The Catholic Church and reproductive health and rights in Timor-Leste
Contestation, negotiation and cooperation
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 15098455 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Esther Richards (0000-0003-3568-9023, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2015 |
| Volume | 17 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 343-358 |
| Publication date | 2015-03-16 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Culture Health & Sexuality (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1369-1058 • E-ISSN: 1464-5351 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/13691058.2014.966255 |
| PMID | 25339187 |
| OpenAlex | W2216999575 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 13 |
| References cited | 20 |
In Timor-Leste, high fertility, high maternal mortality and low levels of contraceptive prevalence demonstrate the importance of exploring perceptions, policies and practices around reproductive health and rights. This paper explores the influence of the Catholic Church on reproductive decision-making at different levels of policy and practice. Utilising a feminist qualitative research methodology, in-depth interviews were conducted with a range of participants including nuns and priests, Timorese women and men of different ages and backgrounds and local and national stakeholders working in reproductive health and women's rights. Findings reveal that the Church is reported to play a significant role in reproductive health and rights decision-making at all levels of society, from policy-making to the reproductive decisions made by individual Timorese women and men. Nevertheless, the translation of Church teachings into practice, particularly by nuns, priests and Timorese men and women, reveal a range of attitudes and opinions; some that support and others that contest official Catholic doctrine. In light of the significant influence of the Timorese Catholic Church on policy and practice at many levels of society, there is a need to prioritise the development of rights-based strategies to improve reproductive health services in Timor-Leste
Negotiation · Political science · Reproductive health · Reproductive rights · Socioeconomics · Sociology · Timor leste · Demography · Global Maternal and Child Health · Human Rights and Development · International Human Rights and Reproductive Law · Law
Explaining the role of proximate and indirect determinants on fertility decline in Timor-Leste
‘It depends on who is asking and why they will use it’
Are health systems interventions gender blind? examining health system reconstruction in conflict affected states
Does Religious Counselling on Abortion Comply with Sweden’s ‘Women-Friendly’ Abortion Policies? A Qualitative Exploration Among Religious Counsellors
Negotiating Catholic Sexual Ethics
They say God punishes people with HIV’
What influences a woman’s decision to access contraception in Timor-Leste? Perceptions from Timorese women and men
Who decides to have sex? Exploring the perceptions of Timorese women and men through a reproductive justice lens
They love us just the way they love a woman’
If we take the engine out, how will the car go?’
Religion and development
Concealed coexistence
Body Mapping to Explore Reproductive Ethno-Physiological Beliefs and Knowledge of Contraception in Timor-Leste
Population policy & women's rights
Theory and Methods in Political Science
Men and Masculinities in Southeast Asia
Globalization, Gender, and Religion
Social Research Methodology
Birth Spacing Perceptions of Rural Filipinos
Ambivalence, silence and gender differences in church leaders’ HIV-prevention messages to young people in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Senegalese religious leaders’ perceptions of HIV/Aids and implications for challenging stigma and discrimination
Women, Reproductive Rights and the Catholic Church
Robes, Relics and Rights
Gendering the agenda
The Unhappy Marriage of Religion and Politics
Attitudes towards the legal context of unsafe abortion in Timor-Leste
Conflict and Development
Fetal Discourses and the Politics of the Womb
Who Needs [Sex] When you can have [Gender]
| Unique citing works | 13 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1,44 |
| Citation span | 2017 - 2026 (10) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 13 |