“Condom Failed Me”: Activist Dasola Tewogbade Speaks on Multiple Abortions, Stigma, and Nigeria’s Reproductive Health Gap

Nigerian feminist activist Dasola Tewogbade, popularly known as Sisí Afrika, says her journey through multiple abortions since 2018 has exposed her to medical stigma, unsafe practices, and what she calls systemic failure in Nigeria’s reproductive healthcare system.

Tewogbade, 30, is the initiator and facilitator of FIGUR — Feminist Inspiring Gender Unity, Respect, and Equality.

She spoke in a new interview facilitated by WARDC as part of the Memorial Campaign on Ending Preventable Deaths from Unsafe Abortion in Lagos State.

—“Treated Like a Criminal in Hospital”—

Recalling her first abortion at 22 in 2018, Tewogbade said the trauma came not from the procedure, but from healthcare workers.

At the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospitals Complex (OAUTHC), Ife, she alleged: “No anaesthesia or painkillers were used. The same doctor who denied me a bed even though I was close to passing out interrogated me about my private life, mocked me, and forced me to look at the bloody suction, calling it my ‘sin.’ He demanded that I beg for forgiveness and repeat religious confessions. His cruelty was sadistic.”

She said she had attempted a self-managed abortion with medication but did it incorrectly due to lack of information.

“How could I have known? Abortion is shrouded in secrecy in Nigeria, and this silence is why women lose their lives,” she said.

—Paying More for Basic Dignity—

By 2019, Tewogbade said she avoided public hospitals. At a private clinic she paid “an exorbitant fee” and separately for anaesthesia and painkillers, which the doctor allegedly withheld until her condition worsened.

Later that year, she sought long-term contraceptives. “Instead of addressing me, the doctor spoke to my partner, assuming he had authority over my body. My partner redirected him, saying: ‘It’s her body, talk to her.’ The doctor sneered, accused me of promiscuity, and refused to provide contraceptives.”

—When Contraception Fails—

In 2022, she said she relied on condoms and emergency contraception. Both failed.

“Fake pills were circulating in the market,” she said. “This time, the doctor was kind, offering sex education and contraceptives afterwards. Yet, he still refused anaesthesia, dismissing my screams as weakness.”

—Criticism of Nigeria’s Abortion Law—

Tewogbade described Nigeria’s abortion law as “unjust and misogynistic.” Under the Criminal Code, abortion is a felony except to save a woman’s life. Some legal interpretations also include rape and incest.

“What other healthcare service is restricted until the patient is at death’s door? A woman should be able to access abortion healthcare under any circumstances. Her body belongs to her, not to men, not to religious institutions, not to the government,” she said.

During her last procedure, she said she was so enraged she posted the date on Facebook “daring authorities to arrest me. I had done everything right. I used protection, took emergency contraception, yet I was betrayed by fake products and denied reliable healthcare.”

—Access and Education Gaps—

She argued that sex education is inadequate and contraceptives are “scarce, expensive, and often locked away illegally.” She added that married women are often asked for husband’s consent, while single women are told to “consider their future husbands.”

Tewogbade, who migrated to France in 2024, said she can now openly discuss reproductive choices including a hysterectomy, which she wants because she does not want children. “In Nigeria, that is virtually impossible.”

—The Bigger Picture—

A 2024 WARDC report, “Out of the Shadows: Saving Women’s Lives From Unsafe Abortion in Lagos State,” notes that restrictive laws, high costs, poor access, and stigma block safe services.

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“Estimates show that unsafe abortions account for roughly 5,000 maternal deaths every year in Nigeria, or on average, 14 maternal deaths each day,” the report stated. Poorer, less educated, and rural women are disproportionately affected.

The SDG 3 Target 3.1 aims to reduce global maternal mortality to fewer than 70 deaths per 100,000 live births by 2030, requiring improved post-abortion care and universal access to sexual and reproductive health services.

Tewogbade concluded: “The Nigerian government has failed to prevent unplanned pregnancies, yet it criminalises abortion.”

[Rewritten report culled from Eagle Online]