News

December 17 marks the International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers and is observed annually by sex workers, their advocates, friends, families, and allies. The day calls attention to hate crimes committed against sex workers worldwide as well as the need to remove the social stigma and discrimination that have contributed to violence against…

According to the World Health Organization, 25% of women in the European region experience physical and/or sexual violence by intimate partners at some point of their life, and 5% experience sexual violence from people who are not their partners. On the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, we want to remind our…

This year’s UNFPA State of World Population Report focuses on adolescents and youth inherent human rights. The Report mentions that emergency contraception (EC) is something that adolescents particularly need because they use relatively ineffective methods, do not use contraceptive at all, or are more susceptible to coerced sex. How ever, youth access to EC is…

In contrast to the stories of EC refusal we’ve been hearing about in Poland, recent stories of EC refusal in Italy have been met with legal action and consequences. In the province of Pavia, a nurse has resigned following an investigation by the hospital she worked at into why she denied EC access to two…

The International Consortium for Emergency Contraception shared an updated summary of studies on the theme of safety of EC pills in ongoing pregnancies. We hope you find it useful for your work. “Evidence continues to accrue confirming that emergency contraceptive pills (ECPs) do not harm a developing fetus if they are mistakenly taken early in an…

A pilot study by L. Michie, et al. entitled “Pharmacy-based interventions for initiating effective contraception following the use of emergency contraception: a pilot study” was recently published in Contraception. This study, conducted in Scotland, aimed to determine the feasibility of a larger study designed to ascertain if pharmacy-based interventions can increase the uptake of effective contraception…

According to Polish law, EC can be prescribed by any primary care doctor to any woman who needs it. A journalist in Poland, Agata Diduszko-Zyglewska, undertook an experiment to try and obtain EC in public health care centers with the aim of exposing how many doctors prefer to break the law and professional ethics’ rules…

Upon request by the manufacturer of ulipristal acetate emergency contraception (UPA EC) pills, the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use of the European Medicines Agency will consider a proposed change in the classification for supply of UPA EC pills from “medicinal product subject to medical prescription” to “medicinal product not subject to medical prescription”…

As many of you know, the European Consortium for emergency contrantraception (ECEC) brings together a group of individuals and organizations committed to increasing access to and knowledge of emergency contraception in Europe. ECEC works with the support of an organization that hosts the Consortium, making it possible for us to operate. Since its inception in…

A study by Cristina Trilla, Raquel Senosiain, Joaquim Calaf, and Juan José Espinós entitled “Effect of changes to cost and availability of emergency contraception on users’ profiles in an emergency department in Catalunya” was recently published in The European Journal of Contraception and Reproductive Health Care. The study examined whether free-of-charge EC access within the Public Health System,…

A study by Charles Picavet, Ineke van der Vlugt, and Ciel Wijsen entitled “Intention to use emergency contraceptive pills and the role of knowledge in a Dutch national sample” was recently published in the The European Journal of Contraception and Reproductive Health Care. The study examined whether increased knowledge of ECPs among Dutch women increased their intention…