By James Ayers, Deputy Director, Safe Abortion Programming, PSI Global
The global anti-choice movement weaponizes stigma as a strategy for restricting access to safe abortions. By spreading disinformation and villainizing those who receive and support abortion care, this movement aims to make abortion unthinkable— not just illegal.
The good news: storytelling strategies can combat the shame – if the stories are tailored to the audiences we are trying to reach.
Let’s dig in.
The #StopTheJudgement Campaign
Over the past few years, PSI has been working to better understand abortion stigma, reviewing existing literature, consulting with subject matter experts, and conducting original research, including media audits, qualitative research, and online pilots.
We have learned that storytelling tailored to target populations can drive change. Campaigns that have been effective in the Global North like Shout Your Abortion and We Testify are powerful and effective for their Northern audiences, but the stories shared may not resonate with Global Southern audiences because they are not catered to their social and cultural contexts. For example, messages framed around human rights will be less persuasive with groups that prioritize communal rights over those of the individual.
To test this hypothesis, PSI is working with 13 social media nano- and micro-influencers from Lagos, Nigeria to understand their impact in addressing abortion stigma. By incorporating themes and language that have proven effective in combating abortion stigma, the influencers describe how their personal attitudes about abortion have evolved over time. Each influencer is passionate about fighting abortion stigma through storytelling; they all have something powerful to say. PSI is simply helping to amplify their stories.
Using these testimonials, PSI aims to test the effectiveness of an online storytelling intervention to address abortion stigma through a “Stop The Judgement” campaign. PSI uses Facebook to socialize the campaign in Nigeria. At the same time, PSI is exploring opportunities to share these stories via alternative social media platforms and offline channels. After all, people have stories to tell. We just need to give them the platform to do so.
Our Two Cents (and a lot of research) about Abortion Stigma
Abortion stigma – the condemnation of or discrimination against people involved with the procedure – is a significant barrier to safe abortion care. The blame and shame too often associated with abortion drives women to prioritize secrecy over safety when deciding how to terminate a pregnancy, and it dissuades health care providers from offering this essential health service.
Abortion stigma can be challenging to combat because:
- Effective stigma-busting strategies identified by the pro-choice global health rely on interpersonal one-on-one or small group conversations and are difficult to facilitate within large populations.
- Abortion stigma is associated with societal gender roles that situate women’s primary role in life as a mother and caregiver.
- It is also rooted in common false beliefs, such as abortion being physically or emotionally dangerous.
- And it is linked to the concept of foetal personhood – which is not rooted in scientific fact, but, rather, is a religious or philosophical idea.
What’s Next
While minimizing the impact of abortion stigma can be a challenge, it is essential in order to protect access to safe abortion. Women should have the right to choose what to do with their bodies. This is only possible if they are free of the blame, shame, and violence associated with abortion stigma. PSI will continue working to understand abortion stigma and the strategies most effective in working to address it on a larger scale.
While PSI works to find large-scale interventions to address stigma, we’re looking to you for support too. How can you fight abortion stigma in your communities – and help to #stopthejudgement, once and for all?
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This article is a part of PSI’s ICFP 2022 Impact Magazine. Explore the magazine here.
