Abortion stigma was apparent at many levels: women self-stigmatized themselves for having an abortion and kept their abortions secret, while healthcare workers feared being stigmatized by others for being associated with abortion services. Barriers to accessing abortion services included lack of knowledge and misconceptions about abortion, fear of stigmatisation, and fear of lack of confidentiality of service providers.

For young people, barriers included concerns about fees and not being able to attend during clinic hours. Successful strategies to address abortion stigma and its manifestations included:

• Engaging with young people in educational and community awareness activities to successfully increase uptake of abortion services (East Africa)  
• Strengthening networking and partnerships with health services to oppose restrictive abortion laws and strengthen service referral mechanisms (Latin America, Europe)
• Using media in creative ways: one country in Latin America used radio to showcase the varied reasons women have abortions and promote available services while another country in Europe used social media to debate and combat an aggressive government anti-choice campaign
• Using values clarification training with service providers and religious leaders to reduce stigmatising attitudes and behaviours, and view abortions from a public health and human rights perspective (Latin America, West Africa, South Asia, Europe)
• Training service providers and clinic support staff on using rights-based messaging and ensuring client confidentiality to mitigate the impact of stigma on clients seeking abortion related services