Victoria Atieno was waiting at a Nairobi bus stop when she felt blood gush from her body, the result of a secret, self-induced abortion — a method used by thousands of Kenyan women, with potentially fatal consequences.
Kenya’s constitution eased access to abortions in 2010 but entrenched stigma about the procedure means that many women resort to traditional practices or backstreet clinics which put their life in jeopardy.
Even a reproductive health counsellor like Atieno — her mind blanketed with fear — ended up gulping down a herbal concoction to induce an abortion in secret.
Hours later, as she experienced a public and hugely traumatic termination, she faced a flood of abuse from onlookers, living out the very nightmare she had tried to avoid.
“People will condemn you, criminalise you, try to chase you out of the community,” the 35-year-old mother-of-three told AFP.
Many women will do anything to avoid that fate, from drinking bleach to using knitting needles or clothes hangers to end their pregnancies.
The results are horrific, ranging from ruptured uteruses, cervical tears and vaginal cuts to severe infections, bleeding and death.
