The reproductive reality of Bolivian women ; The reproductive reality of Bolivian women: Interviews and observations within three public hospitals in La Paz and El Alto

Abstract

This paper is an account of the evidence collected and observations carried out within three public hospitals in La Paz and El Alto (Bolivia) in 2004. It aims to show the reproductive reality of the Bolivian women we met with, a revealing reality from the exercise relating to their reproductive and sexual rights, recently acknowledged as human rights by the International Community. In spite of many social and political efforts, the indicators of type and reproductive and sexual health of the country remain among the lowest in the region. Most of pregnancies was described as unplanned and were often proved to be unwanted. Those unintended pregnancies are connected with the knowledge and the use of contraception in the country, and lead us to look at the unsatisfied demand in matters relating to contraception among those patients questioned and Bolivian women in general, according to official statistics. All these realities described and observed are closely related to the illegal and insalubrious practice of the abortion, which is responsible for maternal deaths. The analysis we put forward to explain such a reality is that Bolivian women are subjected to various political, social, cultural and medical controls, which prevent them from making decisions about their own reproductive and sexual lives.