Strengthening the Voices of Local NGOs

Ipas Development Foundation (IDF) brought together representatives from 26 NGOs working across Rajasthan for a sensitization workshop, ‘Strengthening Voices on Women’s Access to Comprehensive Abortion: Role of NGOs’. The workshop focused on incorporating messages on comprehensive abortion care (CAC) into participants’ fields of expertise and work.
NGOs working on maternal health highlighted the need to improve community awareness on abortion. Participants shared examples of encounters with women, including young women, who as a result of not having access to correct information, put their lives at risk by seeking services from illegal and untrained providers. They also spoke about abortion stigma which often prevents open discussions on abortion within communities. The workshop provided an opportunity to orient participants to the conflation of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) and Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PC & PNDT) Acts with the goal of ensuring access to safe abortion while addressing gender-biased sex selection. The workshop concluded with a short discussion on how to communicate with the media to bring awareness to the issue.