Women's Reproductive Rights

Imagine being a young girl, getting married before the age of 18 and becoming pregnant, with no options and no laws protecting you. There is a very large amount of inequality of women in Africa due to their lack of education, lack of resources to health services, the hate that they get for things like abortions. There isn’t a law against abortion, yet facilities that will perform one are rare. The laws don’t prohibit them from getting the medical care they need yet ambulance arrival times are longer for women. They have higher maternal death rates that could be prevented if they were treated properly(Odhiambo). This problem is not only caused by the government's lack of progress but also the society they live in.
Women in Africa lack the education they need to protect themselves from diseases and death. They never get an education on how to protect themselves from aids, HIV and pregnancy. If they do become pregnant, because of their lack of education, they don’t know which places to go to get the correct care and end up going to places that will put them in danger. In South Africa, there are ads everywhere promoting a place where women can get abortions but most of these places are not professional care facilities that will do it safely. Since these women don’t have many other options due to the lack of hospitals that will help them and the amount of time it takes for them to get an appointment, they go to these unsafe places and put them in danger(Still in the backstreets). Half of the worlds maternal deaths come from Sub-Saharan Africa. (Investing in Women's Health) The mistreatment of women in Africa is one of the biggest injustices and it can be easily preventable. Out of the almost 2,000 health centers in South Africa, only about 250 will allow you to get an abortion(the economist). Women do not get a sex education class when they are in school. The majority of young girls don’t get as far in their education as young men which lead to them not knowing about their own rights and what they need to live.
The lack of resources is the biggest obstacle the women have to face. They don’t have proper access to contraceptives and other reproductive services. They are more susceptible to disease with double the number of HIV infections than men(Borgen project). they have to wait longer to get emergency care, they face scrutiny from the doctors when they go to get an abortion, they get sexually assaulted with no justice or punishment for the perpetrator. These women don’t have the protection they need whether thats in the form of contraceptives or from assault. If a woman is raped or sexually assaulted, most of the time their attacker is not punished and it goes unnoticed. They don’t have easy access to protection so if they end up pregnant because of it that could put them in a situation they might not want to be in.
Africa has yet to make any new laws protecting women or to ensure them contraceptives or more fair treatment. If they gave women the care they needed, not only will the women’s lives improve, the whole country will benefit also. Women are just as capable of working, raising children, being a part of society as men are and Africa is starting to realize that. There are organizations dedicated to helping women in Africa and bring awareness to their inequality. News outlets like the Huffington post are making sure to cover the news of these women and society is starting to change. Although it won’t ever be done and although it's going to take more than just changing laws, the equality of women in Africa is improving and can make a difference.

Works Cited :

Brennan, Kailey. “Five Facts About Women's Health in Africa.” The Borgen Project, 19 Mar.

2018, borgenproject.org/womens-health-in-africa/.

“Investing in Women's Health - the Key to Africa's Economic Development.” United Nations

Population Fund, 26 June 2013, www.unfpa.org/press/investing-womens-health-key-africas-economic-development.

Odhiambo, Agnes, and Gauri van Gulik. “Put a Spotlight on African Women's Reproductive

Rights.” Human Rights Watch, 30 May 2013, www.hrw.org/news/2013/05/20/put-spotlight-african-womens-reproductive-rights.

"Still in the backstreets; Abortion in South Africa." The Economist, 3 Feb. 2018, p. 40(US). Global Issues in Context, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A525895088/GIC?u=los42754&sid=GIC&xid=840d75b1. Accessed 21 Mar. 2019

“Women's Health.” World Health Organization, World Health Organization,

www.afro.who.int/health-topics/womens-health