@article{fdi:010058283,
  title = {{R}epresentations and uses of emergency contraception in {W}est {A}frica : a social anthropological reading of a northern medicinal product},
  author = {{T}eixeira, {M}. and {G}uillaume, {A}gn{\`e}s and {F}errand, {M}. and {A}djamagbo, {A}gn{\`e}s and {B}ajos, {N}.},
  editor = {},
  language = {{ENG}},
  abstract = {{S}ince the early 2000s a new form of progesterone based emergency contraception with no side effects has been on the {A}frican market, aimed at reducing contraceptive failure rates and the mortality associated with the practice of unsafe abortion. {S}tudies of emergency contraception ({EC}) carried out in {W}est {A}frica have only examined opinions and knowledge about {EC}. {W}e hypothesized that representations and uses of this method takes place at the intersection of two dimensions: (i) a "{N}orthern" pharmaceutical norm, and (ii) local understandings of the timing of conception. {T}o test this hypothesis we used a discourse analysis of semi-structured interviews with 149 women and 77 with men aged between 18 and 40, of varying marital, social and professional status, resident in {D}akar, {O}uagadougou and {A}ccra. {T}he interviews were conducted in 2005-2007. {EC} is overwhelmingly perceived as a {N}orthern medical treatment which encourages greater sexual freedom for women. {M}any respondents, both male and female, believe that {EC} is a "chemical" product that may cause sterility, and there is severe questioning of its supposed abortifacient character. {EC} is being used as recommended by the medical profession - in an occasional manner and in cases of urgent need; but it is also being used, like other post-coital methods which women have long employed, in a programmed and repeated manner. {O}n the one hand the social issue raised by {EC}, namely the weakening of control by men of the sexuality and fertility of women, may be an obstacle to its diffusion. {O}n the other hand, it may in the end be viewed as simply another post-coital method, whose use is framed by the prevailing systems of temporal representations in the three countries concerned in the study.},
  keywords = {{E}mergency contraception ; {U}rban {A}frica ; {S}ocial representation ; {A}nthropology ; {S}exuality ; {G}ender ; {BURKINA} {FASO} ; {SENEGAL} ; {GHANA} ; {AFRIQUE} {DE} {L}'{OUEST}},
  booktitle = {},
  journal = {{S}ocial {S}cience and {M}edicine},
  volume = {75},
  numero = {1},
  pages = {148--155},
  ISSN = {0277-9536},
  year = {2012},
  DOI = {10.1016/j.socscimed.2012.02.038},
  URL = {https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010058283},
}