Voices Beyond Silence: Stories, Essays & Poems on Safe Abortion and Reproductive Justice Among Women Sex Workers And Gender Expansive Persons in Uganda

Voices Beyond Silence: Stories, Essays & Poems on Safe Abortion and Reproductive Justice Among Women Sex Workers And Gender Expansive Persons in Uganda

My Body Is Not The Crime: A Gender Expansive Voice On Safe Abortion In Uganda. – By Linnet K.

If abortion is a sin, then to you the sinner is only the girl carrying the baby then you are a sinner too. Did she impregnate herself? How about the boy? In fact, who is the boy or man? Is he her uncle, boyfriend, father, brother? Why are you shielding them, Christian?

I am Agenorwot Linnet Komakech a graduate of Information Technology from Mbarara University of Science and Technology, a reproductive justice advocate trained by Ahaki Institute, and a peer educator on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR). I have a passion for helping people understand their bodies, choices, and rights. Today, I want to talk about abortion and safe abortion, and why restrictive laws in Uganda hurt us all.

What Is Abortion and What Is Safe Abortion?

Abortion is a medical procedure to end a pregnancy so that it does not result in the birth of a child.

A safe abortion is one that is performed using methods recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO), appropriate to the stage of pregnancy, and carried out by trained health professionals in a clean and supportive setting. Safe abortion minimizes the risk of severe complications such as infection, heavy bleeding, infertility, or death.

Worldwide, millions of people have abortions every year. In places where access to safe abortion is available and supported by evidence-based healthcare, the vast majority about 55% are safe. But where restrictive laws and stigma dominate, unsafe abortions are far more common and deadly.

How Are Abortions Regulated in Uganda?

In Uganda, abortion remains highly restricted by the law. The Penal Code criminalizes most abortions and punishes both the person seeking it and those providing it, with severe prison sentences even if the pregnancy resulted from rape or failed contraception.

Legally, abortion is only permissible to save the life of the pregnant person, and in practice in very limited cases it may also be permitted to protect health, or in situations such as rape or fetal abnormalities.

My Analysis on the above

If abortion is mean tot save the life of the mother then I think if a girl wants to have an abortion to continue with her studies is as well saving her, Education plays a very part in everyone’s future and should we allow a pregnancy get in the way of that?

I had a conversation with my sister a few days back and I told her the phrase “Abortion is a sin” is used by miserable women who are currently struggling to raise their children alone as single mothers because of jealousy “like how can a young girl get pregnant and she just terminates and continues with pursuing her dreams, no one did that for me”

The church that calls abortion murder never helps the street kids that parents have failed to take care of. Show a pastor who sacrifices his salary to provide food for the kids, of course none anyway aren’t you the very one giving offertory to the church?

I feel the church calls abortion murder simply because there will be no burial arrangements made where offertory will be collected, am a Christian too by the way.

Men who stand against abortion are just a bunch of losers who can’t bare seeing women they thought they had captive by impregnating them have options in case the marriage goes south so that’s it.

Safe abortion is okay but restriction to it will forever leave us counting more numbers of deaths due to unsafe abortion since schoolgirls want to attain their dreams with interference. Again, you may say children shouldn’t be having sex but isn’t that happening? So, what are we going to do?

First things first, if you are at any point hesitant about having kids please do not have them, let no pressure put you into something you will regret. The same society that is pressuring to have kids when you young will judge you for having kids when young and this society will judge you for having kids when old too, there’s no break for us in this world.

Still this same society will blame you for being a single mother, we have all heard it before, “who told you to open your legs?” “you are supposed to be wise etc.” but weren’t you in love? Didn’t society dictate that you date a man and not a woman? So, isn’t the result finally a child? Can a woman sniff a sperm and get pregnant? Will society ask all these questions, no they won’t.

All in all, I Linnet will always say whatever decision you make, make it making sure that when you go to your bed at night, you are able to peacefully sleep not tossing around because you are questioning yourself or blaming yourself.

You alone have the power to rule your life not mum, dad, grandma, aunties, neighbors etc All of them will insult you.

CHOOSE YOUR HARD!!!!!!!

Whispers in Silence by

N. MONICA, BUGIRI

They said, “Hide your shame.”

So I hid my tears in the dark,

A young heart trembling,

A body breaking under fear.

The world called me sinner,

But never called me survivor.

I bled alone,

Praying the sun would rise again.

Some sisters never rise.

