Pressure, peer influence driving unsafe abortions

July 13, 2024
By Gift Oba

Every day, Rasheedat, 34 years, is reminded of the path she chose 10-years ago when she decided to have an unsafe abortion.

Filled with guilt and agony, the Business Administration graduate from the Moshood Abiola Polytechnic Abeokuta, Ogun State, wonders if she will ever be able to bear children.

Recounting her experience to DAILY POST, Rasheedat disclosed how fear of being mocked, rejected and abandoned by her family drove her to seek an unsafe abortion.

Continued: https://dailypost.ng/2024/07/13/pressure-peer-influence-driving-unsafe-abortions-experts/

Building Evidence to Combat Sexual Violence and Unsafe Abortions in Nigeria

Oluomachukwu Omeje, Nigeria Health Watch
July 5, 2024

At this very moment, somewhere around the world, a woman or girl is experiencing some form of sexual violence. This devastating infringement on human rights can have dire consequences on the health and well-being of these women and girls regardless of their age and socio-economic backgrounds.

Such health consequences can be acute, chronic and sometimes deadly with even more grim outcomes like unintended/unwanted pregnancy, and abortions/unsafe abortions.

Continued: https://nigeriahealthwatch.medium.com/building-evidence-to-combat-sexual-violence-and-unsafe-abortions-in-nigeria-71c71608477c

Nigeria – Voices unheard: Tales of stigma, suffering of women seeking abortion

June 28, 2024
by Adekunle Yusuf

Across Nigeria, abortion remains a taboo subject, cloaked in stigma and silence in both northern and southern regions. Beyond the veil lies a stark reality: women face profound emotional scars, societal stigma and life-threatening risks due to heavily regulated and often unsafe procedures. Associate Editor ADEKUNLE YUSUF delves into the harsh realities of women’s experiences, navigating Nigeria’s complex cultural, religious and legal landscape, highlighting the urgent need for reforms to ensure safe and accessible healthcare for all women.

Ada’s story begins in the bustling city of Lagos, where the vibrant energy of the metropolis belies her inner turmoil. At 24, Ada found herself pregnant and unprepared, caught in the throes of an unplanned pregnancy with her boyfriend, who quickly vanished upon hearing the news. “I felt like I was drowning,” Ada recalls, her voice a fragile whisper. “Everywhere I turned, there was judgment, and no one to turn to for help.”

Continued: https://thenationonlineng.net/voices-unheard-tales-of-stigma-suffering-of-women-seeking-abortion/

Nigeria – Lawyers seek advancement of reproductive health rights to curb maternal mortality

By Ijeoma Thomas-Odia
08 Jun. 2024

The World Health Organisation (WHO) deems unsafe abortion as one of the preventable causes of maternal mortality as statistics indicate that it accounts for almost a third of maternal mortality in Nigeria, hence the urgent need for the advancement of reproductive health rights in Nigeria.

This was the focus at an exploratory retreat for legal practitioners on Strategic Litigation for Sexual and Reproductive Heath Rights (SRHR) in Nigeria organized by the Centre for Human Rights and Faculty of Law, University of Lagos, in collaboration with the Centre for Reproductive Rights USA, Regional Office, Kenya.

Continued: https://guardian.ng/guardian-woman/lawyers-seek-advancement-of-reproductive-health-rights-to-curb-maternal-mortality/

08.06.2024

News

Adegbite Folasade

Centre for Human Rights

Dr Abiola Afolabi

Dr. Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi

Ike Bolodeoku

Strategic Litigation for Sexual and Reproductive Heath Rights

World Health Organisation

Blurring the lines – The stark reality of safe abortion access in Nigeria

In Nigeria, accessing safe abortion care is a contentious issue fraught with myths, misconceptions, and misinformation that often obscure the reality of sexual and reproductive healthcare.

April 22, 2024

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), about 73 million abortions take place worldwide every year. Worldwide, an estimated 22 million abortions continue to be performed unsafely each year, resulting in the death of an estimated 47,000 women and disabilities for an additional five million women with 29% of all pregnancies ending in an induced abortion. Almost every one of these death and disabilities could have been prevented through sexuality education, family planning, and the provision of safe, legal induced abortion and care for complications of abortion.

