Climate Change and Women’s Sexual and Reproductive Health: Gendered Impacts, Climate Justice, and Transformative Policy Responses

Climate change is increasingly recognized as a critical determinant of health, with far-reaching consequences for sexual and reproductive health and rights. However, its impacts are not experienced equally. Women and girls often face disproportionate burdens due to existing gender inequalities, unequal access to resources, social norms, and structural disadvantages that shape their exposure, vulnerability, and capacity to respond to climate-related challenges.

Extreme weather events, environmental degradation, food and water insecurity, forced migration, and humanitarian crises can disrupt access to essential sexual and reproductive health services, including contraception, maternal healthcare, safe childbirth services, and postnatal care. Climate-related disruptions may also contribute to increased risks of adverse pregnancy outcomes, menstrual health challenges, gender-based violence, psychosocial distress, and threats to reproductive autonomy. These impacts are often magnified among populations already experiencing social disadvantage, including adolescents, rural women, migrants, displaced populations, women with disabilities, and those living in low-resource settings. Furthermore, migrant workers, refugees, and asylum seekers frequently face severe barriers to sexual and reproductive healthcare in receiving nations, such as the United States and countries within the European Union, where legal, political, financial, and structural exclusions compound climate-related vulnerabilities.

Addressing these challenges requires moving beyond vulnerability-focused approaches toward a climate justice framework that recognizes the interconnected nature of environmental sustainability, gender equity, reproductive rights, and health. Integrating sexual and reproductive health into climate adaptation and mitigation strategies is essential for building resilient health systems and promoting equitable health outcomes. Equally important is the development of gender-responsive and gender-transformative policies that not only address women's immediate needs but also challenge structural inequalities, strengthen women's agency, and support their meaningful participation in climate governance and decision-making processes.

This Research Topic seeks to advance interdisciplinary knowledge on the relationships between climate change, gender equity, and women’s sexual and reproductive health. We welcome empirical, theoretical, methodological, policy-oriented, and intervention-based contributions that explore the gendered impacts of climate change, examine pathways to climate-resilient and equitable healthcare systems, and identify transformative strategies for promoting reproductive justice and health equity.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

• Climate change and maternal, newborn, sexual, and reproductive health outcomes
• Gendered impacts of climate-related disasters on women’s health and well-being
• Climate justice, reproductive justice, and health equity
• Reproductive autonomy and reproductive decision-making in the context of climate uncertainty
• Access to sexual and reproductive healthcare during environmental crises and disasters
• Climate-related displacement, migration, and reproductive health, including systemic and legal barriers to SRHR access for migrant workers, refugees, and asylum seekers in receiving countries (e.g., the U.S. and EU countries)
• Menstrual health and hygiene in climate-affected settings
• Gender-based violence and sexual and reproductive health during climate emergencies
• Climate change, fertility intentions, and family planning
• Health literacy, digital health literacy, and community resilience in climate adaptation
• Experiences of vulnerable and marginalized populations, including adolescents, rural women, migrants, refugees, and women with disabilities across both low-resource settings and high-income destination countries
• Nursing, midwifery, and community-based interventions addressing climate-related reproductive health challenges
• Gender-responsive and gender-transformative climate policies, as well as legal frameworks governing healthcare access for non-citizens
• Women’s leadership and participation in climate governance and environmental decision-making
• Integration of sexual and reproductive health into climate adaptation, mitigation, and resilience strategies
• Strengthening climate-resilient and equitable health systems
• Innovative technologies and digital solutions supporting reproductive healthcare during climate disruptions

By bringing together diverse disciplinary perspectives, this Research Topic aims to contribute to the development of evidence-informed policies, resilient health systems, and transformative solutions that promote gender equity, reproductive justice, and sustainable health futures in an era of climate change.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Classification
• Clinical Trial
• Community Case Study
• Curriculum, Instruction, and Pedagogy
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Classification
• Clinical Trial
• Community Case Study
• Curriculum, Instruction, and Pedagogy
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Policy and Practice Reviews
• Policy Brief
• Review
• Study Protocol
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: Climate Change, Sexual And Reproductive Health, Climate Justice, Gender Equity, Health Systems Resilience, Vulnerable Populations, Gender-Responsive Policy

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.