Factors associated with the delay in seeking legal abortion for pregnancy resulting from rape

Abstract

AbstractBackground: about 7% of rape cases in Brazil result in pregnancy. Brazilian  women generally are unaware of the right to legal interruption of pregnancy  after rape and try to end abortion in an unsafe manner or last to request the  procedure. Objective: to analyse factors associated with the time of seeking  legal abortion after rape in a public hospital. Methods: this is an observational,  analytical, and cross-sectional study. Data are from medical records of 1,270  women who complained of rape and have requested legal abortion in a public  hospital in São Paulo between 1994 and 2013. The variables age, education,  race, marital status, religion, form of intimidation, vulnerable condition,  perpetrator of sexual violence, number of perpetrators, and police report were analysed in relation to gestational age, according to multiple multinomial logistic  regression models. Results: the delay in requesting abortion at intermediate  gestational age is associated to when a woman is vulnerable (p=0.015), late  gestational age is associated with the presence of a police report (p=0.029) and 48 marital status as ngle (p=0.05). Be a relative of the aggressor is associated with  both intermediate (p=0.016) and late gestational age (p=0.002). Conclusions:  women without partners, who suffered intimidation with threats, in a vulnerable  condition, who made a police report and, above all, who were raped by relatives,  composed the group who took longer to get the health service.Keywords: sexual violence; rape; unwanted pregnancy; legal abortio

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