Why abortion is violence against women

As the world launches into this year's 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-based Violence campaign, Kenya has come a long way in raising awareness about, and addressing, the various forms of violence against women including Female Genital Mutilation, battery, rape and sexual harassment.

The loud, angry condemnation that followed the stripping naked of a woman by a rowdy male mob in Nairobi two weeks ago attests to the fact that violence against the physically weaker sex is no longer acceptable and given time and more vigorous efforts, it will become a thing of the past.

But there is another form of violence against women, more specifically their bodies, that is not talked about much. Sadly, this particular violence is perpetrated by both men and women. It is known as abortion.

This year's campaign theme is 'From Peace in the Home to Peace in the World'. Without peace at home, society and ultimately the world are affected. When abortion is approved at home by parents seeking to escape the shame of unwanted pregnancies in their children, or by spouses guilty of playing the field, this eventually spills over into the wider community and results in bruised, mixed-up generations that are no longer sure of what to believe in.

Every family begins in the womb, the organ that was intended to act as a safe haven for the wondrous work of creating and growing a baby. But when humans become blinded to the beauty of life and, without remorse, desecrate the place where it unfolds, then something has gone badly wrong.

Reportedly, up to 50 per cent of pregnancies in this country are unplanned and unwanted. The African Population and Health Research Centre reported that 464,690 abortions were induced in Kenya in 2012 alone - the year when 'How to perform an abortion' was the most popular Google search topic.

This modern-day genocide - let's call a spade a spade - is routinely explained away by all sorts of clever arguments claiming there is really nothing wrong in dispensing with an inconvenient biological condition.

As the 19th century German philosopher GWF Hegel once said, "Whatever solves a problem on a practical level must be considered moral." His opinion seems to be a tailor-made slogan for pro-choice advocates.

Contrary to the widely held belief that having an abortion always results in long-term emotional trauma, for many Kenyan women who have procured one, this is not the case. Life goes on. Problem solved. Old Hegel must be pleased.

In the words of Wendy Okwiri (name changed to protect her family), who has had three abortions, she approached the 'problem' with a clinical attitude each time. That is how desensitised she was.

"I looked at it exactly like taking a Panadol when I have a headache," said the married 40-something-year-old woman. "It was not a heart-wrenching process and I was not traumatised."

Wendy had her first abortion at age 19; pre-marital, unprotected sex with an untrustworthy man.

"I was simply not competent enough to deal with adult issues like contraception," she continues. "I had no self-awareness or ability to process that the guy was a non-starter, or even to set simple boundaries such as protected sex as a standard for myself."

married women

For a country that has outlawed abortion, it is disturbing that abortion vendors are widely known yet continue to ply their bloody trade unhindered. And it is indeed a business, with the women being regarded as customers.

There was no lack of people to direct Wendy to a doctor who could offer a remedy - her boyfriend as well as her college-mates had all the information.

"I was not alone; my peers knew where to go because they had also done it. I went ahead and did it, no questions asked."

A prominent Nairobi gynaecologist performed the abortion: "It was in, out, painkiller - that was it. And life went on." She describes the staff at the clinic as being very friendly and professional.

Statistics show that most abortions are procured by married women. Twelve years later, now married but undergoing serious unresolved marital problems, a 31-year-old Wendy became entangled in an adulterous affair that ended in another unwanted pregnancy.

By her own admission, Wendy had no capacity for introspection or evaluating interpersonal relationships. "I now put my carelessness down to gaps in my upbringing; I feel I was disenfranchised as a child, deprived of affirmation or proper guidance. This is what it led to."

The modus operandi for round three was the same, only this time Wendy was more hardened. Infidelity was no longer a big deal. She was 35, but just as careless as before. By now, she had the number of children she wanted within her marriage and only needed the requisite cash to sort out the inconvenience of another pregnancy.

Whatever the reason for the high incidence of abortion (ignorance, incest, lack of access to contraceptives, rape), the real situation is horrifying. Modern medicine has managed to perfect the technique of dismembering or poisoning a baby while alive in the womb, then scraping and vacuum-extracting the 'debris' before discarding the 'parts'. This is known as 'safe' abortion.

Back-alley abortionists, on the other hand, sell hope to desperate women via a swig of bleach or a metal coat-hanger inserted into the cervix to kill the child. A ruptured uterus, pelvic infection and death are common side-effects. This is called 'unsafe' abortion.

Regardless of the modality, both have an identical aim: intentional death. In a country whose Constitution states clearly that life begins at conception, clearly the message is yet to sink in. With millions already having been sacrificed on the altar of convenience, what effect will this eventually have on our collective psyche?

And so we come back to the family and the home. Marital dysfunction and disenfranchisement of children coupled with secrecy do not end well. Peace at home means peace in the world. Along with capital punishment and euthanasia, the age-old question of abortion will continue to cause controversy. Our concern today should be to place this conversation high on our agenda and end the cycle of violence against girls and women, including the ones who may never make it out of the womb alive.