Feminist Activism in the Context of Clinical Trials and Drug Roll-Out

Abstract

In 2006, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Gardasil, a Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccine, for the purposes of stopping the spread of HPV, a primary cause of cervical cancer. While its development and approval were largely seen as necessary steps forward for women’s health, feminist movements in both the United States and India took a critical posture toward the vaccine. Their reactions derived from a shared skepticism of how knowledge is produced and diffused by federal agencies and pharmaceutical companies about women’s bodies. Using the HPV vaccine as an example, this chapter examines the role of feminists in bioethical debates about the production of knowledge about women’s bodies and the politics of vaccine roll-out.