Action on the World Health Organization Consolidated guideline on sexual and reproductive health and rights of women living with HIV requires evidence-based, equity-oriented, and regionally specific strategies centred on priorities of women living with HIV. Through community–academic partnership, we identified recommendations for developing a national action plan focused on enabling environments that shape sexual and reproductive health and rights by, with, and for women living with HIV in Canada. Between 2017 and 2019, leading Canadian women’s HIV community, research, and clinical organizations partnered with the World Health Organization to convene a webinar series to describe the World Health Organization Consolidated guideline, define sexual and reproductive health and rights priorities in Canada, disseminate Canadian research and best practices in sexual and reproductive health and rights, and demonstrate the importance of community–academic partnerships and meaningful engagement of women living with HIV. Four webinar topics were pursued: (1) Trauma and Violence-Aware Care/Practice; (2) Supporting Safer HIV Disclosure; (3) Reproductive Health, Rights, and Justice; and (4) Resilience, Self-efficacy, and Peer Support. Subsequent in-person (2018) and online (2018–2021) consultation with > 130 key stakeholders further clarified priorities. Consultations yielded five cross-cutting key recommendations: 1. Meaningfully engage women living with HIV across research, policy, and practice aimed at advancing sexual and reproductive health and rights by, with, and for all women. 2. Centre Indigenous women’s priorities, voices, and perspectives. 3. Use language that is actively de-stigmatizing, inclusive, and reflective of women’s strengths and experiences. 4. Strengthen Knowledge Translation efforts to support access to and uptake of contemporary sexual and reproductive health and rights information for all stakeholders. 5. Catalyse reciprocal relationships between evidence and action such that action is guided by research evidence, and research is guided by what is needed for effective action. Topic-specific sexual and reproductive health and rights recommendations were also identified. Guided by community engagement, recommendations for a national action plan on sexual and reproductive health and rights encourage Canada to enact global leadership by creating enabling environments for the health and healthcare of women living with HIV. Implementation is being pursued through consultations with provincial and national government representatives and policy-makers.

Gender-based power dynamics within intimate relationships such as controlling behaviours are driven by inequitable gender norms that perpetuate intimate partner violence (IPV). Yet, the ways in which we understand and measure gender-based power dynamics focus on the relationships of monogamous, cisgender, white, heterosexual women. This paper outlines our process of planning and implementing a qualitative, youth-led, community-based research (CBR) study exploring how diverse youth with intersecting identities perceive existing measures of gender equity and understand gender equity based on their own relationships. Between August-November 2022, we used purposive sampling to recruit 30 gender-inclusive young women and non-binary youth aged 17–29 with diverse identities, who live in British Columbia (BC), and have recent experience in a non-heterosexual and/or non-monogamous relationship (within prior 12 months). Using CBR methods, we hired and trained three Youth Research Associates (YRAs) and convened a 10-member Youth Advisory Committee (YAC) comprised of youth aged 19–28 years with queer, trans, and/or non-monogamous identities and experiences to consult on all aspects of our study. YRAs conducted cognitive interviews using an interview guide co-developed and piloted in partnership with the YAC and YRAs. Cognitive interviews explored youth perceptions of gender equity and two gender equity measures widely used in health research today. Interview data will be analyzed collaboratively using intersectional descriptive and thematic analysis. Results from our CBR study will be used to make recommendations to advance gender equity measurement to be more inclusive of and applicable to a diversity of youth relationships, experiences, and identities.

In Canada, community and policy leaders have issued urgent calls to collect, analyze, and mobilize disaggregated data to inform equity-oriented initiatives aimed at addressing systemic racism and gender inequity, as well as other social inequities. This essay presents critical reflections from a national Roundtable discussion regarding how meaningful community engagement within academia–community–government research collaborations offers the opportunity to harness disaggregated data and advanced analytics to centre and address the priorities of equity-deserving and sovereignty-seeking groups. Participants emphasized four key priorities: (1) Building equitable and engaged partnerships that centre community-driven priorities and address structural barriers to community engagement; (2) Co-creating ethical data governance policies and infrastructure to support community data ownership and access; (3) Stimulating innovation and pursuing community involvement to create contextualized, advanced analyses and effective visualizations of disaggregated data; and (4) Building the capacity of all partners to effectively contribute to partnership goals. Capacity building was viewed as a bridge across a diversity of lived and professional expertise, enabling intersectoral research teams to collaborate in culturally safe and respectful ways. Beyond identifying key structural barriers impeding the promise of disaggregated data, we present practical opportunities for innovation in community-engaged scholarship to address social justice challenges in Canada.