Women’s Sexual Health on the go

Gynopedia website brings together information about contraception and emergency contraception, sexually transmitted infections, menstrual products, pregnancy and abortion all relevant to the city where the user is.

Set up by American Lani Fried, the collaborative website covers 77 countries, and she hopes to include more countries with continued contributions and additions. “I started Gynopedia because I couldn’t find anything like it,” she told The Independent.  “When I began preparing for my travels, I realised that I had no idea how I would get birth control in the 12 or so Asian countries that I planned to visit and that was just the tip of the iceberg. How about annual pap smears? What if I got pregnant? This lack of information has been a constant theme in my life and I assumed that many other women felt the same way. Time and time again, I have needed advice from local people and lacked an online resource. This made me enraged yet wildly inspired and so Gynopedia was born.”

Lani Fried also mentions the concerns over reproductive rights since Donald Trump became president of the United States as an incentive to create the service. “The Trump administration is attacking women’s reproductive rights, and it’s attempting to reverse years of hard-fought battles and social progress,” Lani says. “In this climate, it is crucial that people raise their voices and get involved. There are so many ways to do this, and one of the ways is to contribute information to Gynopedia. When people contribute to Gynopedia, they let people know about the laws and their reproductive rights. They let people know what options are available to them, how they can pay for these resources and who can help them. When women share wisdom and resources, we empower one another to fight for accessibility, affordability and choice.”