Research visit to the University of Sussex, the UK: a brief report
By: Marte E. S. Haaland
Date: 18.04.2024

I had the opportunity to visit CORTH and take part in their activities in April and May 2019. During this period, I was a PhD-candidate working on my research on Zambian abortion politics and the gap between law and access to abortion care. CORTH was an excellent space for me to present my ongoing research and get feedback, both from fellow PhD-candidates, and from the multidisciplinary team of senior researchers.

During my stay I also participated in a series of events that CORTH organized. Through participation in events about topics such as surrogacy or menstruation, I got input and perspectives that sparked new fields of interest within the field of reproductive health.

In relation to my visit, I also had the opportunity to write for the CORTH blog. I found it very interesting to write about abortion politics from a Norwegian context to an international audience. This experience motivated me to explore Norway’s abortion politics further, which I have done in a recent project about Norway’s legal and bureaucratic system for handling second-trimester abortions. I am currently working on developing this interest further in a project about the politics of second trimester abortions in a Scandinavian context.

An added value of visiting CORTH was getting to know and explore the city of Brighton. I enjoyed biking along the beach, exploring the shops and cafes in the lanes, and particularly the Bright Fringe festival with pop-up concerts in May.

My research group in Bergen, Norway, had recently initiated collaboration with Professor Maya Unnithan in 2019. My visit came about after Unnithan’s visit to Bergen the year before. I am pleased that my stay at CORTH was just the first of my colleagues in Bergen’s research stays at CORTH the following years.