Posted on Sep 2, 2023
Imprisoned for abortion: Many Rwandan women are now free but stigma remains
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https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2023/09/02/ [login to see] /rwanda-women-abortion-laws-kagame-presidential-pardon-jail
On the day she was attacked, Akimanizanye Florentine had been trying to earn money to help get through a difficult time at home.
Akimanizanye, who goes by Florentine, was in her late teens then, living in northern Rwanda. She says her family had been struggling after her father had died.
She remembers walking home in the evening, carrying the potatoes she'd harvested in a basket on her head, when she passed a man she'd never seen before.
"He asked me my name. I never said anything," she tells me through an interpreter. "I was just running away."
On the day she was attacked, Akimanizanye Florentine had been trying to earn money to help get through a difficult time at home.
Akimanizanye, who goes by Florentine, was in her late teens then, living in northern Rwanda. She says her family had been struggling after her father had died.
She remembers walking home in the evening, carrying the potatoes she'd harvested in a basket on her head, when she passed a man she'd never seen before.
"He asked me my name. I never said anything," she tells me through an interpreter. "I was just running away."
Imprisoned for abortion: Many Rwandan women are now free but stigma remains
Posted from npr.org
Abortion
Sexual Assault
Rwanda
Law
Crime
Posted 9 mo ago
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."She remembers walking home in the evening, carrying the potatoes she'd harvested in a basket on her head, when she passed a man she'd never seen before.
"He asked me my name. I never said anything," she tells me through an interpreter. "I was just running away."
Akimanizanye Florentine, known as Florentine, says she was sentenced to 10 years in prison for inducing her own abortion after she was raped. She was pardoned by Rwandan President Paul Kagame in 2019 and released after serving four-and-a-half years.
The man pushed her down, covered her mouth and raped her.
"And then after he left me, I stayed there almost two hours thinking of what I'm supposed to do next," she says.
Florentine, now in her late 20s, says she was afraid to tell her mother what had happened. About a month later, she missed her period.
"I totally failed to know what to do," she says. "I never talked to anyone about it. It wasn't easy for me."
She subsequently ended the pregnancy — and was sentenced to 10 years in prison for violating Rwanda's anti-abortion laws.
Rwanda's changing abortion laws
At a time when the United States is rolling back abortion rights, Rwanda has been gradually moving in the opposite direction. The nation began loosening its strict abortion laws in 2012, allowing the procedure to be obtained legally from a doctor under limited criteria such as rape, incest, and medically dangerous pregnancies.
The changes came in response to pressure from human rights groups, also and amid a larger effort to improve gender equity that followed the genocide which tore the country apart nearly 30 years ago. But reproductive health advocates say many women still struggle to obtain safe and legal abortions."...
..."She remembers walking home in the evening, carrying the potatoes she'd harvested in a basket on her head, when she passed a man she'd never seen before.
"He asked me my name. I never said anything," she tells me through an interpreter. "I was just running away."
Akimanizanye Florentine, known as Florentine, says she was sentenced to 10 years in prison for inducing her own abortion after she was raped. She was pardoned by Rwandan President Paul Kagame in 2019 and released after serving four-and-a-half years.
The man pushed her down, covered her mouth and raped her.
"And then after he left me, I stayed there almost two hours thinking of what I'm supposed to do next," she says.
Florentine, now in her late 20s, says she was afraid to tell her mother what had happened. About a month later, she missed her period.
"I totally failed to know what to do," she says. "I never talked to anyone about it. It wasn't easy for me."
She subsequently ended the pregnancy — and was sentenced to 10 years in prison for violating Rwanda's anti-abortion laws.
Rwanda's changing abortion laws
At a time when the United States is rolling back abortion rights, Rwanda has been gradually moving in the opposite direction. The nation began loosening its strict abortion laws in 2012, allowing the procedure to be obtained legally from a doctor under limited criteria such as rape, incest, and medically dangerous pregnancies.
The changes came in response to pressure from human rights groups, also and amid a larger effort to improve gender equity that followed the genocide which tore the country apart nearly 30 years ago. But reproductive health advocates say many women still struggle to obtain safe and legal abortions."...
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