Malawi could save thousands of dollars in postabortion care and treatment following the recent High Court groundbreaking decision that gives survivors of sexual violence the right to access safe abortion services.
The ruling, which follows a claim by a 14-year-old girl who was denied an abortion after being raped, determined that refusing to provide abortion to survivors of sexual violence was in violation of Malawi's Gender Equality Act and has far-reaching implications for women’s health and rights.
Francis Makiya, a medical doctor who is also the general secretary of the Coalition for the Prevention of Unsafe Abortion, or COPUA — a grouping of 60 organizations advocating for safe abortion in Malawi — told Devex that while the ruling removes the ambiguity in the provision of abortion to survivors of sexual violence, it also reduces the costs associated with postabortion care.
About the author
Madalitso Wills KatetaMadatso_Kateta
Madalitso Wills Kateta is a Malawi-based Devex contributing reporter. He specializes in gender, human rights, climate change, politics, and global development reporting. He has written for the Thomson Reuters Foundation, The New Humanitarian, African Arguments, Equal Times, and others.
