Rape, unintended pregnancy, and abortion are among the most controversial and stigmatized topics facing sexual and reproductive health researchers, advocates, and the public today. Over the past three decades, however, the international community, States, and advocates have made great strides to advance our understanding of sexual and reproductive rights and how they can be protected at the national and international levels. The 1994 Cairo Declaration began this process by including sexual health under the umbrella of reproductive health and recognized the impact of violence on an individual’s sexual and reproductive health (SRH) decision-making. [1] One year later, the 1995 Beijing Platform for Action specifically addressed the issues of unintended pregnancy and abortion by emphasizing that improved family planning services should be the main method by which unintended pregnancies and unsafe abortions are prevented. [2]
A recent World Health Organization (WHO) report on the relationships between sexual health, human rights, and State’s laws sets the foundation for our contemporary understanding of these issues. The 2015 report describes sexual health as, “a state of physical, emotional, mental and social well-being in relation to sexuality.” [3] That state includes control over one’s fertility via access to health services such as abortion; it also includes the right to enjoy sexual experiences free from coercion, discrimination, and violence. [3] Whether experienced alone or in combination, rape, unintended pregnancy, and abortion are important SRH issues on which public health can and should intervene.
In the public health field, case studies provide a useful lens through which to examine individual women’s sexual and reproductive health experiences, particularly those of rape, unintended pregnancy, and unsafe abortion; an in-depth analysis of these personal experiences can identify contextual risk factors and missed opportunities for public health rights-based intervention. This type of analysis is especially cogent when legal policies and social factors, such as gender inequality, may influence one’s SRH decision-making process. On an individual level, bearing witness to women’s stories through in-depth interviews helps document their lived experience; surveying these experiences within the context of laws related to SRH provides important evidence for the impact of such policies on women’s well-being.
We present the case of a 19-year-old Nicaraguan woman who was raped, became pregnant, and almost died from complications resulting from an unsafe abortion. Her complex experience of violence, unintended pregnancy, and unsafe abortion represent a series of contextual factors and missed opportunities for public health and human rights intervention. Ana Maria’s story, told through the use of a pseudonym, takes place in a city located in North Central Nicaragua – a country that presents unique challenges related to its citizens’ fulfillment of their sexual and reproductive health and rights.
Violence against women in Nicaragua
Along with 189 States, Nicaragua is a party to the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, which includes State obligations to protect and promote the health and well-being of Nicaraguan women. [4] As defined by human rights documents, the right to health includes access to health care services, as well as provisions for the underlying social determinants of health, such as personal experiences of structural violence. [5]
In the Nicaraguan context, political and sociocultural institutions support unequal power relations between genders. [6] Machismo is one such form of structural violence that perpetuates gender inequality and has been identified as a barrier to SRH promotion in Nicaragua. [7, 8] The term ‘machismo’ is most commonly used to describe male behaviors that are sexist, hyper masculine, chauvinistic, or violent towards women. [9] These behaviors often legitimize the patriarchy, reinforce traditional gender roles, and are used to limit or control the actions of women, who are often perceived as inferior. [10]
The vast majority (89.7%) of Nicaraguan women have experienced some form of gender-based violence during their lifetime, which poses a serious public health problem. The latest population-based Demographic and Health Survey showed that at least 50% of Nicaraguan women surveyed had experienced either verbal/psychological, physical, or sexual violenceduring their lifetime. An additional 29.3% of women reported having experienced both physical and sexual violence at least once, while another 10.4% reported having experienced all three types of violence. [11]
In 2012, Nicaragua joined a host of other Central and South American countries that have implemented laws to eliminate all forms of violence against women VAW, including rape and femicide. [12] Nicaragua’s federal law against VAW, Law 779, intends to eradicate such violence in both public and private spheres. [13] On paper, Law 779 guarantees women freedom from violence and discrimination, but it is unclear if the law is being adequately enforced; it has been reported that some women believe VAW has increased since the law’s implementation. [14]
Before Law 779, violent acts like rape, particularly of young women ages 15–24, were endemic in Nicaragua. Approximately two-thirds of rapes reported in Nicaragua between 1998 and 2008 were committed against girls under 17 years of age; most of these acts were committed by a known acquaintance. [15] Due to a lack of reporting and to culturally propagated stigma regarding rape, no reliable data suggest that Law 779 has been effective in reducing the incidence of rape in Nicaragua. For women who wish to terminate a pregnancy that resulted from rape, access to abortion services is vital, yet completely illegal. [16] In contrast, technical guidance from the WHO recommends that health systems include access to safe abortion services for women who experience unintended pregnancy or become pregnant as a result of rape. [17]
Family planning and unintended pregnancy in Nicaragua
Like violence, unintended pregnancies -- not only those that result from rape -- pose a widespread public health problem in Nicaragua. National data suggest that 65% of pregnancies among women ages 15–29 were unintended. [11] Oftentimes, unintended pregnancy results from a complex combination of social determinants of health including: low socioeconomic status (SES), low education level, lack of access to adequate reproductive health care, and restrictive reproductive rights laws. [18,19,20] Nicaraguan women of low SES with limited access to family planning services are at an increased risk of depression, violence, and unemployment due to an unintended pregnancy. [19, 20]
The UN Committee on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) has expressed concern regarding the lack of comprehensive sexual education programs, as well as inadequate family planning services, and high rates of unintended pregnancy throughout Nicaragua. [21] Due to a lack of sexual education, Nicaraguan adolescents, if they use contraceptives like male condoms or oral contraceptive pills, often do so inconsistently or incorrectly. [22]
Deeply rooted cultural stigma surrounding unmarried women’s sexual behavior contributes to the harsh criticism of young women in Nicaragua that use a method of family planning or engage in sexual relationships outside of a committed union. [18, 22] Also, young women who are not in a formal union may experience unplanned sex (consensual or nonconsensual) and are unlikely to be using contraception, which further increases the risk of unintended pregnancy. [22] These social and cultural factors, in conjunction with restrictive reproductive rights laws, may contribute to a high incidence of unintended pregnancy among young Nicaraguan women.
