IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/ijphth/vyid10.1007_s00038-020-01359-6.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

“I wasn’t ready”: abortion decision-making pathways in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

Author

Listed:
  • Ramatou Ouedraogo

    (African Population and Health Research Center)

  • Leigh Senderowicz

    (Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health)

  • Coralie Ngbichi

    (African Population and Health Research Center)

Abstract

Objectives This study explores abortion decision-making trajectories in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, examining the spaces for decision making that young people manage to create for themselves within restrictive policy, gender norms and other constraints. Methods The study presents data collected from observations in three referral health facilities in Ouagadougou and interviews (with 31 young women (aged 17–25) who had sought abortions and five men (aged 20–25) whose partners had done so). Using inductive content analysis, we capture the different streams, actors and rationales in the decision-making process, as well as the pattern of negotiation. Results Abortion decision-making trajectories are complex and affected by a range of factors including fertility desires, relationship stability and financial stability. The process can include intense periods of negotiation between intimate partners when their rationales are discordant. Constraints on women’s decision making include restrictive policy environment, coercion from partners (threats, emotional blackmail and even physical force) and pressure from people in and out of their social network. Conclusions In a context where legal abortion is highly restricted and women’s decision-making power is constrained, the abortion decision making appears as collective, operates in an uncertain time frame, an unofficial social environment and has an unpredictable collaborative mechanism.

Suggested Citation

  • Ramatou Ouedraogo & Leigh Senderowicz & Coralie Ngbichi, 0. "“I wasn’t ready”: abortion decision-making pathways in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 0, pages 1-10.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:ijphth:v::y::i::d:10.1007_s00038-020-01359-6
    DOI: 10.1007/s00038-020-01359-6
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s00038-020-01359-6
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s00038-020-01359-6?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Agnès Guillaume & Clémentine Rossier, 2018. "L’avortement dans le monde. État des lieux des législations, mesures, tendances et conséquences," Population (french edition), Institut National d'Études Démographiques (INED), vol. 73(2), pages 225-322.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Roch Millogo & Clémentine Rossier, 2022. "Fertility Transition in Dakar, Nairobi, and Ouagadougou Since the 1970s: An Identical Reduction at All Ages Through Modern Contraception?," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 41(5), pages 2115-2142, October.
    2. Ramatou Ouedraogo & Leigh Senderowicz & Coralie Ngbichi, 2020. "“I wasn’t ready”: abortion decision-making pathways in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 65(4), pages 477-486, May.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:ijphth:v::y::i::d:10.1007_s00038-020-01359-6. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.