Shakespeare in Hindi? Acting out to save lives in India

15.12.2008 Thirty-seven years ago, India enacted the liberal Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, thereby allowing Indian women to terminate pregnancies under a broad range of conditions. Unfortunately, many Indian women, especially those living in rural areas, are still unaware that abortion is legal and continue to resort to unsafe services, risking their health and their lives. Ipas is exploring innovative and creative ways to reach these women whose health and lives are in danger because they lack access to information. One strategy seems to garner particular enthusiasm: street drama!

Every hour, an Indian woman will die from an unsafe abortion. Women living in rural settings are especially at risk as they are often more isolated than urban women and must rely on husbands or relatives, rather than health-care providers or medical literature, for health information. With little or no education and low rates of literacy, many women cannot benefit from traditional sources of information such as newspapers and pamphlets. In addition, there may be little access to electricity in rural villages which means women do not have access to information on the television or the radio. To overcome these barriers to information, Ipas India is piloting innovative communication strategies to bring information on abortion to 253 villages in Jharkhand state in Eastern India.