When Phephisile Mathizerd was 21 and her friend had an unwanted pregnancy she had no idea how to help her.
“She didn’t know where to go. I didn’t know where to go. I didn’t think of asking my mom or her mom where to go. I went to Google and found Marie Stopes‚ but I could have easily stumbled on an illegal facility‚” she said.
Now‚ years later‚ Mathizerd is spearheading an initiative to help women locate safe facilities for abortions in the form of an SMS portal called Fem.
The service provides users with a referral to a safe abortion clinic‚ vetted by social enterprise safe2choose‚ at their fingertips.
“The reason we chose SMS is because it is very basic and easy to understand. A huge number of people don’t have smartphones. We wanted to make sure that we reach women regardless of their device‚” Mathizerd said.
SMS “FEM” to 30816‚ answer a few questions anonymously and receive a referral to a facility based on your geolocation. If you are uncomfortable with sharing your location‚ you are directed to a manual directory to find a clinic near you.
The portal‚ launched last week‚ is being piloted in Gauteng before it is rolled out nationwide. Fem is free on the MTN‚ Vodacom and Telkom Mobile networks‚ with Cell C joining soon.
The need for a service like this became obvious when engaging with available research‚ Mathizerd said.
A 2016 fact sheet by applied research organisation HEARD‚ affiliated with the University KwaZulu-Natal‚ reported that 30% of South African women don’t know abortion is legal and estimated that 50% of abortions are performed outside designated healthcare facilities.
The stigmatisation of termination of pregnancy procedures and poor access to information are some of the barriers keeping women from accessing safe abortions‚ Mathizerd said.
“Women find themselves wasting a lot of time [searching for a place to access an abortion] and the longer you wait the fewer options you have.”
Fem tells women where they can go for an abortion‚ how they can get there and how much services cost.
Currently there are only six facilities listed on the platform but safe2choose expect more to be added by the end of the month. It visits facilities and only allows them on the platform if safe2choose’s safety criterion is met.
“We look at visibility and ease of access through public transport. Facilities must be properly branded. We also look at the look and feel of the environment – is there toilet paper‚ are the floors clean‚ does the facility smell?”
Privacy and discretion is of utmost importance if a facility hopes to make the cut‚ Mathizerd said.
“Women get stuck with a half abortion and lose their lives because of simple things like privacy‚” she said. — TMG Digital
New initiative to help women locate safe abortion services
When Phephisile Mathizerd was 21 and her friend had an unwanted pregnancy she had no idea how to help her.
“She didn’t know where to go. I didn’t know where to go. I didn’t think of asking my mom or her mom where to go. I went to Google and found Marie Stopes‚ but I could have easily stumbled on an illegal facility‚” she said.
Now‚ years later‚ Mathizerd is spearheading an initiative to help women locate safe facilities for abortions in the form of an SMS portal called Fem.
The service provides users with a referral to a safe abortion clinic‚ vetted by social enterprise safe2choose‚ at their fingertips.
“The reason we chose SMS is because it is very basic and easy to understand. A huge number of people don’t have smartphones. We wanted to make sure that we reach women regardless of their device‚” Mathizerd said.
SMS “FEM” to 30816‚ answer a few questions anonymously and receive a referral to a facility based on your geolocation. If you are uncomfortable with sharing your location‚ you are directed to a manual directory to find a clinic near you.
The portal‚ launched last week‚ is being piloted in Gauteng before it is rolled out nationwide. Fem is free on the MTN‚ Vodacom and Telkom Mobile networks‚ with Cell C joining soon.
The need for a service like this became obvious when engaging with available research‚ Mathizerd said.
A 2016 fact sheet by applied research organisation HEARD‚ affiliated with the University KwaZulu-Natal‚ reported that 30% of South African women don’t know abortion is legal and estimated that 50% of abortions are performed outside designated healthcare facilities.
The stigmatisation of termination of pregnancy procedures and poor access to information are some of the barriers keeping women from accessing safe abortions‚ Mathizerd said.
“Women find themselves wasting a lot of time [searching for a place to access an abortion] and the longer you wait the fewer options you have.”
Fem tells women where they can go for an abortion‚ how they can get there and how much services cost.
Currently there are only six facilities listed on the platform but safe2choose expect more to be added by the end of the month. It visits facilities and only allows them on the platform if safe2choose’s safety criterion is met.
“We look at visibility and ease of access through public transport. Facilities must be properly branded. We also look at the look and feel of the environment – is there toilet paper‚ are the floors clean‚ does the facility smell?”
Privacy and discretion is of utmost importance if a facility hopes to make the cut‚ Mathizerd said.
“Women get stuck with a half abortion and lose their lives because of simple things like privacy‚” she said. — TMG Digital
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