ArticleInternational journal for equity in health2026
'They don't see us to be sexual beings': barriers to sexual intimacy and reproductive rights among women with disabilities in northern Ghana.
Article in International journal for equity in health, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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.
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundWorldwide, women with disabilities experience more difficulty realising sexual intimacy and their reproductive rights compared to those without disability. However, contextual empirical evidence on specific barriers to sexual intimacy and reproductive rights in Sub-Saharan Africa is scant. The purpose of this study was to explore the barriers to achieving sexual intimacy and reproductive rights among women with disabilities in northern Ghana.
methodsA descriptive phenomenological qualitative study was conducted in Northern Ghana. A total of 77 reproductive-aged women with disabilities were purposively selected and individually interviewed. Thematic content analysis technique was used to analyse and present the data.
resultsWomen with disabilities encountered seven intersectional barriers to realising sexual intimacy and reproductive rights depending on disability type. These included negative public perception that women with disabilities are not sexually attractive; mobility challenges which limit opportunities for meeting potential sexual partners; lack of social support; fear that women with disabilities may give birth to children with disabilities; stereotypes that women with disabilities may not fulfil their mothering roles; limited access to reproductive health information and services; and the fact that they are often not believed in cases where they complain about sexual abuse.
conclusionPublic education about the sexuality and reproductive rights of women with disabilities is needed. Improvement in access to physical healthcare infrastructure as well as to essential reproductive health information and services would also be critical in helping WWDs realise their reproductive rights.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.