Everyone deserves the right to make decisions about their body and their future – but we know that when it comes to abortion rights and healthcare, marginalised communities can be left behind. This often includes people with disabilities.
To understand how to change this, our partners at Ipas undertook a study looking at the current barriers facing people with disabilities to sexual and reproductive healthcare, and how better access can be supported at a policy, service delivery, community, and family level.
Key insights from the study included:
- Abortion and contraceptive needs for people with disabilities are diverse, yet largely invisible, underserved and unskilfully handled in reproductive healthcare
- Due to compounded and intersecting stigmas, people with disabilities may face unique and extensive barriers to abortion care
- Sexual and gender-based violence is experienced by women with disabilities at exacerbated rates, which can lead to high levels of unintended pregnancies and the need for abortion care
- A “twin-track” approach, which promotes interventions that specifically target the sexual and reproductive health needs of people with disabilities, while concurrently mainstreaming disability inclusion into general sexual and reproductive health service delivery practices, would support meaningful and sustainable disability inclusion.
Ipas used these findings to develop accompanying guidance for programme implementers and managers, technical advisors and trainers, working to improve access to safe abortion and contraceptive care.
Through SafeAccess – our collaborative resource hub – access the Ipas guidance below:
- Access for Everybody overview – a briefing outlining the barriers that people with disabilities face and a summary of promising practices and lessons learned from the field.
- Access for Everybody Guide – a resource for programme implementers and managers, technical advisors and trainers who design and implement interventions on abortion and contraception.
More learnings and resources on disability-inclusive reproductive healthcare
As part of the UK’s flagship WISH programme on sexual and reproductive health and rights, MSI and our partners delivered inclusive, high-quality healthcare to millions of women and girls, with a focus on reaching marginalised communities, including people with disabilities.
As part of this work, we developed a suite of resources and learnings on best practice, inclusive programming, including a global report, evidence briefs, and an online training.
