On November 10th 2015, Caroline De Schacht successfully defended her thesis ’Factors influencing mother-to-child transmission of HIV during pregnancy and breastfeeding in Mozambique'.

On 28 September, Peter Decat succesfully defended his doctoral thesis entitled: ‘Addressing the Unmet Contraceptive Need of Adolescents and Unmarried youth: Act or Interact? Learning from Comprehensive Interventions in China and Latin America’.

ICRH conducted a survey into the attitudes of hospitals in East Flanders towards the organisation of care for victims of sexual violence. The study, entitled ‘Towards a holistic approach to sexual violence: are reference centres a feasible and desirable model?, was financed by the Province of East Flanders. It revealed that a majority of the hospitals is in favour of a system of ‘reference centres’, in which integrated medical, psycho-social, legal and police assistance is centralized within specialized reference centres. This system appears to be more convenient for both care takers and victims.

ICRH offers research internship opportunities to postgraduates considering a career in reproductive health research. The program aims at exposing junior researchers to the various aspects of research with a focus on themes such as sexually transmitted infections, maternal and child health, sexual violence and family planning.

The ICRH Belgium activity report is available online. 2014 has proved to be another most fruitful year for ICRH.

Flemish development NGOs launch sensitization campaign on MDGs.

The practice of forced child marriages is also in Belgium a reality. Today, a seminar on this topic was organized by the Institute for the Equality of Women and Men, Plan Belgium and Ghent University’s research group International Centre for Reproductive Health (ICRH). "Many assume that this is an archaic practice, but this is not the case," said Liesbet Stevens, deputy director of the Institute. "We need a global strategy." ICRH is currently preparing a study on the topic and the Institute will soon present a national action plan to the different governments.

Le 24 mars prochain, l’ICRH, Plan Belgique et l’Institut pour l’égalité des femmes et des hommes organisent une journée d’étude consacrée aux mariages forcés, à destination de toute personne confrontée à cette problématique dans le cadre de son travail, ou dans son entourage. Une étude récente menée par l’ICRH démontre que la problématique des mariages forcés en Belgique n’est pas un sujet évident pour les professionnels. Lors de cette journée d’étude, plusieurs professionnels donneront des explications à ce propos et les résultats de l’étude seront présentés.

The annual ‘week of spring fever’, focusing on the quality of relational and sexual eductation, takes place from February 23rd until 27th 2015. This year special attention is given to homophobia which is often a consequence of rigid attitudes towards ‘masculinity’ and ‘femininity’ and towards ideas about how men and women should behave.

On February 13th at 5:30 p.m. Ms. Charlotte Warren will defend her PhD entitled: “Exploring the quality and effect of comprehensive postnatal care models in East and Southern Africa”.

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