
Contraceptive Method Use in Disasters
Chapter from the book:
Şimşek Küçükkelepçe,
D.
&
Nacar,
G.
(eds.)
2025.
Perinatal Period in Disasters: Challenges and Management Approaches.
Synopsis
Disasters are unwanted situations that develop rapidly around the world, can have devastating consequences, and negatively affect humanity and nature. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines a disaster as a sudden ecological event of such magnitude that it requires external assistance. Disaster situations include events such as earthquakes, floods, tsunamis, fires, volcanic eruptions, hurricanes, pandemics, wars, etc., which cause serious damage and loss of life. While all of humanity is affected by disasters, women, who are among the vulnerable groups, are affected more severely both in terms of reproductive and sexual health and due to their social roles. Indeed, studies in the literature indicate that women are more negatively affected than men in disaster situations. In disaster situations, the lack of access to reproductive health services for women in particular leads to unwanted pregnancies, induced abortions, unsafe abortions, sexual abuse of women, and an increase in sexually transmitted infections. For this reason, the use and continuity of contraceptive methods during disasters is of great importance. This section discusses the importance of contraceptive use during disasters, the undesirable situations that may arise as a result of lack of access to these methods, and the importance of continuity of contraceptive services.