A1 Journal article (refereed)
Relational, Ableist and Gendered Sites of Violence : Perspectives of Tanzanian Girls With Disabilities on Access to Sexual and Reproductive Health Services (2024)

Mesiäislehto, V. (2024). Relational, Ableist and Gendered Sites of Violence : Perspectives of Tanzanian Girls With Disabilities on Access to Sexual and Reproductive Health Services. Forum for Development Studies, 51(1), 25-47. https://doi.org/10.1080/08039410.2023.2264857

JYU authors or editors

Publication details

All authors or editors: Mesiäislehto, Virpi

Journal or series: Forum for Development Studies

ISSN: 0803-9410

eISSN: 1891-1765

Publication year: 2024

Publication date: 04/10/2023

Volume: 51

Issue number: 1

Pages range: 25-47

Publisher: Routledge

Publication country: United Kingdom

Publication language: English

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/08039410.2023.2264857

Publication open access: Openly available

Publication channel open access: Partially open access channel

Publication is parallel published (JYX): https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/89505

Abstract

Adolescent girls’ access to sexual and reproductive health services is a critical development issue in Tanzania where the intersection of disability and adolescence is compounded by barriers to sexual and reproductive health service access and socially normalised gender-based violence. Using the method of empathy-based stories, I explored the perceptions of 136 Tanzanian adolescent girls with disabilities of how gender-based violence and access to sexual and reproductive health services are intertwined. The findings demonstrate that the intersection of disability and adolescence within sexual and reproductive health services render invisible various forms of violence, which are not only gendered but also ableist. Recognising access to sexual and reproductive health services as a distinct site of violence and addressing the issue in relevant policies and programmes could strengthen the sexual and reproductive health of girls with disabilities. Through an Afrocentric perspective, the findings contribute to the current theoretical constructs used to study disability and development. They call for a reconsideration of relational dynamics in the context of accessible and protected sexual and reproductive health services.

Keywords: gender-based harassment; sexual health; reproductive health; sexual rights; health services; young people; disability

Free keywords: sexual and reproductive health and rights; access to sexual and reproductive health services; gender-based violence; adolescence; disability; Tanzania

Contributing organizations

Ministry reporting: Yes

VIRTA submission year: 2023

JUFO rating: 1