NEW
YORK, May 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The
Sexual and Reproductive Justice (SRJ) Hub at the City University of New York Graduate School of
Public Health and Health Policy (CUNY SPH) has received
$500,000 in the New York State enacted FY2025 budget,
providing new and necessary support for its educational, scholarly,
and advocacy efforts.
The SRJ Hub at CUNY SPH represents the first coordinated effort
in New York State, and one of few
nationwide, to advance SRJ through a centralized academic unit that
emphasizes not only scholarship, but also leadership development
and advocacy. The SRJ Hub aims to take an innovative approach to
SRJ through solutions-oriented scholarship, leadership training,
and evidence-based advocacy that centers the lived experiences of
women of color and elevates and funds their and other marginalized
people's work.
SRJ is a longstanding framework that embodies the idea that the
health and well-being of all girls, women, and people who can
become pregnant are intrinsically linked to a variety of
intersecting factors, including socioeconomic inequities,
environmental justice, abortion rights, and access to sexual and
reproductive health services. The work underway at the SRJ Hub
reflects this holistic vision through its research training,
and advocacy efforts. This work has become even more urgent since
the overturning of Roe v. Wade and the subsequent erosion of
reproductive autonomy and rise of reproductive health injustices
that disproportionately burden people of color and marginalized
populations.
Over the course of her political career, Governor Hochul has
time and again championed programs and policies that protect
reproductive freedom and address the crisis in maternal and infant
morbidity and mortality, particularly among women and children of
color. She, along with Senator Cordell
Cleare, a supporter of the SRJ Hub, visited CUNY SPH last
Monday and reaffirmed her commitment to investing in the health and
well-being of women and children in New
York.
Many elected state officials in both the Assembly and the Senate
championed the SRJ HUB during the state budget process,
particularly Assemblymembers Jessica González-Rojas and
Deborah J. Glick.
"Support for the establishment of the SRJ hub at CUNY SPH in
Harlem is a bold move by the NYS Governor that will allow us to
cultivate the next generation of public health leaders committed to
ensuring the human right to bodily autonomy and reproductive
justice for all New Yorkers, especially the most minoritized and
marginalized women, femmes and girls," said Lynn Roberts, CUNY SPH Associate Dean for
Student Affairs and SRJ Hub founding faculty member.
"The generous support from Governor Hochul in this state budget
will empower us to grow our SRJ curriculum, hire staff,
provide seed funding for sexual and reproductive justice-focused
research, organize events, and expand our capacity for enabling
social media and other communications mechanisms on these critical
issues," said CUNY SPH Senior Associate Dean and SRJ Hub
founding faculty member Terry
McGovern. "With these funds, we are committed to
promoting reproductive autonomy, combating health disparities, and
fostering a future where every person has the right to make
informed decisions about their own bodies and lives."
"In these post-Roe times, we cannot stand by and witness the
steady disintegration of women's bodily autonomy and the calamitous
impact on maternal health outcomes," said NYS Senator
Cordell Cleare. "CUNY SPH's SRJ
Hub is already hard at work on education and advocacy efforts to
raise awareness and address the roots of reproductive health
disparities in New York."
"I was proud to lead the effort to advocate for funding for the
Sexual and Reproductive Justice Hub at CUNY SPH," said
Assemblymember Jessica
González-Rojas. "Reproductive rights are currently under
attack in this country, and we have to reinforce the freedoms and
health care justice protections in New
York State. When we invest in sexual and reproductive
justice, we are supporting essential health care and socioeconomic
stability for every New Yorker. Centering the rights, health care,
and well-being of all girls, women, and people who can become
pregnant, benefits everyone. This victory is a great step in the
right direction as we continue to address inequities facing
low-income people, women, and birthing people as well as people of
color."
"Resolving the health inequities facing LGBTQ individuals and
women and girls of color in New York
State is a top priority," said Assemblymember
Deborah J. Glick. "We are
ready to do all we can to ensure the rights of our constituents
to health, safety, and bodily freedom, and I am so pleased we
were able to direct funding to support this critical endeavor."
"The erosion of policies that protect sexual and reproductive
freedom is an increasingly urgent but too often overlooked matter
of public health, and one that magnifies longstanding racial,
gender and socioeconomic inequities," said CUNY
Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguez. "New York State's funding for
CUNY SPH and the Sexual and Reproductive Justice Hub will
greatly aid the school's mission-driven commitment to exposing and
mitigating these impacts. CUNY thanks Governor Hochul for
her consistent support of this University and investment
in the health of all New Yorkers."
"Our heartfelt thanks to Governor Hochul, and the many members
of the legislature including Senator Cleare and Assemblymembers
González-Rojas and Glick, who have been ardent supporters of CUNY
SPH's efforts to advance sexual and reproductive justice," said
CUNY SPH Dean Ayman El-Mohandes. "Kudos to Senior Associate
Dean Terry McGovern and Associate Dean Lynn Roberts for leading the
launch of the SRJ Hub, which aligns perfectly with our school's
social justice and health equity mission."
About CUNY SPH
The CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy
(CUNY SPH) is committed to promoting and sustaining healthier
populations in New York City and
around the world through excellence in education, research, and
service in public health and by advocating for sound policy and
practice to advance social justice and improve health outcomes for
all. sph.cuny.edu
Press contact:
Barbara Aaron
barbara.aaron@sph.cuny.edu
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