Managing unwanted pregnancies in humanitarian settings. The case of Venezuelan women in Colombia

Abstract

According to UNHCR (2019), from the current 25.9 million refugees worldwide, 48% are women and girls. Gender carries specific vulnerabilities, which can also be traced in humanitarian settings. Particularly, sexual abuse is part of the threats to security that women suffer at every stage of displacement. A study by Lehmann (2002) finds that this "high exposure to frequent, forced and unprotected sex clearly puts refugee women at high risk of unwanted pregnancy", combined with the fact that there is "limited or interrupted access to contraception and little or no access to emergency contraception", or even access to proper information. As a consequence, the UN Population Fund identified that "between 25% and 50% of maternal beds in refugee settings are due to complications of unsafe abortions" (Lehmann, 2002). However, academic research and providers of services, if at all preoccupied with Sexual and Reproductive Health, have focused on contraceptive methods and/or childbirth: the question of ending a pregnancy has long remained a taboo. This study explores policy frameworks for the management of unwanted pregnancies in humanitarian settings, so as to critically address women's health needs in these contexts. It does so by analyzing the core legally-binding documents of International Humanitarian...