Bergen Cooper, M.P.H., is the Director of Policy Research at the Center for Health and Gender Equity (CHANGE). She develops and evaluates research and builds CHANGE’s institutional knowledge of sexual and reproductive health and rights. She leads forums, webinars, and workshops for global health advocates that focus on translating research into policy. Bergen also works with the World Health Organization, where her research since 2012 has focused on interventions within primary care to improve the sexual health of both adolescents and adults. She has evaluated, designed, and taught sexuality education for adolescents and young adults in Washington, D.C. and New York City.  Since 2014 Bergen has been researching the sexual and reproductive rights of women past reproductive age, and is widely considered an expert on gender-based violence and the sexual rights of older women. She is also the co-convener of a global network of nearly one hundred researchers on the Global Gag Rule. Learn more about Bergen's work here and find a recent interview with Bergen on pregnancy stigma here.

In this podcast, we reminisce about Salt-N-Pepa's groundbreaking songs about sex and HIV, and discuss the importance of recognizing stigma about sex across the life course, from adolescents to older age. Stigma around fertility (and infertility), pregnancy, abortion, and contraception are global issues. We talk about the continued need to talk about and remove the stigma surrounding sex, the need to critique public health messaging (using creative means including defacing signs when necessary), and the power of harnessing our various platforms to promote social change.

Find the SRHR Index we discussed here.

Episode hosted by Dr. Carmen Logie. Original music and podcast produced by Cozmic Cat. Supported by funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovationand Canada Research Chairs program.