Exploring black rural Bushbuckridge women’s constructions and perceptions of the practice of abortion

Abstract

Abortion is a publicly contentious topic as it speaks to and draws on localized understandings of body politics, abortion beliefs, women’s role in society, the sanctity of life, and the role of the state. South Africa’s liberal abortion law has led to the removal of abortion restrictions at the macro-structural level. However, cultural and religious constraints at individual and community levels continue to exist as barriers to women’s access to safe abortion which may put women’s lives at risk. These constraints to safe abortion were explored through giving attention to the context of the participants so as to comprehend the nature of the resistance as well as to understand constructions and perceptions of abortion. This study used a combination of frameworks: the African epistemologies, Judith Butler’s performativity theory and Foucault’s notion of power. Data was collected through individual interviews and focus group conversations with women aged 25-40 in a rural Bushbuckridge area of South Africa and analyzed using Parker’s discourse analysis approach. The results of the study revealed competing and contradicting discourses which provide multiple voices and realities. It highlighted discourses that emanate from African traditional epistemologies that view abortion as a taboo that is punishable by draught and shortage of agricultural products, illness, infertility and contamination of the body, which require ritual performances to alleviate. Furthermore, the findings showed the complexities of sexual reproductive decisions by alluding to conditions of poverty; gender based violence, gendered power relations as well as economic inequality. The findings of this study challenge us to be open-minded and mindful of other realities as scholars, policy makers and advocates of change in order to bring about meaningful and acceptable context appropriate change.