Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41360472›Full record

ArticleBMJ open2025

Intersections of menstruation, gender-based violence and contraceptive use: qualitative insights from girls and young women's experiences in western Kenyan family planning clinics.

Erin A Hartman, Cicely Marston, Jane Namwebya, Eunice Asala, Wilkister Ombidi, Florence Thungu, George Odwe, Manuela Colombini, Neha S Singh, Ana Maria Buller

Abstract read
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Article in BMJ open, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

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0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

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3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

Erin A HartmanPublic Health, Environments and Society, Faculty of Public Health and Policy, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK erin.hartman@lshtm.ac.uk.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9499-6109
Cicely MarstonNuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, England, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5529-4646
Jane NamwebyaPopulation Council Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya.
Eunice AsalaPopulation Council Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya.
Wilkister OmbidiPopulation Council Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya.
Florence ThunguPopulation Council Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya.
George OdwePopulation Council Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5330-2366
Manuela ColombiniDepartment of Global Health and Development, Faculty of Public Health and Policy, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7487-9634
Neha S SinghDepartment of Global Health and Development, Faculty of Public Health and Policy, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0057-121X
Ana Maria BullerDepartment of Global Health and Development, Faculty of Public Health and Policy, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3007-9747

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveTo examine how menstruation, contraceptive use and gender-based violence intersect to shape the sexual and reproductive health and autonomy of girls and young women in Kenya.

designQualitative study exploring girls and young women's experiences with contraceptive use and menstrual management, using in-depth interviews and focus group discussions analysed through a reflexive thematic approach.

settingFour county-run family planning clinics in Uasin Gishu County, Kenya.

participants77 girls and young women aged 15-19 years (via 35 in-depth interviews and 7 focus group discussions) and 27 family planning clinic providers (via 5 focus group discussions).

resultsInterviewees' contributions suggest that covert contraceptive use, when discovered through menstrual monitoring, provoked intimate partner violence. Heavy menstrual bleeding, whether related to contraceptive use or not, was viewed as a sexual restriction and also fuelled intimate partner violence. Furthermore, the inability to afford sanitary pads, combined with the stigma surrounding menstruation, drove some girls and young women into exploitative sexual relationships, often resulting in unwanted or unintended pregnancies.

conclusionsMenstrual bleeding and contraceptive use, both independently and in combination, affect girls and young women's reproductive autonomy and overall health and well-being, particularly in relation to gender-based violence. Improving menstrual hygiene management, challenging the stigma and harmful norms tied to menstruation and contraception and ensuring safe contraceptive use are integral to improving sexual and reproductive health and autonomy and are requisite for preventing and eradicating gender-based violence.

Indexed as

Contraception BehaviorFamily Planning ServicesGender-Based ViolenceMenstruationAdolescentAdultFemaleFocus GroupsHumansInterviews as TopicIntimate Partner ViolenceKenyaQualitative ResearchReproductive HealthYoung AdultAdolescentGender-Based ViolencePublic HealthReproductive MedicineSexual Medicine

Identifiers

PMID41360472
PMCPMC12684201

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LicenceCC BY-NC
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.