The DOI matches its Crossref record.
Aborting and Suspending Pregnancy in Rural Tanzania: An Ethnography of Young People's Beliefs and Practices
Abstract
The World Health Organization estimates that 3.1 percent of East African women aged 15–44 have undergone unsafe abortions. This study presents findings regarding abortion practices and beliefs among adolescents and young adults in Tanzania, where abortion is illegal. From 1999 to 2002, six researchers carried out participant observation in nine villages and conducted group discussions and interviews in three others. Most informants opposed abortion as illegal, immoral, dangerous, or unacceptable without the man's consent, and many reported that ancestral spirits killed women who aborted clan descendants. Nonetheless, abortion was widely, if infrequently, attempted, by ingestion of laundry detergent, chloroquine, ashes, and specific herbs. Most women who attempted abortion were young, single, and desperate. Some succeeded, but they experienced opposition from sexual partners, sexual exploitation by practitioners, serious health problems, social ostracism, and quasi‐legal sanctions. Many informants reported the belief that inopportune pregnancies could be suspended for months or years using traditional medicine. We conclude that improved reproductive health education and services are urgently needed in rural Tanzania.
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Underreporting of abortion events can be due to fear of being stigmatized or sanctioned by law.
“Underreporting abortion events can be due to the fear of being stigmatized or sanctioned by law [37].”
From Induced abortion: a cross-sectional study on knowledge of and attitudes toward the new abortion law in Maputo and Quelimane cities, Mozambique (2020) · cites this paper as [37]
Studies from Ethiopia, Tanzania, South Africa, among others, showed that women, especially adolescents, still rely on unsafe methods or untrained providers to terminate pregnancy as a result of those factors.
“Studies from Ethiopia [36], Tanzania [37], South Africa [57], among others showed that women, especially adolescents still rely to unsafe methods or untrained provider to terminate pregnancy, as result of those factors mentioned above.”
From Induced abortion: a cross-sectional study on knowledge of and attitudes toward the new abortion law in Maputo and Quelimane cities, Mozambique (2020) · cites this paper as [37]
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Cited by
Sorted by citations
Haws, R. A., Mashasi, I., Mrisho, M., Schellenberg, J. A., Darmstadt, G. L., & Winch, P. J. (2010) · Social Science & Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2010.03.051 · Cited by 150
Factors Influencing Abortion Decision-Making Processes among Young Women
Frederico, M., Michielsen, K., Arnaldo, C., & Decat, P. (2018) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph15020329 · Cited by 94
Frederico, M., Arnaldo, C., Decat, P., Juga, A., Kemigisha, E., Degomme, O., & Michielsen, K. (2020) · BMC Women's Health · doi:10.1186/s12905-020-00988-6 · Cited by 19
Metadata
- Authors
- Plummer, M. L., Wamoyi, J., Nyalali, K., Mshana, G., Shigongo, Z. S., Ross, D. A., & Wight, D.
- Affiliations
- London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (GB)
- National Institute for Medical Research (TZ)
- MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Plummer, Mary L.
- Venue
- Studies in Family Planning
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2008-11-24
- Volume
- 39
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 281-292
- ISSN
- 0039-3665 (ISSN-L)
- 1728-4465
- OpenAlex
- W2013334017
- Cited by
- 55
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 3 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 12 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 3 · 2015: 1 · 2014: 3 · 2013: 4 · 2012: 4
- FWCI
- 1.32
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Studies in Family Planning (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- ENLIGHTEN (Jurnal Bimbingan dan Konseling Islam) (submittedVersion)
- LSHTM Research Online (London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- British Academy
- Medical Research Council
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Reproductive Health and Contraception
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › History › Historical Studies on Reproduction, Gender, Health, and Societal Changes
- Keywords
- unsafe abortion, adolescents, young women, illegal abortion, traditional medicine, herbal abortion, sexual exploitation, ostracism, reproductive health education, rural Tanzania, ancestral spirits
- MeSH terms
- Abortion, Criminal, Abortion, Illegal, Adolescent, Adult, Anthropology, Cultural, Decision Making, Female, Humans, Interpersonal Relations, Magic, Pregnancy, Sexual Behavior, Tanzania, Treatment Outcome
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