Bringing contraception to the workplace

It’s stressful to worry about getting pregnant unexpectedly, especially when you can’t afford to take time off work or provide for a larger family. Juggling work and taking care of your family is hard, and not having access to contraception or safe abortion only makes it harder.

A lot of women in the countries where we provide services in are in this situation. They want to focus on providing for their families, but they have limited access to contraception and abortion. That’s why we’ve adapted to meet the lifestyles of working women by bringing contraception to the workplace.

Chap Si Yim, a garment factory worker, watches an MSI theater performance about the power of contraception.

Every day, Oeun Vichara sees how difficult it is for female employees to access contraception and safe abortion. A nurse at the Grand Textile Factory in Cambodia, she helps her clients by teaching hundreds of women at the factory about reproductive health and providing those who want it with contraception.

“The women who make the clothes at this factory rely on the money they earn here to support their families,” she explains. “They can’t afford to take time out if they get pregnant. They need the money to feed any children they may have at home.”

Oeun is one of many MSI-trained nurses who talks to women about sex, contraception and abortion in female-dominated workplaces around the world like garment and leather factories, pharmaceutical companies, sugar, tobacco, tea and coffee farms and industrial parks.

Ouen Vichara, a garment factory nurse, teaches women about their options.

90% of Cambodia’s 650,000 garment factory workers are women — many of them don’t know which contraceptive methods are available to them, so they face a high risk of an unplanned pregnancy. If they do get pregnant, they are often unaware of their rights and maternity benefits. MSI-trained nurses like Oeun help them understand their options and make the best choices for their needs.

Women in Ethiopia face similar issues. That’s why MSI Ethiopia trains health workers at flower farms to provide contraception counseling and services at little to no cost to the employees who want them. Across Ethiopia, more than 23,000 flower farm workers now have access to contraception!

Aynalem Asmelash (second from the right) is an employee at a flower farm in Ethiopia and also works as an MSI peer educator. She teaches her coworkers about contraception and dispels many myths, misconceptions and rumors surrounding the different methods.

Tsehay Nemoma works at a flower farm in Ethiopia and receives contraception counseling at work.

By training nurses and health workers that women already know and trust, we are reaching women who would otherwise have no access to contraception. We’re meeting women where they are — and that means more women have control over their bodies, lives and futures.