EMERJ

Research

EMERJ is conducting research to guide tool and training development, analysis, and strategy.

In the past 6 months, EMERJ has conducted research with over 30 organizations to help tell the story of the reproductive justice movement. The need for research to support the reproductive justice movement is huge. And we are excited to offer three research projects in 2008 that will make a contribution to the knowledge needed for all of us to do our work more efficiently and strategically. Look for the results in September!

Movement Building Research Reproductive Justice is inherently an intersectional movement. Because of this, the reproductive justice framework has a lot of potential to build alliances across issues, constituencies and movements. EMERJ has been in dialogue with organizations working at the intersections of reproductive justice, youth organizing, and immigrant and refugee rights to learn what groups are doing, what is working, and what challenges must be overcome. The lessons that we learn from the research will support the movement in continuing to build these critical alliances.

Policy Audit
Organizations across the country are working hard to change policies to support our families and communities and to stop policy efforts that seek to control our bodies, gender, sexuality through denying resources and criminalizing our families and communities. EMERJ is looking at several policy battles where grassroots organizations are building political power, shifting policy, and changing the ways these issues are talked about in our communities. Our Policy Audit will be one step forward in sharing the expertise and experience of reproductive justice groups and allies on the front lines of these battles.

Measuring the Impact of Reproductive Justice
The reproductive justice movement is relatively young. While our communities and organizations have been doing this work for decades, we are in a critical moment for defining what we do and the importance of our work. EMERJ is working with reproductive justice leaders, activists, and funders to help define and evaluate the contributions of reproductive justice to social change. Our hope is to support the movement in telling the story of what we are accomplishing and to develop tools to bring more resources in to the movement.