Their voices end in silence,

Buried under stigma,

Forgotten by the world.

Yet I speak for them.

For the girl who never made it home.

For the woman shamed into secrecy.

Post Abortion Care is not a crime,

It is mercy,

It is life,

It is every woman’s right.

Let us break the silence.

Let us hold each other with compassion.

No woman should die in the shadows,

When hope can live in the light.

‘‘Voices in silence’’

by Mutesi D. (Bugiri FSW)

’In shadows, they seek, in silence they bleed. where law and stigma entwine, a deadly creed. For those on streets, in corners confined abortions weight, a burden they are forced to find’’

For sex workers, for women with wheels, for young hearts beating with hopeful zeals. The law restricts, the fear persists leaving scars, both seen and unseen twists.

In hidden room, a desperate cry

A life in danger, as choices die.

The marginalized bear the heaviest load

Their voices whispering, in a silence abode

Post-abortion care, a healing hand

A chance to mend, in a troubled land

But access falters and hope does fade leaving wounds that may never fully heal or fade.

Let’s break the chains that bind and confine.

Let’s bring to light the unseen signs for every life, a choice to make a future to shape, for hearts that aches.

Promote legalization a beacon of light

THANKS AWAC TEAM FOR SUPPORTING

APPLE PROGRAM

NICE DAY

In whispers, I share my pain

Poem by N. Monica

In whispers, I share my pain

A secret kept, a heart in chains

The world judges, condemns my name

But who holds my hand, who knows my shame?

I bled in silence, alone and afraid

Praying for dawn, for a new parade

Some sisters didn’t make it through the night

Their voices silenced, their stories untold

But I speak for them, for the ones who fell

For the woman hidden, her story unswell

For the mother whose love was unspoken

For the girl who never found her way back home

Post-abortion care, a lifeline thrown

Mercy, compassion, a chance to atone

It’s not a crime, but a woman’s right

To heal, to live, to shine with all her might

Let’s break the silence, shatter the glass

Let’s hold each other, let love forever last

No woman should die in secret shame

When hope and healing can be her claim

In the light, we’ll find our way

Through compassion, love, and a brand-new day

For every woman, a chance to thrive

Post-abortion care, a path to survive.

Essay by OUMA EVELYN – BUSIA

Abortion is the termination of pregnancy by removal of an embryo or fetus and it can be done both locally or medically in Uganda most vulnerable women and girls use rudimental tools to carry out the exercise i.e. pens, hangers, sticks others use soap, tea leaves, like, Panadol overdose etc. In Uganda restrictive abortion regulations have caused more harm than good it has led to distress, stigma and risk constituting a violation of human rights of women and girls hence leading to sepsis, obstructed labour leading to shocking maternal death.

In most cases the less money the patient has, the less likely she is to have a safe abortion therefore severe legal restrictions on abortion do nothing to stop demand for abortion. The lowest in coming women and girls are hit by the tragedies hence leading to high cost to public health system due to high number of vulnerable women and girls seeking for post abortion care services. Abortion right: in Uganda is obviously a charged subject. But from medical perspective it’s clear that the provision of safe abortion care to a woman or girl is a lifesaving medical Act.

As long as access to safe abortion care is denied; more women and girls will continue to die each year, month, week, day time after time from the consequences of un safe abortion and all this is caused by forms stigma like gossiping, shaming, rejecting bullying, separating, punishing, discriminating, violent behavior prosecution.

SO I STRONGLY ADVOCATE FOR

LEGALISED ABORTION

THANK YOU

Tragedy: Unskilled professionals turn safe abortion into unsafe abortion!

STORY BY CYNTHIA K

I had a friend whom I used to stay within Kasubi during covid 19 her name was called desire. Desire used to work in a hotel and I would stay home because I was unemployed. Since it was during covid, she used to sleep at her work place because we weren’t allowed to move. And I was staying home alone only we used to communicate on phone or she comes once in a while to visit me. One day she came to visit me as we were jazzing, she told me that she is going to visit the boyfriend which was ouk and I escorted her to get a boda so fast so that she can meet him early before time for curfew comes. Desire went visited the boyfriend and later returned then proceeded to her work place.

