Unintended pregnancy and gender-based violence in settings experiencing humanitarian crisis

Abstract

Pregnancy is a physiological condition and is expected to bring joy to the lives of individuals and their family. The available global estimates suggest that almost 50% of the reported pregnancies around the world are unintended. We must note that unintended pregnancies pose a major health risk to women, including a higher risk of maternal deaths, and adverse health and financial outcomes for family and society. Moreover, it is a fact that the delivery of contraceptive services, measures targeting sexual and reproductive health needs of women, and access to life-saving health services during humanitarian crisis takes a toll. In general, women are subjected to gender-based violence, including sexual violence and various types of intimate partner violence in the regions that are experiencing conflict. There is an immense need to strengthen the delivery of contraceptives, including condoms, so that such unintended pregnancies can be averted. To conclude, unintended pregnancy is a major public health burden and has been associated with a wide range of adverse outcomes, especially in settings experiencing a humanitarian crisis. The need of the hour is to take specific measures to reduce the incidence of unintended pregnancy and adopt a multi-sectoral approach to improve the quality of life of women.

Keywords

• gender-based violence
• unintended pregnancy
• united nations population fund