Supervisor: Dr Leigh-Ann Sweeney
Working Title of PhD: Irish Traveller Women’s Reproductive Citizenship: An Exploratory Study of Experiences and Knowledge
Description of Research
Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller (GRT) women continue to experience significant challenges and barriers in their sexual and reproductive health (SRH), in Ireland and internationally. Health systems have placed poor health outcomes onto Traveller, Roma, and other ethnic minority women, portraying their cultural practices as the problem, rather than acknowledging systemic shortcomings in care provision. This project focuses on Irish Traveller (hereafter, Traveller) women in Ireland, establishing how their rights and choices around reproduction are supported, or not, by current healthcare policies and services. Specifically locating Traveller women’s Reproductive Citizenship, it evaluates their autonomy and agency in conjunction with the production of health policy and practice. Using the Reproductive Citizenship framework, whereby the actualization of individual rights and freedoms informs sexual and reproductive lives with respect and dignity, it will emphasize reflexive, feminist, and participatory methods. This research seeks to engage and collaborate with Traveller women, further contextualizing Traveller women’s rights within transitional and reproductive justice studies. Acknowledging the importance of mutuality and contribution when conducting research with marginalized communities, the researcher, in collaboration with community gatekeepers, will establish the responsible forms of knowledge dissemination approaches which may be further utilized with and by the Traveller community. This project aims to develop a comprehensive and accessible piece of literature to inform studies of social policy, health policy, and health promotion, where the framework of Reproductive Citizenship may be further applied.
Seminar Presentations/Conference Presentations/Publications
Nudo, M. (2025, September 4) Irish Traveller Women’s Reproductive Citizenship: An Exploratory Study of Experiences & Intervention , British Society for Population Studies’ Annual Conference, Critical Demography and Novel Methodological Approaches, Swansea University.
Nudo, M (2025, June 4) Re-Conceptualizing Community-Driven Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) Interventions for Gypsy, Roma, and Irish Traveller (GRT) Women in Ireland , British Sociological Association BSA Human Reproduction Study Group Webinar Series, University of Birmingham’s Health Services Management Centre.
Nudo, M (2025, May 20) The Othered: Gypsy, Roma, and Travellers (GRT) in Ireland & Participatory Health Policy and Training, Global Intersections: Communication and Resilience Across Borders, Trinity College Dublin centres for Global Intercultural Communications, Forced Migration Studies, and Resistance Studies.
Nudo, M (2024, December 5) Intersectional Approaches to Understanding Sexual and Reproductive Health Education Disparities , CRN & UCD CHilD-RC Annual Conference 2024 December 5th, themed: Navigating Current and Emerging Challenges for Children and Younge People.
Publications encompass articles in Eurasiatique (2023, 2022) addressing refugee care during COVID-19 in Greece, vaccine accessibility for asylum seekers in Germany, and historical analyses of medical innovation. Collectively, these scholarly activities align with the overarching goal of promoting equitable, community-driven policy reforms in under-served populations.