What Louisiana’s abortion ban means for sex workers and the rest of us

By Tracey Anne Duncan
November 4, 2020

As we all drown in the uncertainty of the presidential race, one thing is becoming abundantly certain: Our reproductive rights are under attack. Last night, Louisiana passed an amendment which says that the state’s constitution does not protect a person’s right to abortion or in any way allow public funding of abortion. I asked sex workers to explain what this abortion amendment means for them — and the rest of us. People who work in the sex industry tend to be better informed about the laws and policies that govern our bodies and sexual behavior than basically everyone and are also often more comfortable speaking candidly — and with deep insight — about controversial topics.

Continued: https://www.mic.com/p/what-louisianas-abortion-ban-means-for-sex-workers-the-rest-of-us-41684900

04.11.2020

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India’s Liberal Abortion Law, Nullified by Social Stigma

India’s Liberal Abortion Law, Nullified by Social Stigma

By Stella Paul

NEW DEHLI, Apr 14 2020 (IPS) - Arti Zodpe is from the Tamasha (folk dance-drama) theatre in Sangli, in India’s Maharashtra state. After evening performances, some of the singers and dancers offer sex work services to the audience.

“We [Tamasha sex workers] live outside of the city as people feel disturbed by the sound of our ghunghroo [anklet bracelets with bells] and music. When we go to the city, especially to a sex health clinic, the staff say, ‘so you have come to spread your filth here’. If we get an abortion, they make us clean the floor afterwards,” she had said at a recent gathering of doctors and abortion rights experts.

Continued: https://www.ipsnews.net/2020/04/india-liberal-abortion-law-nullified-social-stigma/

“It was a bad experience” – Emeka Nwankwo explores the struggle to get a safe abortion in Nigeria

“It was a bad experience” – Emeka Nwankwo explores the struggle to get a safe abortion in Nigeria

September 12, 2018
by Mazi Emeka

Editor’s Note:

When Emeka Nwankwo approached us with his investigation into abortions in Lagos, he expressed some worry that as a male journalist, there would be glaring realities he would miss in his coverage of how abortion laws in Nigeria affect the country’s most disenfranchised. But it was a reality that needed to be explored, and the sobering conclusions we reach in the end of our investigation is worth the leap of faith. We hope it gives every reader a little more nuance on an incredibly complex subject.

WHO BEARS THE PAIN OF AN ABORTION?

Pain is a raging flame that consumes the entire body. It spreads, like fireworks, from the point of origin to every other place. And if you are a young woman, with no one to hold your hands as you lie on a gurney in an illegal clinic somewhere in Oshodi, legs spread apart and knees bent, handled by a female doctor, probing within you via your genitals, then the pain is as physical as it is emotional.

Continued: https://ynaija.com/it-was-a-bad-experience-emeka-nwanko-explores-the-struggle-to-get-a-safe-abortion-in-nigeria/

Ensure sex workers in India have access to sexual reproductive health services

Ensure sex workers in India have access to sexual reproductive health services
We must ensure that every woman receives SRH services she needs — without being shamed or judged. No country will be fully developed unless all its women are safe and healthy

Jun 08, 2018
Sonal Mehta and Shamnu Rao

Geeta, 18, (name changed) came to Delhi hoping to support her impoverished family, back in her village in Uttar Pradesh. She did not anticipate that the man who promised her employment would sell her into sex work. When she approached the nearest health facility for an abortion, the doctor on learning of her occupation denied her services. Although she was not a minor, he asked for her parents’ consent, citing that she was unmarried. While the abortion was eventually provided when a local community leader intervened, Geeta realised that she and other women in sex work would always struggle to access safe abortion services.

The consequences of the lack of access to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services can be dire for women.

Continued: https://www.hindustantimes.com/opinion/ensure-sex-workers-in-india-have-access-to-sexual-reproductive-health-services/story-RVTvzu1CealCKvwi8j3WxH.html