Engaging police to improve access to safe abortion

Abortion remains in the criminal law in nearly every country in the world. As arbiters of the law, law enforcement agencies—including police and prosecutors—are important stakeholders in both quality abortion and care for complications from unsafe abortion. In Ghana, Nigeria and Zambia, Ipas has engaged police through training and sensitization meetings to support access to safe abortion and understand unsafe abortion as a public health rather than a criminal issue. Ipas interventions have resulted in a decrease in arrest and harassment of abortion providers and referrals by police to safe abortion facilities. The success of these initiatives rests on key components, which include involvement of a champion within the police service, creation of a safe space for police officers to share their experience with abortion, values clarification activities and presentations by an authority on the law. In June 2014, Ipas will publish a toolkit on engaging police on abortion issues, which is based on experiences of Ipas staff and police in three African countries. The toolkit draws from national-level police workshops in Ghana, Nigeria and Zambia and a January 2014 regional meeting of Ipas staff, lawyers and police on engaging police to ensure access to safe abortion. This presentation will focus on the key components of a successful program with police and will introduce the toolkit.