Women's access to family planning and experiences of reproductive coercion during the COVID-19 lockdown in two districts of Uganda

• Published in: Heliyon 2024-05, Vol.10 (9), p.e30216, Article e30216
• Main Authors: Qureshi, Mira J., Miller, Amanda P., Mugamba, Stephen, Kyasanku, Emmanuel, Nalugoda, Fred, Bulamba, Robert Malyabe, Kigozi, Godfrey, Nakigozi, Gertrude, Nkale, James, Kato, Phillip, Nalwoga, Grace Kigozi, Watya, Stephen, Wagman, Jennifer A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 2405-8440; 2405-8440
• DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e30216

In March 2020, Uganda enforced country-wide restrictions to control the spread of SARS-CoV-2, categorizing some health services, including family planning (FP), as non-essential. Globally, similar COVID-19 restrictions have been associated with increased vulnerability to reproductive coercion (RC) among women, due to changes in FP service availability and restricted access by partners. This study aims to investigate these dynamics in Uganda, specifically examining the impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on women's access to FP, their experiences of RC, and the relationship between RC and intimate partner violence (IPV). We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of data from 960 women participating in the AMBSO Population Health Surveillance Study (APHS) between August 2020 and March 2021 across Wakiso (N = 164) and Hoima (N = 796) districts in Uganda. Our analysis focused on women who were sexually active in the past month, using bivariate analyses to explore the associations between RC and recent experiences of sexual, physical, and verbal IPV. The most commonly reported FP methods were injectables (36.8 %) and implants (16 %). Despite the COVID-19 lockdown, less than one percent of participants reported an inability to access their preferred FP method. Notably, 3 % of the women experienced RC in the past 12 months. There was a significant association between RC and sexual IPV (p