Adolescent girls with illegally induced abortion in Dar es Salaam: The discrepancy between sexual behaviour and lack of access to contraception

This article reports on a study of induced abortion among adolescent girls in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, who were admitted to a district hospital in Dar es Salaam because of an illegally induced abortion in 1997. In the quantit ative part of the study, 197 teenage girls (aged 14-19) were asked for soci o-economic details, contraceptive knowledge/use, age at first intercourse a nd number of sexual partners. In the qualitative part, 51 teenage girls wer e interviewed in-depth abo ut their relationships with their partners, sexu al behaviour, contraceptive use and reasons for non-use, and why they becam e pregnant. The girls were sexually active at an early age and having sex m ainly with men older than themselves. Although most of the girls were in lo ve with and enjoyed sex with their partners, they also entered these relati onships to obtain money or gifts in exchange for sex. Most were not using c ontraception or condoms though they were also at risk of STDs and HIV. Thes e girls were getting pregnant expecting their boyfriends to marry them, or because they did not think they could become pregnant or failed to use cont raception correctly. Most adolescent girls are not a ware of the 1994 Tanza nian policy that gave them the right to seek family planning services and i n practice these services are not being provided. There is a need for youth -friendly family planning services and to make abortion safe and legal, in order to reduce unwanted pregnancies and abortion-related complications and deaths among adolescent girls.