This thesis considers the social stigmatisation of involuntary childlessness in Sub-Saharan Africa. It explores the socio-legal issues that arise when involuntary childlessness is given a gendered meaning and how this contributes to the social stigmatisation of involuntarily childless women in this developing region. The social stigmatisation of involuntarily childless women in Sub-Saharan Africa has been widely documented in the social science literature. This body of literature on the gendered meaning of infertility and its impact on involuntary childless women has helped to change attitudes and perspectives on involuntary childlessness in the international public health framework. The World Health Organisation (WHO) recently designated infertility as a global public health concern and has canvassed for wider access to assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) in the developing world. The case for wider access to ARTs in the developing world has been made on a number of grounds, including those of human rights and social justice. International public health policy makers have also canvassed for wider access of affordable ARTS based on the notion of universal access to reproductive health care. This thesis queries why the law, unlike medicine and other disciplines, has been slow to respond to the gendered social stigmatisation of involuntary childlessness in developing regions of the world such as Sub Saharan Africa. It explores whether the law can facilitate wider access to affordable ARTs based on the notion of universal access to reproductive health care as canvassed by international public health policy makers. It also considers whether law in its regulatory function can be used as an agent of change to combat and curb the social stigmatisation of infertility and involuntary childless women in Sub-Saharan Africa.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:685497 |
| Date | January 2015 |
| Creators | Egede, Hephzibah |
| Publisher | Cardiff University |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://orca.cf.ac.uk/91231/ |
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