Looking through the lens of reproductive justice: The need for a paradigm shift in sexual and reproductive health and rights research in Canada

In order to begin understanding the current context, producing culturally meaningful findings, and creating equitable health outcomes in the sphere of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) in Canada, we must first consider how, with whom and by whom research is conducted. As part of a series of commentaries on Reproductive Justice in Canada in BMC Reproductive Health, in this segment, we echo the Research Working Group of the Black Mamas Matter Alliance (BMMA) in emphasizing that SRHR research related to Indigenous, Black and People of Colour (IBPOC) must be rooted in a Reproductive Justice framework that includes social justice and human rights. We call for IBPOC community voices to be heard, information to be accessible, narratives to be representative, and communities to have “control over production, documentation, possession and dissemination of their own data or stories”. The authors of this commentary argue that a paradigm shift is needed in SRHR research, one that considers how Canadian institutions conduct, fund, and disseminate research on Indigenous, Black and racialized populations in Canada and internationally. (author introduction) #P4HEwebinarOctober2024