ORWH - Understudied, Underrepresented, and Underreported Women Lecture Series
Date and Time
– July 16, 2019, 3:30 PM EDTReproductive Health Care for Incarcerated Women: Strategies for Promoting Justice Through Research Within an Overlooked Population
There are over 225,000 women in U.S. prisons and jails. Most of them are of reproductive age, and they are disproportionately women of color. Understanding their reproductive health outcomes and health care needs is essential for promoting equity and justice. Yet these issues are overlooked by many, including researchers. This presentation will review existing data about reproductive health among incarcerated women and strategies for conducting research that is attuned to the unique aspects of the carceral setting.
Carolyn Sufrin, M.D., Ph.D.
Associate Director, Johns Hopkins Center for Medical Humanities and Social Medicine
Assistant Professor, Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
Assistant Professor; Department of Health, Behavior and Society; Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Carolyn Sufrin, M.D., Ph.D., is a medical anthropologist and an obstetrician-gynecologist specializing in family planning at Johns Hopkins University. She is an assistant professor in the Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the Department of Health, Behavior and Society at the Bloomberg School of Public Health. Dr. Sufrin also serves as the associate director of Johns Hopkins Center for Medical Humanities & Social Medicine. She has worked extensively on reproductive health issues affecting incarcerated women, from providing clinical care in jail to research, policy, and advocacy. Her work is situated at the intersection of reproductive justice, health care, and mass incarceration, which she examines in her book, Jailcare: Finding the Safety Net for Women behind Bars. Dr. Sufrin was a Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women's Health (BIRCWH) Scholar, during which time she conducted the first prospective study to collect data on pregnancy outcomes in U.S. prisons.
Individuals with disabilities who need sign language interpreters and/or reasonable accommodation to participate in this event should contact Elizabeth Sekine at elizabeth.sekine@nih.gov and/or through the Federal Relay (1-800-877-8339).