Project description
A closer look at infertility care among Europe’s Sunni Muslims
Infertility affects approximately one in six people worldwide, regardless of gender. However, societal burdens often disproportionately impact women, particularly within the Muslim community. Islamic norms and beliefs influence healthcare decisions, sometimes leading to exclusion from healthcare systems. This is especially true for Muslim women seeking fertility treatments. Supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) programme, the HEMGEN project explores the intersection of religion, gender, and healthcare access. Specifically, it seeks to understand how Sunni Muslims in Europe navigate the delicate balance between medical science and religious authority concerning infertility treatments. Through empirical research in Oslo and Barcelona, HEMGEN aims to shed light on these complexities, offering insights into healthcare disparities among religious minorities.
Objective
Infertility is estimated to affect an average of 14% people worldwide. It is an issue that affects equally both men and women, although it is often associated with a women’s social burden and the case of Islam is not an exception. While religion influences Muslims’ health beliefs, behaviours and decisions, health providers are not always aware of cultural and religious preferences and norms. Thus, Islamic norms on health treatments can result in Muslim’s exclusion from the health care system, especially affecting Muslim women. This can especially impact issues on infertility and reproduction, which holds exceptional moral and social significance across religions. Through an innovative focus, this project aims to advance scientific knowledge about how Sunni Muslims in a minority context in Europe navigate between the authority of medical science and the authority of religion, and to what extent this affect their access to health care.. The project will provide empirical data and develop a theoretical framework based on gender studies, sociology of religion and anthropology of health literatures. This will be achieved by applying intersectional perspective and qualitative methodologies, consisting of semi-structured interviews with Health Professionals and Muslims who have had fertility treatments. The research will be conducted in two European cities: Oslo and Barcelona. Both cities have experienced a rapid increase in religious diversity in last decades but are different in their organisation of religious communities and of health systems. The comparison between the two cities will provide insights into differences among Sunni Muslims around negotiating health, religious and gender issues. This project will contribute to new avenues of investigation concerning the life conditions of Sunni Muslims in Europe and will develop new knowledge on health inequality that may be adapted for future research on other religious minorities or vulnerable groups.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- humanities philosophy, ethics and religion religions islam
- social sciences sociology demography fertility
- social sciences sociology anthropology
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
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Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
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Call for proposal
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Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2023-PF-01
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0167 Oslo
Norway
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