The Our Bodies Ourselves Global Initiative

Ever since the first English edition of “Our Bodies, Ourselves” was published in 1970, the book has been translated and adapted into many different languages. As far back as 1974, publishers and women’s organizations in Europe sought to use it as a resource for their countries, resulting in eight different translations across Europe.

Projects later followed in Russia, Egypt, South Africa, China, Japan and Israel, many of which moved away from commercially produced direct translations to resources that were adapted by women who lived in the communities where the materials were created.

Over the years, the Our Bodies Ourselves global partners have held three in-person gatherings to share their experiences adapting the book and to learn from each other. The meetings took place in 2001, 2002, and 2011. Read more about these gatherings.

As of January 2026, resources based on “Our Bodies, Ourselves” have been developed in 34 different languages. Nossos Corpos por Nós Mesmas, a Portuguese Brazilian adaptation, and Mon Corps Mon Choix, a Moroccan adaptation in French and Arabic, were published in 2023. The most recent project, released in March 2025, is "Corps accord – Fertilité, grossesse et parentalité" (which translates to "Body Consent – Fertility, Pregnancy, and Parenthood") by La CORPS féministe in Québec.

Excerpts from 24 of these resources are available online in multiple languages, including Arabic, Bangla, French, Hebrew, Kiswahili, Brazilian Portuguese, and Russian.

Through their publications and outreach, the Our Bodies Ourselves global partners have reached millions of people with information on reproductive health, sexuality, and human rights, and given people the skills to translate this information into action.