The total ban on abortion in Nicaragua
Compounding the economic, social, and emotional burden of unintended pregnancy on women’s lives is the current prohibition of abortion in Nicaragua. In 2006, the National Assembly unanimously passed a law to criminalize abortion, which had been legal in Nicaragua since the late 1800s. [20] Researchers often refer to this law as the “total ban” on abortion. [20, 23] The total ban prohibits the termination of a pregnancy in all cases, including incest, rape, fetal anomaly, and danger to the life of the woman. Laws that prohibit medical procedures are, by definition, barriers to access; equitable access to safe medical services is a critical element of the right to health. [3, 5] The UN Committee on Civil and Political Rights (CCPR) has also recognized the discriminatory and harmful nature of criminalizing medical procedures that only women undergo. [24]
Nicaragua is one of the few countries in the world to completely ban abortion in all circumstances. In States where illegal, abortion does not stop. Instead, women are forced to obtain abortions from unskilled providers in conditions that are often unsafe and unhygienic. [25] Unsafe abortions are among the main preventable causes of maternal morbidity and mortality worldwide and can be avoided through decriminalization of such services. [26]
The Nicaraguan ban includes serious legal penalties for women who obtain illegal abortions, as well as for the medical professionals who perform them, which can have profound negative effects on women’s health. [20, 23] Women who need or want an abortion face not only the health risks that accompany an unsafe procedure, but additional criminal penalties. The total ban on abortion violates the human rights of both health care providers and women nationwide, as well as the confidentiality inherent in the patient-provider relationship. [20] It also results in a ‘chilling effect’ where health care providers are unwilling to provide both abortion and postabortion care (PAC) services for fear of prosecution. [20]
In response to the negative impacts of the total ban on maternal morbidity and mortality in Nicaragua, as well as detrimental effects on women’s physical, mental, and emotional health, CEDAW has recommended that the Nicaraguan government review the total ban and remove the punitive measures imposed on women who have abortions. [21] While the Nicaraguan government may not view abortion as a human right per se, women should not face morbidity or mortality as a result of illegal or unsafe abortion. [27]
Criminalizing abortion also increases stigma around this issue and significantly reduces people’s willingness to speak openly about abortion and related SRH services. Qualitative research conducted in Nicaragua suggests that women who have had unsafe abortions rarely discuss their experiences openly due to the illegal and highly stigmatized nature of such procedures. [18] Therefore, the overall aim of the study was to better understand young women’s personal experiences of unintended pregnancy in the context of Nicaragua’s repressive legal and sociocultural landscape. Ten in-depth interviews (IDIs) were conducted with women ages 16–23 in a city in North Central Nicaragua from June to July 2014. This private method of data collection allowed for the detailed exploration of each young woman’s personal experience with an unintended pregnancy, including the decision-making process she went through regarding how to respond to the pregnancy. Given the personal nature of this experience – including the criminalization and stigmatization of women who obtain abortions – IDIs allowed the participants to share intimate details and information that would be inappropriate or dangerous to share in a group setting. One case, presented here, emerged as salient for understanding the intersections of violence, unintended pregnancy, and abortion – and the missed opportunities for rights-based public health intervention.
Emory University’s Institutional Review Board ruled the study exempt from review because it did not meet the definition of “research” with human subjects as set forth in Emory policies and procedures and federal rules. Nevertheless, procedural steps were taken to protect the rights of participants and ensure confidentiality throughout data collection, management, and analysis. The first author reviewed the informed consent form in Spanish with each participant and then acquired each participant’s signature and verbal informed consent before the IDIs were conducted. The investigators developed a semi-structured interview guide with open-ended questions and piloted the guide twice to improve the cultural appropriateness of the script (Additional file 1). The investigators also collaborated with local partners to design and implement the research according to local cultural and social norms. Due to the contentious topics discussed in this study, these collaborators prefer to not be mentioned by name. Interviews were conducted in Spanish in a private location and audio taped to protect the participants’ privacy. Recordings were transcribed verbatim and transcripts were coded and analyzed using MAXQDA11 software (VERBI GmbH, Berlin, Germany).
Initially, participants were recruited for interviews through purposive sampling of individuals who had disclosed a personal experience with unintended pregnancy during focus group discussions (FGDs) conducted in a larger parent study. At the end of each interview, participants were asked to refer other young women they knew who may have experienced an unintended pregnancy to participate in an interview. This form of respondent-driven sampling created a network of participants with a wide variety of experiences with unintended pregnancy. Of the ten interviewees, two had experienced unintended pregnancy as a result of rape, though both used the phrase “sexo no consensual” or “nonconsensual sex” in lieu of “violación,” the Spanish word for rape. One of these women shared her personal experience receiving an unsafe abortion to terminate an unintended pregnancy that had resulted from rape. Her story, shared under the use of the pseudonym Ana Maria, is presented here in order to:
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Illustrate the harmful impact of restrictive abortion laws on the health and well-being of women – especially those who do not have access to abortion in the case of rape; and
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Exemplify the nexus of contextual risk factors that impact women’s SRH decision-making, such as conservative social norms and restrictive legal policies.
Through thorough analysis, we examine the impact of these contextual factors that impacted Ana Maria’s experience.