Purvaja S. Kavattur
Purvaja S Kavattur (she/they) is a feminist researcher interested in the intersection of criminal law, reproductive rights, and gender justice. Her research has looked at the abortion experiences of transmasculine youth, as well as the influence that scientific literature plays in US abortion jurisprudence. She is currently analyzing the use and harm of predictive analytics in family policing, as well as the re-emergence of juvenile curfews laws.
Purvaja has worked alongside Columbia University’s Institute for the Study of Human Rights and the United Nation’s Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council. Wherein, she was the lead researcher on a menstrual health policy review across India, Kenya, Senegal and the United States. The policy review uncovered ways policies alleviate or further entrench menstrual stigma, shape budget allocations and service provision, and create mechanisms for governmental accountability.
Most recently Purvaja was the lead researcher at Pregnancy Justice, formerly the National Advocates for Pregnant Women. She led the documentation of the criminal arrests prosecutions and forced medical interventions on pregnant people under Roe v. Wade. She also organized amici and wrote public health arguments for amicus briefs in the following cases: Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization (Supreme Court of the United States); Manuela v. El Salvador (Inter-American Court of Human Rights); and briefs filed in Alabama, Arizona, California and Oklahoma state and federal courts.
Purvaja is currently a public interest law scholar at Northeastern University School of Law. She also holds a MSc in global health and population from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and a BSc (hons) in social policy and economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science.
When I first moved to the US and began learning more about reproductive rights (and the lack thereof) in this country and its history I came across “Women and Their Bodies – a course.” In a full-circle moment - I am very grateful that I now get to contribute to OBOS Today in this new era of reproductive rights.