In line with previous abortion findings, nearly half the women interviewed were married or lived with their partner. Teenagers comprised only 19 percent of the group. The accounts show that among wives, failed sterilisations were a significant factor in unplanned pregnancies. Another was the serious side effects women may suffer from contraceptive pills and injections, which force women to resort to riskier, natural birth control methods because husbands refuse to use condoms or undergo sterilisation. For single women, the gender socialisation that says good girls must be sexually ignorant lends itself to sexual exploitation.
Many pregnancies result from a single woman's first, unprotected sexual experience.
Fear of being found out by families often prevents a young woman from using pills. Fear of being seen as sexually assertive also prevents her from insisting her partner use protection. For many women, pregnancy is the result of rape. All want abortions, but not all can have them. Whatever the cause, it can be deeply troubling and worrisome when a woman realises she is pregnant.