Coming of age? Women's sexual and reproductive health after twenty-one years of democracy in South Africa.
This paper is a sequel to a 2004 article that reviewed South Africa's introduction of new sexual and reproductive health (SRH) and rights laws, policies and programmes, a decade into democracy. Similarly to the previous article, this paper focuses on key areas of women's SRH: contraception and fertility, abortion, maternal health, HIV, cervical and breast cancer and sexual violence. In the last decade, South Africa has retained and expanded its sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) policies in the areas of abortion, contraception, youth and HIV treatment (with the largest antiretroviral treatment programme in the world). These are positive examples within the SRHR policy arena. These improvements include fewer unsafe abortions, AIDS deaths and vertical HIV transmission, as well as the public provision of a human papillomavirus vaccine to prevent cervical cancer. However, persistent socio-economic inequities and gender inequality continue to profoundly affect South African women's SRHR. The state shows mixed success over the past two decades in advancing measurable SRH social justice outcomes, and in confronting and ameliorating social norms that undermine SRHR.
['Cooper|Diane|D|', 'Harries|Jane|J|', 'Moodley|Jennifer|J|', 'Constant|Deborah|D|', 'Hodes|Rebecca|R|', 'Mathews|Cathy|C|', 'Morroni|Chelsea|C|', 'Hoffman|Margaret|M|']
D000028:Abortion, Induced D044966:Anti-Retroviral Agents D001943:Breast Neoplasms D003267:Contraception D005260:Female D015658:HIV Infections D006291:Health Policy D054625:Healthcare Disparities D006801:Humans D008427:Maternal Health Services D011247:Pregnancy D060728:Reproductive Health D046269:Reproductive Rights D012742:Sex Offenses D012935:Social Justice D013019:South Africa D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms D016387:Women's Health D014933:Women's Rights
democracy South Africa successes challenges women's sexual and reproductive health and rights