Background
Our Bodies Ourselves started as a group of women in the Boston area who, in 1970, published the classic women’s health book of the same name on sexual and reproductive health. Today, Our Bodies Ourselves is a volunteer-led nonprofit that advocates for women’s health and social justice. Over the years, resources based on the book have been adapted into 33 languages with impact across the globe.
Reaching communities
Our Bodies, Ourselves has been a tool for health education, advocacy and community-based work. It has inspired 33 translations and cultural adaptations, and has provided the foundation for training of community health workers and other health workers. Nuestros Cuerpos, Nuestras Vidas and the Guía de Capacitación para Promotoras de Salud are examples of such tools to promote health and self-advocacy.
An enduring voice
Our Bodies Ourselves continues to be a powerful voice and an authoritative source of evidence-based information on sexual and reproductive health through its online resources. In partnership with Suffolk University Center for Women’s Health and Human Rights, Our Bodies Ourselves is building an online platform–Our Bodies, Ourselves Today–to provide all genders and identities with the most up-to-date, trustworthy and inclusive information about health, sexuality and well-being.
The work that a group of young advocates initiated at a women’s liberation conference in 1969 continues to be vital in 2021. In our current socio-cultural, political and health care climate, the experiences of all genders and identities need to be brought to the center of policy, advocacy and public health. This is the enduring legacy of Our Bodies, Ourselves.
Dr. Zobeida Bonilla is a Center faculty member and an Associate Professor in the Division of Epidemiology and Community Health at the University of Minnesota (UMN) School of Public Health. Her work focuses on issues related to global health, women’s health, pregnancy health education among Latinos/as/Latinx communities and health disparities. Dr. Bonilla is known among students for teaching PUBH 6630, Foundations of MCH Leadership, the main MCH course for MCH graduate students. She also serves as affiliate faculty with the UMN Department of Chicano & Latino Studies, Gender, Women and Sexuality Studies and the Interdisciplinary Center for the Study of Global Change.
Looking for TA?
Contact Sara Benning at mch at umn.edu.