Senior Researcher

About Fòs Feminista

Fòs Feminista is as an intersectional feminist organization centered around the sexual and reproductive rights and needs of women, girls, and gender-diverse people. Led and governed by the Global South, Fòs Feminista works as an alliance of organizations in 40+ countries worldwide to advance sexual and reproductive health, rights, and justice. As the connecting fabric of this alliance, Fòs Feminista orchestrates transnational and transregional action, amplifies partners’ work, and promotes South-South learning and collaboration toward achieving common objectives.

Together with our partners, we provide access to sexual and reproductive health care, including contraception, abortion, and care for victims of gender-based violence, and we reach young people with comprehensive sexuality education. We recognize that the ability of women, girls, and gender-diverse people to make free and informed choices about sexual and reproductive lives, including to access safe and legal abortion, is central to their life plans and to achieving gender and reproductive justice. As such, we are at the forefront of advocating for sexual and reproductive health and rights from an intersectional lens in national, regional, and global spaces, coordinating with our partners to ensure that diverse experiences, priorities, and voices of the Global South are represented in these spaces.

Research Scope

There has been significant public and policy attention with regard to India’s declining sex ratio, accompanied by a perception that sex selection is the primary driver of this decline. The Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostics Techniques (PCPNDT) Act, 1994 includes guidelines for the use of technology to assess the health of the foetus and to detect foetal anomalies,  but its implementation has focused on preventing the misuse of these technologies for sex selection, as that was the primary driver for the law. Very little attention has been accorded to the use of prenatal testing for disability screening. To inform its programming and advocacy, Fós Feminsita is looking for a senior researcher to explore prenatal testing in the context of abortion and disability in India.

Key Deliverables

• Detailed design and outline for research.
• Literature review.
• Landscape analysis.
• Dissemination plan.

Responsibilities

• Support the development of a Feminist and Intersectional Analysis of the Prenatal Testing Eco System in the Context of Disability and Abortion Rights in India.
• Determine the role that laws like PCPNDT and/or other regulatory frameworks can play in ensuring adequate standard setting and ethical care.
• Assess need for additional evidence generation.

Qualifications, Knowledge, and Skills Requirements

• Deep knowledge of abortion and disability rights in India, and connections to relevant stakeholders.
• Fluency in English and Hindi.
• Outstanding oral and written communication skills and ability to write policy documents and analysis for a general audience.
• Broad working knowledge of and commitment to women’s and LGBTQI+ rights, sexual and reproductive health and rights, social justice, HIV and AIDS, non-discrimination and human rights.

Location: The location of this position is remote however, given the focus of this role, preference will be given to applicants based in India.

Compensation: USD$250-$300 per day based on experience.

Timeframe of Consultancy: June – August 2022

Equal Opportunity Employer Statement

Fòs Feminista is an equal opportunity employer dedicated to advancing sexual and reproductive rights and health and dismantling inequities from a feminist intersectional lens.  Reproductive justice, racial justice and diversity are driving forces for us.

Fòs Feminista provides equal opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to age, race, color, disability, national origin, religion, creed, gender, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital and partnership status, genetic information, veteran status or any other protected category under federal, state and local law.

At Fòs Feminista we continue to build an inclusive culture that encourages, supports and celebrates the diverse voices and experiences of our employees. We strongly encourage applications from all kinds of backgrounds to build a diverse workforce in which all social and minority groups are represented.

We thank all applicants for their interest, however only those candidates selected for interviews will be contacted.