Dalhousie researcher leads study into reproductive health outcomes for incarcerated Indigenous women
“A national study out of Dalhousie University will shine a light on the reproductive health outcomes for Indigenous women incarcerated in federal prisons.
The research, funded by a $500,000 Indigenous Gender and Wellness Grant through the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, is led by Martha Paynter, a registered nurse and doctoral candidate at the Dalhousie University School of Nursing, and Dr. Jennifer Leason of the University of Calgary.
Paynter, who studies reproductive and prisoner health at the Halifax university and is the founder and chair of Women’s Wellness Within, a non-profit organization for reproductive justice in Nova Scotia, said the study is the first of its kind to gather data on the sexual, reproductive and maternal health outcomes of incarcerated Indigenous women.
“Although we’ve now reached a point where almost 50 per cent of the federal sentenced population in prisons designated for women are Indigenous, this attention to the unique sexual and reproductive health experiences and needs have never been addressed,” Paynter said.
“We have plenty of evidence showing incarceration reduces access to very basic reproductive health needs – birth control, abortion, Pap tests, and so from my perspective, we need some accountability and transparency about what is actually happening in these institutions.”
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