process of access to emergency contraception in Ireland.
- Knowledge on the experience of living and campaigning within a country with particularly restrictive reproductive health legislation.
- Advice on how to organise an accessible, collaborative and multifaceted campaign which works using direct actions, consciousness raising and information distribution, and formal lobbying actions.
- Advice on organising a social media based campaign with effectively very little funding.
Dream project:
In order to achieve many of our aims it is necessary that we challenge, resist and change the current culture of stigma and disempowerment which surrounds EC in Ireland. This process could become possible through the provision and dissemination of accurate and non-judgemental information and advice about EC and the promotion of a culture in which female sexuality and access to reproductive health care is empowering, accessible and non-judgemental. In the short term RPH desire to contribute to these processes by producing an EC ‘Myth Busting’ video.
Website:
Social media:
https://www.facebook.com/realproductivehealthireland?ref=hl
Interested in donating to Re(al)-Productive Health?
Email realproductivehealth@gmail.com