The school system has been infiltrated by illegal abortion providers who have planted agents to direct pregnant girls to them, a new study by a team of medical researchers has revealed.
"Communities have developed elaborate but illegal abortion-referral systems involving schools, parents, health workers, herbalists and even the police," says the lead researcher, Joachim Osur of Amref Health Africa.
The team included Dr Alloys Orago, former head of the National Aids Control Council, Dr Elizabeth Bukusi of Kenya Medical Research Institute and Dr. Isaac Mwanzo of Kenyatta University.
In the study published in the current African Journal of Reproductive Health, the researchers claim clandestine abortion providers they interviewed told them how they have put systems in place for girls in need to reach them.
"My cousin, a student at a nearby school and a neighbour's daughter in another school act as my agents, referring needy girls my way," one of the illegal, abortion service providers is said to have told the researchers.
Dr Osur told The Standard yesterday that even teachers are aware of the system and use it to refer girls they may have impregnated to backstreet abortion providers.
On the other hand, parents were found to protect teachers who had impregnated their girls against disciplinary action.
"In fact, there are instances when the head teachers have reported errant teachers to the Teachers Service Commission, only for the parents of the girls to defend them and let them go scot-free," a teacher told the researchers.
Poor parents, the team writes in the journal, see such relationships as a source of income and encourage their daughters to get involved.
The team followed 320 women, who were being treated for abortion complications at various health facilities, for a year.
Illegal abortion providers, the study says, negotiate with the police and always go scot-free. "The provider and the police appeared to sort the cases out of court," the report says.
The researchers were surprised that in more than 90 per cent of the instances where a pregnant girl approached a friend, relative, mother, teacher or the man responsible for advice, they were advised to go for an illegal abortion.
Topping the list of those who wouldn't hesitate to advise a pregnant girl to procure an abortion even when they want to keep the pregnancy are the men responsible, followed by girlfriends and then mothers.
The study found out that the man responsible for pregnancies, girlfriends and the mothers of the girls were the most consulted at 64, 32 and 23 per cent respectively.
"92 per cent of advice was for the woman to abort," says the report.
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Of 212 men responsible for pregnancies, when asked what to do by the girls, 193 told them to abort, five advised the girl to keep the child and 13 told them to make their own decision. According to the study, the main reason why men advised their girlfriends to abort was to avoid embarrassment or taking responsibility of mother and child.
On the other hand, out of 69 mothers who had been asked for advice by their pregnant daughters, 66 told them to abort and only three were for keeping the pregnancy.
According to the study, most of the mothers also advised an abortion to avoid embarrassment.
The team recommends that the networks in the referral system be used in any interventions targeting the reduction of unsafe abortions.