Association Hera XXI participated in the global campaign on abortion rights for the Global Day of Access for Safe and Legal Abortion! #LeavingNoOneBehind. The Youth Group of HERA XXI has collected life stories of women in rural regions of Georgia. Their campaign aimed to increase the discussion of abortion rights, whether it is financially accessible or not, and related issues in Georgian society. The main priority of the 2017 campaign was calling for financial accessibility of abortion services for every women.
I got married when I was 17. I have two kids. I have terminated a pregnancy six times with a method taught to me by my neighbour because I did not have the money for getting an abortion at the hospital. We have financial problems in my family. My husband works very hard, he goes away to work for two weeks at a time, so he cannot help me in bringing up the kids. I try to cope with everything.
Anna, 19 years old, from Tbilisi
When I learned I was pregnant, I was very afraid, maybe because of my age. I was used to taking all responsibilities on myself, but it was very difficult for me to make this decision, and in addition my boyfriend and I are not financially independent. We are students. The amount of money needed for an abortion was a lot for us, which was the main barrier and challenge. All of this had a very big psychologically influence on me.
Georgia has the highest number of abortions in the Eastern European region. Abortion services are not accessible for youth, women living in rural areas or women from vulnerable groups.