What This Means
This research suggests that countries across Latin America and the Caribbean face a complex web of overlapping obstacles that prevent vulnerable populations from accessing sexual, reproductive, and maternal health services. Researchers interviewed 27 experts — including government officials, civil society representatives, and academics — from seven countries (Argentina, Colombia, Peru, Mexico, Guatemala, Jamaica, and Guyana) as well as regional organizations. Through these interviews, they identified four major categories of barriers: political challenges (such as lack of will and instability), policy implementation problems (like unstable funding and weak programs), data and evidence gaps, and direct service access barriers (including provider resistance and poor service quality).
The study found that marginalized groups — including indigenous communities, Afro-descendants, LGBTQI+ individuals, people with disabilities, older adults, and migrants — face the harshest consequences of these barriers, often experiencing discrimination and stigmatization that further limits their already constrained access to care. A particularly notable finding is that even when laws exist to protect reproductive rights, there is frequently a wide gap between what is legally guaranteed and what people can actually access in practice. In federal countries, uneven implementation of policies across regions compounds this problem.
This research suggests that advancing sexual and reproductive health in the region requires action on multiple fronts simultaneously — strengthening political commitment, securing stable funding, improving data collection systems, and addressing provider attitudes — rather than tackling any single issue in isolation. The findings are intended to help shape a regional research agenda that prioritizes the needs of the most vulnerable populations.