Campaigns

A new hotline has been launched in Pakistan that gives information about how women can use the medication misoprostol to have a safe abortion, or to prevent dangerous hemorrhaging after giving birth. Every year 30.000 women die from pregnancy related causes in Pakistan. The use of misoprostol by women themselves after giving birth or for induction of safe abortion can save the lives of 10.000 women in Pakistan every year. Misoprostol is available in Pakistan under the brand names Arthrotec, Cytotec, Cytopan, and ST Mom®.

Women needing information in Pakistan/ hotline numbers:

0307 - 494 07 07 - (Urdu, Punjabi)
0315 - 917 04 08 - (Urdu, Pastho)
0315 - 947 33 99 - (Urdu, Sindhi)

Women needing help in Argentina:

(011) 156 664 7070

Press information:

0054 911 57 37 9584
or masinformacion.menosriesgos@yahoo.com.ar

In Argentina abortion is illegal in most cases. There are about 500,000 abortions per year, most of them clandestine. About 68,000 women enter the public hospitals each year with post-abortion complications, and annually around 100 of these women die.
The goal of the hotline, “Abortion: more information, less risks” is to democratize access to information on the correct way to have a safe abortion using misoprostol.

Press inquiries: +0056 984668855

The Coordinadora Juvenil por la Equidad de Género (Youth Committee for Gender Equity, ‘CPJ’) invited Women on Waves to come to Ecuador to support them in their stuggle to legalize abortion. Moreover we want to inform women of the possibility to do a safe abortion themselves with medicines, Cytotec, that are available in Ecuador.

For help in Ecuador: (593) 098301317

The Women on Waves ship Borndiep stayed in international waters, 12 miles from Figueira da Foz a small holliday town in Portugal, from August 28 till September 9, 2004. The ship was being blocked to enter Portuguese national waters by two Portuguese war ships.

The essence of the-safety-pin campagne is to pull the themes abortion and unwanted pregnancy out of the closet and onto the public agenda. This progress towards an active international debate has an international symbol: the safety pin. Different media explore the themes and each offer simple options that could support the progress: from wearing a safety pin in one's personal surroundings as a personal signature on a petition to actively producing and distributing flyers. The mix of information as well as the significance of the information and need of support is varied in the media displayed here (website www.the-safety-pin.org, flyers, fashion movement).

On 11 June 2001, Women on Waves set sail from the Netherlands with an almost entirely female crew for the Republic of Ireland, a country with the most restrictive abortion law in Europe. Women on Waves was invited by several Irish abortion rights organisations.

On May 18th, a safe abortion hotline was launched by feminist activists in Venezuela. The hotline offers scientific and reliable information about how women can safely use misoprostol to have an abortion in their own home, in order to prevent the harm and deaths that are caused by unsafe abortion. Within one hour of launching, the hotline had already received its first call. In Venezuela abortion is illegal except when the woman's life is in danger.

Women on Waves has visited Spain from October 16 till 21 at the invitation of 33 Spanish organisations (please click here for list) concerned with a better abortion law.

If you need help with abortion in Spain now, click here

Help women get access to the life saving information how they can safely do an abortion themselves. Print this sticker and paste it everywhere; in public bathrooms, cafe's restaurants, busses, trains, waitingrooms, dressingrooms, everywhere.

On June 16, 2003 Women on Waves set sail for Poland. We were invited by a coalition of Polish women's organisations called the "STER committee- women decide", to support them in their struggle for legal and safe abortion. In the mobile clinic of the ship “Langenort”, Women on Waves offered a range of activities and services including workshops and information on sexual health. In additions to these services, the medical staff could also provide safe and legal early medical abortion care (till 45 days of pregnancy) after sailing into international waters, which is 12 miles off the coast, where Dutch law applies.