Economic and social dimensions influencing safety of induced abortions amongst young women who sell sex in Zimbabwe

Globally, women, experience inequities in access to safe abortion services and this is most acutely felt in country contexts where legal abortions are highly restricted. Data around abortion amongst young women who sell sex (YWSS) in sub-Saharan Africa are very limited. We conducted 30 focus group discussions and 42 in-depth interviews (IDIs) amongst YWSS (16–24 years) in urban and peri-urban areas of Zimbabwe, as well as IDIs amongst 16 peer educators, five health care providers and four key informants. Our findings indicate that abortions occur amongst YWSS in Zimbabwe but there remain questions over the extent of safety of abortions. The restrictive legal context around abortion and illegality of sex work in the country are key determinants underlying the clandestine nature of abortions. Socioeconomic concerns are key in decision-making around abortions. Youth, cost and lack of referral networks contribute towards unsafe abortions, even when safe abortion services are available. Many YWSS are not aware of the availability of post abortion care (PAC) services and resort to self-administered PAC. Being young and selling sex combine and interact on the economic and social levels to produce vulnerabilities greater than their sum to experiencing unsafe abortion.