Exploring the Relationships between Stigma, Social Support, and Abortion Safety in Two Sub-Saharan African Settings

Onikepe Owolabi, Vital Strategies
Clémentine Rossier, University of Geneva, Institute of demography and Socioeconomics
NMAS TEAM, Guttmacher Institute

We recruited 1030 women who had obtained abortions using respondent driven sampling in Nairobi slums and rural Burkina Faso. Our objective in this study is to understand the relationship between women’s perceptions of abortion stigma in their community, access to a confidante during the process, abortion safety, and self-reported morbidity. A small proportion of women reported having a safe abortion using the most current (2022) WHO definition (8% in Nairobi and 5% in Burkina Faso). A significant proportion of women reported using either unknown pills which may have been MA (> 30% in both contexts) and/or traditional medicine (50% in Burkina Faso). 58% of women in Nairobi and 19% in Burkina Faso reported adverse physical signs after the abortion. Further analysis will estimate community stigma scores for women and explore the relationship between abortion safety, women’s demographic characteristics, perceived stigma, and support received by confidants during their abortions

Keywords: Health and Morbidity, Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, Social network methods, Inequality, Disadvantage and Discrimination

See extended abstract.