Continued : https://www.premiumtimesng.com/promoted/688183-blurring-the-lines-the-stark-reality-of-safe-abortion-access-in-nigeria.html

22.04.2024

World Health Organisation

It’s Time to Recognize Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare Providers as Human Rights Defenders

Around the world, frontline reproductive healthcare workers are facing physical and verbal abuse, public shaming and humiliation, harassment, legal threats, death threats, sexual assault and rapes—simply for doing their jobs.

Jan 9, 2024
by VICTORIA BOYDELL and KATE GILMORE

Around the world, frontline healthcare workers defending our right to sexual and reproductive healthcare services are under vicious attack from anti-rights actors.

In the horn of Africa, one district health official who has been providing sexual and reproductive health services for 15 years described the attacks he faces from local conservatives: “They tried to even shoot me because of the belief and the values that I had … I had provided family planning service[s] in my district. They said, ‘You are a genocider.’”

Continued: https://msmagazine.com/2024/01/09/sexual-health-abortion-healthcare-providers-violence-threats-abuse/

Nigeria – Importance Of Implementing Effective Family Planning Programme After Childbirth

By Chioma Umeha
Jan 5, 2024

The importance of implementing an effective family planning programme after childbirth cannot be overstated. It is crucial to ensure the well-being of both the mother and the child.

By providing access to comprehensive family planning services, individuals can make informed decisions about their reproductive health and plan for the future.

This not only promotes the physical and emotional health of the family but also contributes to the overall development and stability of society.

Continued: https://independent.ng/importance-of-implementing-effective-family-planning-programme-after-childbirth/

Addressing High Maternal Mortality and Newborn Deaths in Lesotho

20 December 2023

Maternal Mortality remains a key issue affecting women of reproductive age across the African Region. The current Maternal Mortality Ratio for Lesotho is 566/100,000 live births. This is categorized as very high and is above the regional average of 545/100,000 live births

To address the high maternal and neonatal mortalities in Lesotho, the technical expert for Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child, and Adolescent Health (RMNCAH) and Ageing of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Multi-Country Assignment Team (MCAT) had an in-country engagement in Lesotho to assess the situation as well as the general health context of the country.

Continued: https://www.afro.who.int/countries/lesotho/news/addressing-high-maternal-mortality-and-newborn-deaths-lesotho

20.12.2023

News

Dr. Nonkosi Tlale

Dr. Roseline Dansowaa Doe

maternal mortality

maternal mortality ratio

Seipati Motsei

World Health Organisation

Need For Nigeria To Effectively Roll Out Postnatal Family Planning Programmes

By Chioma Umeha
Dec 12, 2023

Experts have kept stressing how important it is for Nigeria and other Afrcan and Asian countries to effectively roll out postnatal family planning programmes.

The International Conference for Family Planning (ICFP2022)stressed that the postnatal period is a crucial phase after childbirth when women are at greater risk of unwanted pregnancies and need family planning.

Continued: https://independent.ng/need-for-nigeria-to-effectively-roll-out-postnatal-family-planning-programmes/

12.12.2023

News

family planning programme

International Conference for Family Planning

maternal mortality ratio

Society of Gynaecology and Obstetrics of Nigeria

Sustainable Development Goals

World Health Organisation

Kenya – Time to put a stop to needless deaths resulting from unsafe abortion

By Wangari Ireri
Oct 2, 2023

Lack of access to safe abortion due to known barriers remains unacceptably high. Unsafe abortion is a public health concern and according to 2013 findings of the 'Magnitude and incidences of unsafe abortion' study conducted by the Ministry of Health, unsafe abortion in the country is among the highest in Africa.

Maternal mortality is high at about 6,000 deaths per year, 17 per cent of them from complications of unsafe abortion. The study, conducted by the African Population and Health Research Centre in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, Ipas, Guttmacher Institute and other partners estimated that 464,690 induced abortions were conducted in Kenya in 2012, corresponding to an induced abortion rate of 48 abortions per 1,000 women of reproductive age (15-49 years), and an induced abortion ratio of 30 abortions per 100 births.

Continued: https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/health-opinion/article/2001482684/time-to-put-a-stop-to-needless-deaths-resulting-from-unsafe-abortion

02.10.2023