Nigeria – Why are women still whispering about their bodies?

Women Empowering Women Initiative (WEWIN)
June 11, 2025

In Nigeria today, conversations about women’s bodies are still conducted in hushed tones. From menstruation to contraception, and especially when it comes to pregnancy decisions, silence and shame often shape the narrative. Behind closed doors, women talk. However, their needs are buried under stigma in public, policy, and healthcare settings.

This silence is not just cultural; it is deeply political. It affects how women access care, how they are treated when they seek help, and whether they live or die when faced with reproductive health crises. For many, the stakes of whispering are not just personal; they’re fatal.

Continued: https://businessday.ng/opinion/article/why-are-women-still-whispering-about-their-bodies/

11.06.2025

Women Empowering Women Initiative

Center to Defend Landmark Decision in Kenya Guaranteeing Abortion Access for Survivors of Sexual Violence

Anti-rights groups seek to overturn a 2019 judgment in the case of a 14-year-old girl who died as a result of an unsafe abortion in Kenya.

Center for Reproductive Rights
June 10, 2025

In 2019, the High Court of Kenya affirmed that the Kenyan Constitution guarantees survivors of sexual violence access to safe and legal abortion care. The historic decision came in a case brought by the Center for Reproductive Rights and its partners on behalf of the family of JMM, a 14-year-old girl who was sexually assaulted, became pregnant, and died from complications of an unsafe abortion.

The Center is expected to be at the Kenya Court of Appeal in the coming weeks to defend that judgment from anti-rights groups that are asking the Court to overturn it. In appealing the High Court’s decision in the case, FIDA-Kenya and others v. Attorney General and others, the Kenyan Christian Professional Forum and the Kenya Attorney General argue that abortion is not a constitutional right.

Continued: https://reproductiverights.org/jmm-fida-appeal-abortion-kenya/

10.06.2025

Commentary

Center for Reproductive Rights

High Court of Kenya

JMM

Kenya Court of Appeal

Kenyan Christian Professional Forum

Martin Onyango

Salima Namusobya

Standards and Guidelines for Reducing Morbidity and Mortality from Unsafe Abortion in Kenya

Unsafe abortions kill 13% of Lagos mothers – Gynaecologists raise alarm

4th June, 2025

Unsafe termination of pregnancy contributes up to 13% of maternal deaths in Lagos State, the Society of Gynaecology and Obstetrics of Nigeria (SOGON), Lagos Sector, disclosed during an advocacy visit to the Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, on Wednesday.

Led by former SOGON National President, Prof. Rotimi Akinola, and Lagos Sector Chairman, Prof. Abidoye Gbadegesin, the delegation outlined persistent challenges in maternal and neonatal mortality, calling for policy reforms and expanded professional involvement.

Continued: https://pmnewsnigeria.com/2025/06/04/unsafe-abortions-kill-13-of-lagos-mothers-gynaecologists-raise-alarm/#google_vignette

04.06.2025

Help a Mother & Newborn Initiative Launches SRHR Advocacy Campaign Amid Alarming Health Statistics in Liberia

June 3, 2025
By David A. Yates

Monrovia – In response to the growing threat of unsafe abortion and the need to raise awareness about Liberia’s revised Public Health Law, the Help a Mother & Newborn Initiative (HAMNI) has launched the “Echo Change Project” in Montserrado and Margibi counties.

The six-month initiative is a community-led advocacy and awareness campaign aimed at empowering youth and local communities to engage in informed discussions around Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR). The project places a strong focus on unsafe abortion and Liberia’s evolving legal framework.

Continued: https://frontpageafricaonline.com/news/help-a-mother-newborn-initiative-launches-srhr-advocacy-campaign-amid-alarming-health-statistics-in-liberia/#google_vignette

03.06.2025

News

Echo Change Project

Help a Mother & Newborn Initiative

Botswana – Abortion numbers remain high despite its illegality

Health professionals calls for an end on legalisation debate

3 Jun 2025
Mpho Mokwape

Debate on abortion has been a long standing issue with seemingly no end to the discourse whilst termination numbers reportedly continue to be high prompting health professionals to call for its legalisation.

Whilst Botswana legally permits feticide in certain circumstances within the first 16 weeks of pregnancy, unsafe abortions reportedly remain a threat to the mortality rate in the country, highlighting the need for improved access to safer abortion services.

