“Data is justice,” said Onikepe Owolabi, Guttmacher’s Vice President for International Research. That philosophy drives her work overseeing Guttmacher’s global research, which includes direct partnerships with national governments, universities and NGOs across the Global South. “What we really want to do is transform the lives of women on the ground. We want their voices to be represented in how their governments design and shape health systems.”
Since its founding, Guttmacher has been partnering with locally based legislators, academics and health care providers in countries around the world. For Owolabi, that is a privilege. “We design our in-country research in collaboration with the people who live and work in those settings to identify the knowledge gaps in their country. We get the opportunity to understand how people’s reproductive and sexual lives shape their day-to-day life,” she said. “It’s personal.”
This on-the-ground work with local partners has allowed Guttmacher to support the expansion of access to sexual and reproductive health care for millions of women. Owolabi pointed to dozens of examples. In Ethiopia, Guttmacher’s 2008 and 2014 studies revealed a high rate of maternal morbidity from unsafe abortions. Guttmacher researchers worked in partnership with the Ethiopian government and other NGO partners, such as Ipas, to turn the data into policy: embedding protections into the health system, expanding access for adolescents and conducting research to track changes in health outcomes. Subsequent studies have shown positive impact, with the morbidity rate declining.
“Without data, we can’t see progress when countries expand access [like in Ethiopia]. Data can make the progress visible. Lack of data gives governments a legitimate reason to neglect topics like SRHR [sexual and reproductive health and rights],” said Owolabi.
Currently, Guttmacher is conducting country-specific research in 14 countries. Owolabi feels this is some of the most impactful work that Guttmacher does. She talks about her home country of Nigeria, where abortion is severely restricted and is only allowed in order to save the life of the pregnant woman. Guttmacher partnered closely with the Nigerian Ministry of Health on an influential abortion incidence study released in 2012. Later, one of the academic partners who worked with Guttmacher on the study became the country’s Minister of Health. That led to Nigeria producing guidelines that clearly outline how women can safely access legal abortions, while also expanding access to postabortion care, serving many more women who seek out the procedure outside of legal pathways.
