Over a quarter of a million women have accessed safe, legal abortions since the implementation of the Termination of Pregnancy Act in South Africa six years ago. But many are still not aware that services are legal or even exist.
Young girls are increasingly using sex to bargain for non-essentials such as fashion items and make-up studies have found.
Gender inequality contributes to South Africa's high levels of violence, hampers economic development, places strain on our health care system and is fuelling the AIDS crisis.
Cervical cancer or cancer of the womb is the second most common cancer in South Africa affecting one in every 41 women, according to the Cape Provincial Department of Health. Each year about 5000 new cases are detected and 1500 women die from cervical cancer. The good news is that this type of cancer is entirely curable if discovered in time. A simple pap smear can determine whether abnormal cells that may later become cancerous are present in the cervix. Thandeka Teyise went to Khayelitsha to watch a stage play, Diaries of my Womanhood, which aims to create awareness around cervical cancer and how men should get involved in their partner's health. She spoke to the director and the writer Itumeleng Wa-lehurele.
About 34 percent of women who participated in a Khayelitsha study on mother and infant relationships showed signs of depression. The study titled 'Thula Sana' (a Xhosa lullaby) involved about 147 mothers and was conducted by the University of Cape Town Child Guidance clinic over a period of four years. Dr Mark Tomlinson, a senior researcher at the clinic, said a lack of spousal support was one of the leading factors in Post Natal Depression but that this was not the only cause. Added pressures are unemployment, poverty and single parenting. Dr Tomlinson also found that mood swings after women had given birth could impact adversely on the growth of the infant. Thandeka Teyise of Health-e News spoke to Dr Tomlinson about his research and future plans.
Up to 150 women out of 100 000 die annually whilst still pregnant, during labour or shortly after giving birth in South Africa. That is the finding of a report published recently by the national Department of Health and that follows three years of monitoring and collecting data on the patterns of maternal deaths. Khopotso Bodibe reports.
According to the World Health Organisation some 130 million women around the world have suffered due to female genital mutilation (FGM). Every year two million girls and young women are subjected to this practice that survives despite efforts taken in many of the countries involved to try to eradicate it. While the practice continues in sub-Saharan Africa, some of the Arab peninsula and parts of the Far East, these are not the only regions affected. Emigration to from these areas to Europe, the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand is challenging these governments to find a solution to FGM as it is now practiced in these countries. Khopotso Bodibe of Health-e News Service, reports.
The growing rate of maternal mortality coupled with the spread of HIV/AIDS as well as the low availability and use of fertility control methods are putting a strain on many African economies and have placed the continent in a state of a reproductive health crisis. In an attempt to address this emergency in the region the first-ever conference dedicated to African women's sexual, reproductive health and rights will be held in Johannesburg, from the 4th to the 7th of February. Khopotso Bodibe looks ahead to this crucial meeting.
Andile Galashewe and Zola add their voices to the 16 Days of Activism on Violence Against Women campaign.
Violence against women is one of the most pressing public health problems in South Africa, with rape being more common than tuberculosis, according to Professor Lynette Denny, senior specialist at Groote Schuur Hospital and University of Cape Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology. Kerry Cullinan reports.
What does it mean to be a poor, single mother in the new South Africa? Lots of guilt and anger as women confess to taking out their frustrations on their children, reports KERRY CULLINAN.
Values like freedom, equality and democracy are hollow concepts for women who still are subject to the control of others when it comes to their reproductive rights. The parliamentary Health Portfolio committee held hearings recently to take stock of the implementation of a key piece of legislation passed six years ago, the 1996 Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Act. In this audio report by Sue Valentine, health professionals, social workers and researchers speak about the impact the legislation has made in the past five years.
Midwives at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital who work at the Termination of Pregnancy Unit live under threat from certain colleagues and community members who oppose their right to offer a legitimate service to women who wish to have abortions. Elizabeth Serobe who started working at the unit in 1996 says she and fellow midwives who assist with terminations of pregnancy are often called "child killers" or "murderers" by their colleagues. Serobe says such antagonism will not deter her from doing her job.
Although the Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Act was passed in 1996, its taken a long time for the message to reach many women, especially those in rural areas. Despite resistance from certain social workers, nurses and doctors, the Act gives women the choice whether or not they wish to have an abortion. In this audio report, Pamela Rubushe a Senior Social Worker at Dora Nginza Hospital in Port Elizabeth says before the Act was passed there were many tragic cases of women resorting to back street abortions where they would use extreme measures to abort their unborn babies. This resulted in many women losing their wombs or even dying from infections or loss of blood.
The young girl who shot herself in the stomach to get rid of her unwanted pregnancy has always stuck in Elizabeth Serobe's mind.This image is one the main driving forces behind this Soweto midwife's commitment to providing women in Soweto with a choice to terminate an unwanted pregnancy. This week doctors, midwives, social workers and researchers shared their assessment of the Choice on Termination of Pregnancy (TOP) Act with Parliament.
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