Continued: https://www.pressreader.com/botswana/the-monitor-4753/20250603/281621016273483

03.06.2025

Enhancing reproductive health services through on-site mentorship in Kenya

01 June 2025

At the busy Kitengela Hospital of Kajiado County in Southern Kenya, nurses Jackline Tabo and Grace Nyangweso bring healing in the quiet rooms where life’s most fragile moments happen. They are proud participants in WHO Kenya’s on-site mentorship, an initiative that’s designed to enhance the quality of sexual and reproductive health services at the point of care.

The mentorship initiative was rolled out in high volume facilities across six counties—Kajiado, Samburu, Marsabit, Tana River, Laikipia, and Siaya between March and May 2025. From Oloitokitok Hospital at the foot of Mt Kilimanjaro to Korr Health Centre in the deserts of Marsabit County, the 12 highly skilled mentors were able to provide structured, hands-on training to over 300 healthcare workers, equipping them with clinical knowledge and skills on Family Planning and Post Abortion Care.

Continued: https://www.afro.who.int/countries/kenya/news/enhancing-reproductive-health-services-through-site-mentorship-kenya

01.06.2025

World Health Organization

Training helps improve abortion and contraceptive care in marginalized and humanitarian settings in Nigeria

Rachel Ogunlana, IPAS Nigeria
May 22, 2025

In the aftermath of humanitarian crises, many communities are forced out of their settlements, increasing their vulnerability. In such challenging environments, transactional sex for food is the norm, and consequently, increased instances of rape and forced marriages. The need for access to abortion and contraception services is critical in these settings. It’s also important that within healthcare facilities, healthcare workers are equipped to provide these services.

The Ipas Nigeria project, “Improving Reproductive Autonomy for Women and Girls in Nigeria”, addresses this need. It provides training to humanitarian and health care workers to offer responsive care to women and girls who have experienced sexual violence in humanitarian settings.

Continued: https://www.ipas.org/news/abortion-contraceptive-humanitarian-nigeria/

22.05.2025

Commentary

Improving Reproductive Autonomy for Women and Girls in Nigeria

Ipas Nigeria

manual vacuum aspiration

Unmuting abortion conversation in Kenya

Behind each statistic is a woman or girl navigating stigma or neglect by the systems meant to protect her

by DORIS OMAO
22 May 2025

In Kenya today, nearly 800,000 women make a silent, dangerous journey each year.

According to the recently released national report by the Ministry of Health, African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC), and the Guttmacher Institute, an estimated 792,694 induced abortions occurred in 2023, equivalent to 57 abortions per 1,000 women of reproductive age.

These numbers should jolt us into action. Behind each statistic is a woman or girl navigating misinformation, stigma, policy ambiguity, or outright neglect by the systems meant to protect her.

Continued: https://www.the-star.co.ke/opinion/2025-05-22-omao-unmuting-abortion-conversation-in-kenya

22.05.2025

Commentary

Abuja Declaration

African Population and Health Research Center

Center for Reproductive Rights

Why so many newborns and foetuses are abandoned in landfills and the veld

By Bhekisisa Team
May 19, 2025

They were wrapped in plastic or foil or a piece of clothing, tucked inside a backpack or pulled from a burnt pile of rubbish. Those were some of the ways the remains of newborns and foetuses were found before being taken to the Diepkloof Forensic Pathology Service in Soweto.

Although discoveries like these rarely make the news, they are a regular occurrence. The bodies are found in open veld, public toilets and landfills across South Africa.

To help figure out why, researchers from Wits University gathered data about the remains that landed up at the Diepkloof facility from 2020 to 2021 and in 2023. They hope by tracking where the bodies were found and the causes of death, they will better understand why so many women take desperate measures instead of seeking legal and safe abortions.

Continued: https://mg.co.za/health/2025-05-19-why-so-many-newborns-and-foetuses-are-abandoned-in-landfills-and-the-veld/

20.05.2025

Commentary

abandoned babies

abandoned fetuses

Diepkloof Forensic Pathology Service

Journalist to release film investigating sexual rights in Africa

by Mathew Palata
20 May 2025

Namibian journalist and African Union Media Fellow Tuyeimo Haidula is set to release a documentary delving into sexual and reproductive health rights.

Titled ‘Africa’s Life Saving Actions for Adolescents’, the documentary premieres on Africa Day, on 25 May, a day that celebrates the unity, resilience and progress of the continent.

She says the film delivers an urgent and necessary narrative that speaks to the future of African youth.

Continued: https://www.namibian.com.na/journalist-to-release-film-investigating-sexual-reproductive-health-rights-in-africa/

20.05.2025