Abortion in Kenya: The Tyranny of Silence

Abstract

Africa occupies a peripheral status in the global political economy, but is not isolated from trends and attitudes spreading from elsewhere in the world. These changes and ideas are altering customs and beginning to promote demand for smaller family sizes. Abortion is likewise being discussed more often for reasons that cannot be explained in terms of indigenous factors alone, even though it had always, to some extent, been practised. Abortion is both a social and a health problem in sub-Saharan Africa (hereafter, Africa), to date largely neglected. This chapter helps fill in some of the knowledge gap, explaining why abortion is emerging as a problem, and why it has still not reached agenda status in Kenya, a country long regarded as a benchmark for a huge continent.