INFLUENCE OF CONTRADICTIONS IN THE LEGAL FRAMEWORK ON YOUNG WOMEN ACCESSING SAFE ABORTION IN KIBRA SUB-COUNTY, NAIROBI KENYA
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.67874/ijlcs.78Keywords:
Abortion Law, Reproductive Rights, Legal Ambiguity, Gender Norms, Safe AbortionAbstract
In Africa, abortion remains unavailable and inaccessible even when adolescent girls and young women meet the legal eligibility criteria. Young women who become pregnant before marriage are subjected to humiliation therefore, a large proportion resort to unsafe abortion to escape the shame and stigma. Kenya has progressive abortion legislation including the 2010 Constitution; Article 43(1)(a), Article 43(2) and 26(4) that provide the right to reproductive health including abortion and post abortion care. Nevertheless, the 1963 colonial Penal Code is still used as a blanket criminalization of abortion. The Penal Code is used to illegally arrest and detain pregnant girls and health workers seeking and providing the service respectively. The lack of clarity about legal access to abortion has resulted in widespread misinformation and ostracization among abortion seekers and providers. This study aimed at bringing out the contradictions in legal frameworks and their impact on access to safe and legal abortion services for young women in Nairobi, Kenya. It also investigated how gender norms influence access to abortion and identify the extent to which health care workers conscientious objections hinder provision of safe abortion services to young women. The study also examined South Africa’s abortion laws on a comparative basis to draw lessons that Kenya can borrow or learn from. The study adopted a mixed methods design. Quantitative data was collected from 216 respondents using semi-structured questionnaires, while participants were selected through purposive and cluster sampling. Data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics in SPSS Version 28, including t-tests and Chi-square tests.
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