Editing Reproductive rights (section)

===Africa===
{{Further|HIV/AIDS in Africa}}
[[File:Ian Mackenzie High School Classroom.jpg|thumb|left|A classroom in [[South Africa]]]]
[[File:No Sex Signage in Ghana.jpg|thumb|Ad promoting abstinence in [[Ghana]]: ''No Sex Ad'' (Anti-[[HIV/AIDS]] ― [[signage]]). [[Abstinence-only sex education]] is a form of [[sex education]] that teaches [[Sexual abstinence|not having sex]] outside of marriage, most often excluding other types of [[sexual and reproductive health]] education, such as [[birth control]] and [[safe sex]]. [[Comprehensive Sex Education|Comprehensive sex education]], by contrast, covers the use of birth control and sexual abstinence.]]

Many [[unintended pregnancies]] stem from traditional contraceptive methods or no [[contraceptive]] measures.<ref name=Lukale>{{cite journal|last=Lukale|first=Nelly|title=Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights for Young People in Africa|journal=ARROWs for Change|year=2012|volume=18|issue=2|pages=7–8}}</ref>

Youth sexual education in Uganda is relatively low. [[Comprehensive sex education]] is not generally taught in schools; even if it was, the majority of young people do not stay in school after the age of fifteen, so information would be limited regardless.<ref name=Knudson>{{cite book|last=Knudson|first=Lara|title=Reproductive Rights in a Global Context: South Africa, Uganda, Peru, Denmark, United States, Vietnam, Jordan|year=2006|publisher=Vanderbilt University Press|location=Nashville, TN}}{{page needed|date=February 2017}}</ref>

[[Africa]] experiences high rates of unintended pregnancy, along with high rates of [[HIV/AIDS]].  Young women aged 15–24 are eight times more likely to have HIV/AIDS than young men. [[Sub-Saharan Africa]] is the world region most affected by HIV/AIDS, with approximately 25 million people living with HIV in 2015. Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for two-thirds of the global total of new HIV infections.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.afro.who.int/health-topics/hivaids|title=HIV/AIDS Factsheet|work=World Health Organization|access-date=1 October 2017}}</ref>

Attempted [[abortions]] and [[unsafe abortions]] are a risk for youth in Africa.  On average, there are 2.4 million unsafe abortions in East Africa, 1.8 million in Western Africa, over 900,000 in Middle Africa, and over 100,000 in Southern Africa each year.<ref name=Lukale /> The [[Guttmacher Institute]] estimates that, over the time range of 2015 to 2019, 77% of abortions in Sub-Saharan Africa are unsafe, with a fatality rate of 185 deaths per 100,000 abortions, making it the unsafest region for abortions.<ref name="Bankole et al">{{Cite journal |last1=Bankole |first1=Akinrinola |last2=Remez |first2=Lisa |last3=Owolabi |first3=Onikepe |last4=Philbin |first4=Jesse |last5=Williams |first5=Patrice |date=December 2020 |title=From Unsafe to Safe Abortion in Sub-Saharan Africa: Slow but Steady Progress |url=https://www.guttmacher.org/report/from-unsafe-to-safe-abortion-in-subsaharan-africa |access-date=24 December 2022 |website=Guttmacher Institute|doi=10.1363/2020.32446 |s2cid=234402025 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

In [[Uganda]], abortion is illegal except to save the mother's life.  However, 78% of teenagers report knowing someone who has had an abortion and the police do not always prosecute everyone who has an abortion.  An estimated 22% of all [[maternal deaths]] in the area stem from illegal, unsafe abortions.<ref name=Knudson />

As of 2022, the only countries in Africa in which abortion is broadly legal are [[Abortion in Benin|Benin]], [[Abortion in Cape Verde|Cape Verde]], [[Abortion-rights movements#Africa|Mozambique]], [[Abortion in South Africa|South Africa]], and [[Abortion-rights movements#Africa|Tunisia]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Peltier |first=Elian |date=13 Nov 2022 |title=While Abortion Rights Shrink in U.S., This Small Country Expanded Access |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/13/world/africa/benin-abortions.html |access-date=24 December 2022}}</ref> [[Abortion in Zambia|Zambia]] allows abortion for health or socioeconomic reasons, though there are limitations to access.<ref name="Bankole et al" /> Discussion about legalizing abortion is ongoing in [[Abortion in Liberia|Liberia]] and [[Abortion in Sierra Leone|Sierra Leone]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=10 Nov 2022 |title=UN Report on Sexual and Reproductive Justice Highlights Global Progress (and Lost Ground) |url=https://www.publichealth.columbia.edu/public-health-now/news/un-report-sexual-and-reproductive-justice-highlights-global-progress-and-lost-ground |access-date=24 December 2022 |website=Columbia Public Health}}</ref>

The Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa, also known as the [[Maputo Protocol]], states in Article 14(2)c that governments must "protect the reproductive rights of women by authorising medical abortion in cases of sexual assault, rape, incest, and where the continued pregnancy endangers the mental and physical health of the mother or the life of the mother or the foetus."<ref name="Bankole et al" /> It is the only human rights charter that details conditions for abortion. Since the protocol was written in 2003, 39 countries have ratified it. It has played a significant part in the easing of abortion laws in several African countries.