Whose bodies are they? Conceptualising reproductive violence against adolescents in Ethiopia, Malawi and Zambia

We use a violence lens to visibilise how adolescents who sought abortion-related care in three African countries are coerced, controlled and punished with regard to their sexual and reproductive health. We suggest the use of the concept of reproductive violence to characterise these diverse experiences. Our data come from a comparative study on adolescent contraceptive and abortion-seeking behaviours in Ethiopia, Malawi and Zambia. We conducted 313 interviews that generated both quantitative and qualitative evidence in each country (2018-2019). Our analysis shows how adolescent bodies are subject to reproductive violence by parents, partners and healthcare workers, situated within a broader framework of structural violence. Reproductive violence manifests in multiple ways, often within a single abortion trajectory, including coercion to accept post-abortion contraception after receiving facility-based abortion services; having few to no choices of contraceptive methods prior to or after pregnancy; parents and relatives coercing adolescents to not/use abortion or contraception; lack of decision-making regarding sexuality or sexual identity; sex and contraceptive use in relationships rooted in gendered and power dynamics with partners; and - ultimately - adolescents' lack of control over their own bodies. We show how these experiences make adolescents vulnerable to the experience and perpetuation of reproductive violence.

Automated summary

The study examines the experiences of adolescents seeking abortion-related care in three African countries through a lens of violence, revealing coercion, control, and punishment in their sexual and reproductive health. These experiences of reproductive violence result in adolescents lacking control over their own bodies, limited decision-making power in regards to sexuality and contraception, and vulnerability to further perpetuation of reproductive violence.