Abstract
Sex workers' need for safe abortion services in Uganda is greater than that of the population of women of reproductive age because of their number of sexual contacts, the inconsistent use of contraception and their increased risk of forced sex, rape or other forms of physical and sexual violence. We sought to understand sex workers' experiences with induced abortion services or post-abortion care (PAC) at an urban clinic in Uganda. We conducted nine in-depth interviews with sex workers. All in-depth interviews were audiotaped, transcribed, translated, computer recorded and coded for analysis. We identified several important programmatic considerations for safe abortion services for sex workers. Most important is creating community-level interventions in which women can speak openly about abortion, creating a support network among sex workers, training peer educators, and making available a community outreach educator and community outreach workshops on abortion. At the health facility, it is important for service providers to treat sex workers with care and respect, allow sex workers to be accompanied to the health facility and guarantee confidentiality. These programmatic elements help sex workers to access safe abortion services and should be tried with all women of reproductive age to improve women's access to safe abortion in Uganda.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 931-943 |
| Number of pages | 13 |
| Journal | Culture, Health and Sexuality |
| Volume | 16 |
| Issue number | 8 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jan 1 2014 |
| Externally published | Yes |
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Keywords
- abortion
- reproductive health services
- sex workers
- Uganda
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
- Health(social science)
- Medicine(all)
Cite this
Abortion services for sex workers in Uganda : successful strategies in an urban clinic. / Marlow, Heather; Shellenberg, Kristen; Yegon, Erick.
In: Culture, Health and Sexuality, Vol. 16, No. 8, 01.01.2014, p. 931-943.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Abortion services for sex workers in Uganda
T2 - successful strategies in an urban clinic
AU - Marlow, Heather
AU - Shellenberg, Kristen
AU - Yegon, Erick
PY - 2014/1/1
Y1 - 2014/1/1
N2 - Sex workers' need for safe abortion services in Uganda is greater than that of the population of women of reproductive age because of their number of sexual contacts, the inconsistent use of contraception and their increased risk of forced sex, rape or other forms of physical and sexual violence. We sought to understand sex workers' experiences with induced abortion services or post-abortion care (PAC) at an urban clinic in Uganda. We conducted nine in-depth interviews with sex workers. All in-depth interviews were audiotaped, transcribed, translated, computer recorded and coded for analysis. We identified several important programmatic considerations for safe abortion services for sex workers. Most important is creating community-level interventions in which women can speak openly about abortion, creating a support network among sex workers, training peer educators, and making available a community outreach educator and community outreach workshops on abortion. At the health facility, it is important for service providers to treat sex workers with care and respect, allow sex workers to be accompanied to the health facility and guarantee confidentiality. These programmatic elements help sex workers to access safe abortion services and should be tried with all women of reproductive age to improve women's access to safe abortion in Uganda.
AB - Sex workers' need for safe abortion services in Uganda is greater than that of the population of women of reproductive age because of their number of sexual contacts, the inconsistent use of contraception and their increased risk of forced sex, rape or other forms of physical and sexual violence. We sought to understand sex workers' experiences with induced abortion services or post-abortion care (PAC) at an urban clinic in Uganda. We conducted nine in-depth interviews with sex workers. All in-depth interviews were audiotaped, transcribed, translated, computer recorded and coded for analysis. We identified several important programmatic considerations for safe abortion services for sex workers. Most important is creating community-level interventions in which women can speak openly about abortion, creating a support network among sex workers, training peer educators, and making available a community outreach educator and community outreach workshops on abortion. At the health facility, it is important for service providers to treat sex workers with care and respect, allow sex workers to be accompanied to the health facility and guarantee confidentiality. These programmatic elements help sex workers to access safe abortion services and should be tried with all women of reproductive age to improve women's access to safe abortion in Uganda.
KW - abortion
KW - reproductive health services
KW - sex workers
KW - Uganda
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84905282239&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84905282239&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/13691058.2014.922218
DO - 10.1080/13691058.2014.922218
M3 - Article
C2 - 24945605
AN - SCOPUS:84905282239
VL - 16
SP - 931
EP - 943
JO - Culture, Health and Sexuality
JF - Culture, Health and Sexuality
SN - 1369-1058
IS - 8
ER -