What is Bodily Autonomy?
This activity should take you about 15 minutes to complete.
What does bodily autonomy mean to you? Think about the below words and phrases that relate to this concept and select the ones that you think are most important. Do some apply to you more than others? Can you think of other words you would add to the list?
Now, listen to the following 4 audio clips where people from different communities and backgrounds talk about what Bodily Autonomy means for them and the communities they belong to. Before you listen, be sure to read the biographical description of who each person is. As you listen try to see whether you can pick out any concepts or ideas that are common to most or all of their perspectives.
Kate McGrew is a performing artist, escort, and sex worker rights advocate. For 6 years she was Director of Sex Workers Alliance Ireland and sat on the board of European Sex Workers Alliance. As lady Grew, her stage shows and music lift up her community and send a message to society at large of the need for inclusion and respect. She is currently working on a memoir with Mercier Press
Listen to this clip of Kate talking about Bodily autonomy
Morrigan is nonbinary transfeminine and from Galway. They have been involved as a community advocate and an LGBTQ+ activist for over a decade, particularly focusing on equality and health rights issues. They currently serve as a policy officer for Trans Healthcare Action, a coordinator for the Progressing Trans Healthcare Coalition, an administrator of the Trans Éireann community group and is a founding member of the Professional Association for Trans Health Ireland.
Listen to this clip of Morrigan talking about Bodily autonomy
Naomi Connor (she/her) is the Co-Convener at Alliance for Choice Belfast and a practicing Doula with ‘Lucht Cabhrach – Abortion Companions’, who provide direct support to anyone in need of abortion healthcare. As co-author of ‘The Body Politic, her work is based around reproductive justice and intersectional feminism. Naomi designs, develops and delivers training and education materials aimed at creating greater awareness and understanding of reproductive rights, access and justice. Naomi is also a part time lecturer and works within the trade union movement delivering education on equality.
Listen to this clip of Naomi talking about Bodily autonomy
Kate, Morrigan and Naomi’s accounts bring to light the experiences that underlie the slogan ‘My Body, My Choice’.
For Kate, bodily autonomy is about being able to make choices, and even mistakes, in environments that are as safe as possible. For Morrigan, bodily autonomy is about being having the choice to live as your authentic self without being subject to violence or disrespect. Naomi describes being denied access to abortion in Northern Ireland as a denial of choice. Her choice not to have breast reconstruction after cancer was an assertion of her authentic self and of her bodily autonomy.
All three accounts stress the political nature of bodily autonomy. Laws, policies and social norms can either enable people to have bodily autonomy or deny people their bodily autonomy. When it fails to provide appropriate gender or reproductive health care, the state denies bodily autonomy. Criminalisation of sex work is also a denial of bodily autonomy. The denial of bodily autonomy is also a form of state control of coercion. Through laws and policies, states promote certain forms of sexual and gender expression and ideals of reproduction while denying those considered less desirable.
Now go to the next lesson : To be free to… I need to be free from!