After two months she came saying she is not seeing her periods I was like how did you have unprotected sex. she replied yes but I later used emergency pills. The only thing we did is going to a nearby clinic and buy pregnancy test which costed us only 2k Uganda shillings. Went back home she tested using her urine and the strip was showing positive. It was a shock to us that the emergency pill didn’t not work, but the next step was to look for a way forward. Desire called the boyfriend and the boyfriend took her to Nateete to his sister’s clinic to confirm if it was true and indeed the results were positive again. Desire returned home and told me she can’t keep the pregnancy she must abort of which the boyfriend was not in support. So after two days we went to some clinic and told the nurse that we needed tablets for carrying out abortion.the nurse told us that abortion is illegal in case of anything she is not included in.desire agreed and the nurse gave her the medicine that costed her 95k. These were only three tabs one to insert in her private parts at night and two to put them under the tongue at night. The nurse said after that the pregnancy will be terminated and blood will start to come out.

Desire did as the nurse instructed at around 8pm at night and we expected by morning all will be well.it wasn’t even before morning around 3am at night desire had a terrible stomach pain that almost killed her. The stomach pain was too much that she was laying on the ground crying seeking for help but there was no help I would give at that time.the stomach pain lasted for three hours and the pregnancy wasn’t fully aborted. In the next morning desire called one of her ogs who did medicine at the University seeking for help on how to go about this and the og directed her to some hospital where they would terminate the pregnancy using medical instruments (machines).

Immediately I escorted her to the hospital and she was attended, the process was done in a few hours later went home knowing that mission is accomplished. When we left the hospital, she started bleeding whereby we thought it was normal with time it will stop but it didn’t after so many months of bleeding she started smelling which was weird.i advised her we should go for scanning. During scanning the doctor said that her uterus was damaged and it needed to be removed completely if not she will bleed to death because the method of abortion she used have affected her uterus. Later alone the uterus was removed which is the most hurting, traumatizing, shameful thing that happened but we had no option but other than doing what the doctor said in order to rescue her life. After the removal of uterus everything was ouk not until after 3years desire got married officially and cnt produce children like any other woman because of unsafe abortion that happened to her.its sad full of regrets because they say a woman’s womb is the safest place on her body but sadly desire lost the safest part of her body.

Story of xxx Betty

My name is xxx Betty, and I am a woman who has walked a journey that nearly cost me my life. Like many other women in Uganda, I found myself pregnant when I was not ready. My body is my source of livelihood (ATM) as a sex worker, and when I discovered I was expecting, fear gripped me. I did not know who the father was, and I was afraid of how society, my clients(customers), and even my own community would judge me.

With no safe options available and no one to turn to for help, I made a desperate choice. I resorted to using local herbs(OTOTO in luo) to try and terminate the pregnancy. But what I hoped would end quietly and quickly turned into a nightmare. The herbs did not work. Instead, they caused serious complications and sepsis that left me worried for my life.

When I finally gathered the courage to go to the health facility, instead of receiving attention and care, I was met with harsh words, stigma, and discrimination. Some health workers abused me, others treated me with disrespect. The community whispered behind my back, calling me names and pointing fingers.

The weight of this stigma pushed me into a dark place where I even wished for death. But I am still alive. And because I survived, I now speak for the many women who cannot speak about stigma and discrimination surrounding abortion.We should join hands to fight stigma in the community as unsafe abortion can lead to serious health complications and deaths among female sex workers and young girls in the community.

Betty – Apac District

STORY on UNSAFE ABORTION

by Delicate N. – TORORO

I woke up one morning found out I was again pregnant and it wasn’t my first time abort so I went back style of doing it not knowing this round I was going to get a permanent damage as usual I started my process of using a Sipline tablets I would swallow 4 in the morning and 4 in the evening for three days I started bleeding as usual thinking it was going to be easy as usual the third day after swallowing the last tablets I bleed to an extent of using 4 pads within an hour o ran to anear by clinic explained to the nurse she gave me some tablets to swallow the bleeding reduced after 3days the bleeding had stopped but the stomach was paining me seriously went back to the nurse she told me to do a scan when I went to the doctor she directed me to I explained to him how I did the whole process we did the scan what came out wasn’t good at all I damaged the uterus that it’s weak it cannot carry pregnancy again ‘’mbu nabaana tekyasobola kuwanilila lubuto’’ and from that day have never got pregnant again yet am not using family planning so because of unsafe abortion that’s what it cost me at times I sit down and say to myself what if I get a man and pay dowry to my people and at last o can’t give babies what will happen that’s why joined the journey to make sure that my fellows don’t fall victims of unsafe abortion lets continue to create awareness on safe and unsafe abortions.

By Delicate – Tororo