This paper explores the realities and complexities experienced by women in marginalised communities in accessing safe abortion services. It specifically explores the experiences that shape the perceptions and behaviour of Narikuruvar women towards accessing both public and private reproductive healthcare facilities. This is illustrated by the case of a married Narikuravar woman who had undergone self-induced abortion in Kumbakonam, a town in Tamil Nadu. In addition, the paper examines the circumstances that force women in the margins to adopt unsafe, self-induced abortion and discusses the strategies used by the Narikuravar woman for self-induced abortion. This is a qualitative research study and has used a phenomenological lens to capture the individual experiences of the woman across diverse life events associated with pregnancy, motherhood and abortion. The paper describes how contextual factors such as lack of access to resources and decision-making structures intersect with other cultural and gender identities of women. The principal argument here is that the needs, aspirations, interests, knowledge and agency of women from marginalised communities are not recognised in public and private decision-making spaces, and this impacts on women’s sexual and reproductive rights.

Sunil, Bhuvaneswari. (2019). Marginalisation and Access to Safe Abortion / Bhuvaneswari Sunil 4.