ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the various structural/environmental and attitudinal barriers faced by people with disabilities when accessing sexual and reproductive health care services. It draws on our research on access to health care services in South Africa and Malawi as particular. The chapter looks specifically at the barriers to accessing reproductive health care that affect women with disabilities and their desire for motherhood. Sexual and reproductive health care covers a range of services, including screening and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), assistance with family planning, and delivery of antenatal, perinatal and postnatal care. Although it is primarily women with intellectual disabilities who have struggled against policies of involuntary sterilisation, all women with disabilities face subtle forms of reproductive control. The chapter concludes by noting that although people with disabilities face many barriers when accessing sexual and reproductive health care, the barriers should not be thought of as insurmountable.
