Women of colour endure discrimination in Austria’s gynecological care

Women with a migration background may be receiving wrong information about reproduction

Written by Fausia A.
Posted 8 April 2021

Abortion is legal in Austria within the first three months of pregnancy after consultation with a doctor. And every year, around 30,000 abortions are performed in Austria. Women of colour make up for more than a third of those who undergo an abortion, and nearly half of them were not born in Austria. Why is this?

According to a report by Austrian gynecologist Dr. Christian Fiala, 40 per cent of immigrants use effective prevention methods in comparison to 58 per cent of people born in Austria. It is considered the first, and to date, the only, representative study on the topic of sexuality and prevention in Austria for people aged between 16 and 49 years old.

Continued: https://globalvoices.org/2021/04/08/women-of-colour-endure-discrimination-in-austrias-gynecological-care/


In Austria, a unique museum in the world dedicated to contraception and abortion

by Bhavi Mandalia 
September 28, 2020

The Austrian capital is home to a museum that is unique in the world: that of contraception and abortion. This little private museum was created in 2007 by gynecologist Christian Fiala who practiced in several African countries before settling in Vienna. He started from a simple observation: the history of contraception and that of abortion remain unknown for many.

Christian Fiala therefore decided to collect various objects that he exhibits by contextualizing them to allow visitors to better understand their fertility in order to better protect themselves.

Continued: https://pledgetimes.com/in-austria-a-unique-museum-in-the-world-dedicated-to-contraception-and-abortion/


Austria – Vatican women’s team refuses to play after anti-abortion protest

Vatican women’s team refuses to play after anti-abortion protest

Published June 23, 2019

The newly formed Vatican women’s team called off a friendly football match in Vienna after several Austrian players protested the church’s anti-abortion stance, an Austrian football official said Sunday.

The Vatican side, which was founded this year, refused to play Saturday after three Austrians lifted their shirts to reveal pro-choice messages painted on their stomachs and backs when the anthems were played before kick-off, said Ernst Lackner, chairman of Vienna’s Mariahilf team.

Continued: https://punchng.com/vatican-womens-team-refuses-to-play-after-anti-abortion-protest/


Germany’s medical system sidelines abortion

Germany's medical system sidelines abortion
Abortion doctors can be hard to find in Germany. In some cities there are none, and their number appears to be declining, while medical schools often fail to teach the procedure so crucial to women. Papayas help a bit.

Date 11.05.2018
Author Nancy Isenson

Around 101,200 abortions were performed in Germany in 2017, or 277 each day. It's not exactly a rare procedure. Which is why future doctor Alicia Baier was disturbed to find that abortion played virtually no role in her studies at Berlin's Charité university medical school.

"In six years of studies, in which we learn many details that we will not need later, we learn almost nothing about such an important intervention," she says.

Continued: http://www.dw.com/en/germanys-medical-system-sidelines-abortion/a-43702057


MUVS Photography Competition: Stock Photos on Abortion


MUVS Photography Competition: Stock Photos on Abortion

Dec 28, 2017

Abortion is still a taboo: The topic is annoying, polarizing, stigmatizing, and even criminalizes women. Media coverage on abortion represents a one-sided visual language for a simple reason: Little to no useful stock photo material is available to depict the reality of this part of life. Therefore, MUVS Vienna is reaching out to obtain photographs that illustrate the critical situation of a woman (or couple) with an unwanted pregnancy in a realistic way. Photographers are invited to grapple with the difficult topic of unwanted pregnancy and abortion in a creative way. MUVS wants this competition to contribute in a useful and important way to the further destigmatisation of abortion.

There was a lot of positive, appreciative feedback, and the images submitted illustrate just how heterogeneous the theme is. A four-person jury, from the fields of journalism, photography, art and medicine selected the three main prize winners and awarded an additional three commendation prizes.

The winner of our photo competition, Christina Lag-Schröckenstein, together with her model, Veronika, was presented with her prize in a low-key event at the MUVS. The photographer saw it as a challenge to approach with sensitivity and understanding a competition whose intention it was to objectively illustrate the life circumstances of women affected by unwanted pregnancies, and to thus create a counterpoint to the so far one-sided portrayal of this topic in the media. The photographer made it her goal to depict a self-aware woman who reaches her decisions autonomously and without any outside influence. An undertaking she succeeded in, and which was appreciated by the four people on the jury.

