Improving contraceptive choices and bodily autonomy for women and girls with disabilities

On Tuesday 26 September, the international community celebrates World Contraception Day.

The event aims to improve the awareness of contraception and enable young people to make informed choices on their sexual and reproductive health.

There is compelling evidence that shows how improving global access to low-cost contraception and its uptake through family planning programmes can:

• Reduce maternal and child mortality
• Reduce high-risk pregnancies
• Reduce teen and unplanned pregnancies
• Improve child health and nutrition
• Increase the level of protection against sexually transmitted infections

Current estimates indicate that 379 million women in low and middle income countries are using modern contraceptive methods, equivalent to one-third of all women of reproductive age. This is 95 million more women than a decade ago.

The crucial role of informed choice and bodily autonomy

Access to contraception is crucial – but is not sufficient.

This year’s World Contraception Day theme, ‘The Power of Options’, is particularly significant, as it shines a spotlight on the fundamental role that contraceptive choices play in empowering individuals to take control of their reproductive health, fostering autonomy and enabling informed choices.

Yet adolescent girls and young women with disabilities have been systematically denied the opportunity to exercise their bodily autonomy and make free and informed reproductive choices. Evidence shows that people with disabilities – particularly women and girls – are often subjected to forced contraception and sterilisation due to persistent stigma within communities and the idea that people with disabilities should not have children.

This is a severe violation of international law – specifically, Article 23 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), which affirms the right of people with disabilities to make free and informed decisions about their sexual and reproductive health.

Advancing sexual and reproductive health and rights for people with disabilities

One of Sightsavers’ priority objectives in its social inclusion strategy is to ensure that people with disabilities are empowered and given the necessary tools to make informed decisions on an equal basis with others, particularly when it comes to their sexual reproductive health and rights.

That is why we are making strategic and targeted investments across multiple countries to advance SRHR for people with disabilities.

For example, in Nigeria, thanks to funding from UK aid and the Inclusive Futures programme, we are running a £2.3 million inclusive family planning project in partnership with BBC Media Action, national organisations of people with disabilities and government partners.

Sightsavers is also the disability partner in the West and Central Africa consortium led by MSI Reproductive Choices as part of the Women’s Integrated Sexual Health (WISH) programme, UK aid’s flagship SRHR programme.

To contribute to the ‘leave no one behind’ agenda, the WISH programme has been reaching women with disabilities whose needs were previously largely unmet through family planning and sexual reproductive health service provision. Through this programme, we are providing expertise to fellow consortium members to enhance disability-inclusive practices with the goal to:

• Strengthen the knowledge and choice that people with disabilities have in terms of sexual reproductive health service provision, as well as increase community support for people with disabilities to exercise their sexual reproductive health rights
• Strengthen government policies, domestic financing and accountability by embedding disability inclusion to create a stronger enabling environment for family planning and sexual reproductive health and rights that is accessible and inclusive for everyone
• Improve access to sexual reproductive health service provision for clients with all types of disabilities

We are also working with partners to bridge existing gaps. For example, Sightsavers developed a training package to train SRHR healthcare providers and other stakeholders such as the Ministry of Health on how to seek informed consent and safeguard people with disabilities from marginalised communities.

“Enhancing access to sexual and reproductive health and rights for women with disabilities has been at the core of the WISH programme, and all consortium partners have made huge progress to achieve this goal. MSI is proud to see how disability inclusion is now a key part of our programming.”
Caroline Guinard, FCDO programme director
MSI Reproductive Choices

The sexual and reproductive health and rights of people with disabilities – particularly women and girls with disabilities – have been ignored for too long. If we are serious about leaving no one behind, now is the time to act. It is vital that we:

1. Invest adequate resources
2. Generate quality evidence
3. Ensure people with disabilities are meaningfully included in the health sector and within their communities
4. Empower people with disabilities to make informed choices about their bodies and futures

All of this requires a collective effort, on World Contraception Day – and every other day.

Authors

Andrea Pregel is Sightsavers’ global technical lead for inclusive health, and Amalie Quevedo is Sightsavers’ technical advisor for inclusive sexual and reproductive health and rights.

Let’s work together! If you want to know more about Sightsavers’ inclusive SRHR work, or want to explore opportunities for collaboration, please contact Andrea Pregel at [email protected]