Social Group Membership Associated with Accurate Abortion Knowledge among Women in Rural Malawi

Valerie A. Paz Soldan, Tulane University

Using a sample of 835 women in rural Malawi, we examined whether women’s participation in any type of social group was associated with their knowledge about abortion, as well as different types of abortion (whether accurate or not): dilation & curettage (D&C) and/or manual vacuum aspiration (MVA), overdosing on medications, or using traditional medicines. Using logistic regression models, we find evidence that group membership is positively associated with knowledge about D&C and/or MVA for abortions. Women in groups were also more likely to have heard about overdosing on medications as a way to abort than women not in groups. We find no association between group membership and having heard of using traditional medicines to abort, but we find that women between the ages of 20-34 are more likely to have heard of using traditional medicines compared to women between the ages of 15 and 19.