The winning photos and further information can be found at http://abortion-pictures.info/en/.

Source: http://en.muvs.org/museum/muvs-photography-competition/


Winning Abortion Photos Available for Free Use

Winning Abortion Photos Available for Free Use
Dec 28, 2017
Christina Lag-Schrockenstein 1st prize MUVS-Vienna

The Museum of Contraception and Abortion in Vienna, known as MUVS, has announced the winners of its abortion photo contest.

Ten winning photographs on abortion are available for free use in illustrating stories and articles on abortion and unplanned pregnancy. These stock photos were selected to expand the exceedingly limited visual vocabulary that is seen in public imagery, as described in an earlier blog.

Continued at source: https://wordsofchoice.blogspot.ca/2017/12/winning-abortion-photos-available-for.html


This Boat Sails Women Into International Waters To Give Abortions

This Boat Sails Women Into International Waters To Give Abortions
“Abortion is a matter of social justice.”

By Sarah Ruiz-Grossman
May 05, 2017

A tiny nonprofit is bringing major attention to some countries’ restrictive reproductive health laws by delivering abortion pills to women ― in international waters.

Dutch group Women on Waves navigates its 36-foot sailboat to the coasts of countries that restrict abortion, brings women aboard, and sails them into international waters to give them abortion pills for free. Women on Waves steers its passengers more than 12 miles off the coast, where the boat operates under the laws of its country’s flag ― Austria, which allows abortion during the first three months of pregnancy.

Continued at source: Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/women-on-waves-abortion-boat_us_590b8338e4b0d5d9049a857c


Project: On Abortion by Laia Abril

Project: On Abortion by Laia Abril

Written by Izabela Radwanska Zhang
Published on 4 May 2017

Every year, some 47,000 women die from backstreet abortions because of a lack of legal or free access: in her project, Abril shows the after-effects of this experience. This article was first published in the May issue of BJP

Laia Abril is no stranger to themes of distress. Bulimia, coping with the death of a child, the asexual community, virtual sex-performer couples – these are all topics that the Barcelona-based photographer has explored and attempted to demystify with her multi-layered, story-based practice. The subjects she tackles are complex and provocative, but ones she is able to connect with by way of female empathy, “where I can be involved emotionally”, she says.

Continued at source: http://www.bjp-online.com/2017/05/project-on-abortion-by-laia-abril/


Abortion news stories ‘criminalise’ women by using images of baby bumps

by Serina Sandhu, iNews
Tuesday December 6th 2016

Women are being “criminalised” in stories about abortions because the media continues to use images of advanced baby bumps to illustrate them, say campaigners. This does not acknowledge that many abortions take place far earlier in the pregnancy or what women are going through, they argue.

The “totally inappropriate” images journalists used in their stories gave the wrong impression of abortion and associated it with murder, said Dr Christian Fiala, a specialist in obstetrics and gynaecology at the Museum of Contraception and Abortion (MUVS) in Vienna. He is spearheading the museum’s competition to find more appropriate stock imagery for the media to use, in the hope that it will further remove the stigma surrounding abortions.

The aim is to create a free photo collection of images that will illustrate “the critical situation of a woman (or couple) with an unwanted pregnancy in a realistic way”. The museum already provides images of gestational sacs and abortion pills, that are free to use.

[continued at link]
Source: iNews


MUVS Photography Competition: Stock Photos on Abortion

rebecca-bauchStock Photos on Abortion

The topic of abortion is still being exploited in public discourse: Polarizing and stigmatising media coverage patronizes and even criminalizes women. The media represents a one-sided visual language that projects a wrong impression of abortion and the circumstances of women affected by unwanted pregnancy.

The initiative „Stock Photos on Abortion“ aims to change this: Starting now, it will begin to provide a free photo collection for media and/or public use. The photos will illustrate the critical situation of a woman (or couple) with an unwanted pregnancy in a realistic way. MUVS wants this initiative to contribute in a useful and important way to the further destigmatisation and decriminalisation of women with unwanted pregnancy and of abortion.

Since little to no useful stock photo material is currently available, the initiative starts with a call for the „MUVS Photography Competition: Stock Photos on Abortion“ – all interested photographers, professionals and amateurs are invited to participate! Entry deadline: March 31st 2017.

—> MUVS Photography Competition

—> Free Stock Photo Material on Abortion

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Source: Museum of Contraception and Abortion