Disparities in Accessing Sexual and Reproductive Health Services at the Intersection of Disability and Female Adolescence in Tanzania

Virpi Mesiäislehto, Hisayo Katsui and Richard Sambaiga
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Virpi Mesiäislehto: Department of Social Sciences and Philosophy, University of Jyväskylä, 40014 Jyväskylä, Finland
Hisayo Katsui: Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Helsinki, 00014 Helsinki, Finland
Richard Sambaiga: Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Dar es Salaam, 35091 Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 4, 1-14

Abstract: Despite at times having greater needs for sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services, adolescents with disabilities often face challenges when trying to access them. This inaccessibility is further exacerbated during female adolescence. The qualitative study examines how SRH services respond to the characteristics of Tanzanian adolescent females with disabilities. We used the method of empathy-based stories to investigate the perceptions of 136 adolescent females with disabilities of their access to SRH services in Tanzania. The study used thematic content analysis and the Levesque model of health care access was applied as an analytical framework. The results demonstrate that discrimination affects access at different phases of care-seeking, that affectionate behaviour of providers is a central enabler of access, and that for this population access relies on a collective effort. We propose that affection, as an enabler of access, is as an additional provider dimension of access to SRH services for adolescents with disabilities, serving as a “reasonable accommodation” to the health care systems in southern contexts and beyond.

Keywords: sexual and reproductive health services; adolescence; disability; Tanzania; access to health care; inequality; SRHR (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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