Rights of girls and women: Almost every second pregnancy is unintended

According to the UN, there are 121 million unintended pregnancies every year. Reasons for this are, for example, the discrimination against women, poverty and sexual violence – and wars like in Ukraine.

Almost half of all pregnancies worldwide are unintended. This is according to the United Nations World Population Report. The number of unwanted pregnancies is given as 121 million annually, which corresponds to 48 percent of all pregnancies. According to the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), more than 60 percent of these would be aborted – half of them under unsafe conditions.

Because the supply of contraceptives in humanitarian crises deteriorates, they are also a driver of unintended pregnancies. 257 million girls and women who want to prevent pregnancy have an unmet need for contraceptives, the World Population Report 2022 said.

Mixture of disadvantage, poverty and sexual violence

The German Foundation for World Population (DSW) presented the report together with UNFPA and Development Minister Svenja Schulze. The report is based on new data from the Guttmacher Institute for 150 countries from 2015 to 2019. The Institute is committed to abortion rights.

The authors name discrimination against women, poverty, sexual violence and a lack of access to contraceptives as the main causes of unintended pregnancies.

According to the authors, the report is not about “unwanted babies or happy mishaps,” but how a combination of gender injustice, poverty, sexual violence and limited access to contraception and abortion are making women “make the most life-changing decision – whether to get pregnant or not “, take.

Conflict increases the problem

The authors of the study warned that conflicts such as the Ukraine war could drive up the number of unwanted pregnancies to “dizzying” heights. Because sexual violence is increasing and access to contraceptives is restricted. Presenting the report, UNFPA Director Natalia Kanem cited cases of pregnant women in Ukraine “who knew they would not be nutritionally able to sustain their pregnancy.” There are also examples of criminals “who see the tragedy of war as an opportunity to target women and girls.”

Displaced women experience sexual violence

According to studies, more than 20 percent of displaced women worldwide experience sexual violence. Kanem warned that the official figures are likely underestimated because of the social “stigma” attached to the violence.

The UNFPA director estimated that the conflict in Afghanistan alone is expected to result in 4.8 million unwanted pregnancies by 2025. According to UNFPA, the corona crisis also led to up to 1.4 million unwanted pregnancies in the first year of the pandemic alone because women had no access to medical care or contraceptives.

Abortions with knitting needles

According to the report, seven million women are hospitalized every year after unsafe abortions. These abortions are one of the main causes of maternal mortality. Presenting the report, Turkish doctor Ayse Akin said she had treated “desperate women” who had tried to have abortions with “knitting needles and matches.”

Feminist development policy as a solution?

The authors recommend a feminist development policy that should make more self-determined decisions possible. A wide range of modern contraceptives must also be made available. “Self-determination over one’s own body is a human right and must be granted to all girls and women. Only if girls and women can make decisions about their health and life planning themselves do they have a fair chance of social and economic participation,” explained Minister for Development Schulze .

UNFPA Executive Director Kanem called the report a “wake-up call”. “The staggering number of unintended pregnancies is a global failure to uphold the basic human rights of women and girls,” Kanem said.