Page 67 - IJPS-10-1

International Journal of
Population Studies Access to sexual and reproductive health services

Table 1. Respondents’ demographic characteristics stopped. I felt so ashamed and embarrassed that I swore
not to get any reproductive care product from within my
Characteristics Frequency % neighborhood no matter the circumstances. That is why
Gender the lockdown which resulted in the closure of market
Male 11 27.5 made me so devastated that I had to sometimes resort
Female 29 72.5 to the use of tissue paper during my menses instead of
Age patronizing them.” (PP13, female, 30 years old)
18–25 12 30.0 The implication of the above comments by the
26–33 19 47.5
34–40 9 22.5 participants is that familiar environment influences the
uptake of SRH. As noted by the participants, shame and
Occupation
Civil servant 2 5.0 fear of stigmatization constituted a barrier to their access
Trader 17 42.5 to SRH care within their immediate environment. This
Artisan 21 52.5 perceived behavior could increase risky health practices
Level of education among these people as lockdown meant that human and
Primary education 11 27.5 vehicular movement was restricted. The closure of market
Secondary education 21 52.5 was a serious challenge to access to SRH products because
Tertiary education 8 20.0 the setup of markets in this locality is that once it is closed
Marital status for human entrance, no section of the markets, including
Married 13 32.5 medical stores, can be accessed. This signifies that
Single 27 67.5 COVID-19 had impact on the access and utilization of SRH
Religion services in the area. In addition, many of the participants
Christianity 24 60.0 intimated that SRH products were highly expensive during
African traditional religion 12 30.0 the lockdown. Their expression was that many patent
Others 4 10.0 medicine dealers within their neighborhood capitalized on
Area of residence the lockdown to charge unnecessarily high prices for SRH
Nsukka 40 100 product and services. For instance, a participant stated:
“As the lockdown persisted, my boyfriend stopped
their identity is lesser known than doing so within their using condom on me. He complained that the price
neighborhood where they are recognizable. In few of the has become rather too high and he cannot be buying it
places where some of these products were available, youths every now and then as he has other things to take care
and women were equally put off by the exorbitantly high of. He asked that we should start practicing withdrawal
prices of these products. A respondent stated that: method. I was not comfortable with the idea because
“The lockdown affected my sexual life seriously. It was I was scared of pregnancy and sexually transmitted
difficult for me to get condoms because I never liked diseases (STDs). I had to accept his proposal anyway
buying condom or any contraceptive device from my because I had no option and I also didn’t know when
area for fear of stigmatization on my part and that of the lockdown will be over.” (PP7, female, 25 years old)
my partner. I like going to the market where I have no In the same way, a male participant expressed his shock
business with anybody. I have lived here all my life and I at finding out the price of contraceptives (condoms) at the
know what I am talking about. Closure of the markets was chemist shops. He expressed that price made him resort to
a serious blow to my sexual life.” (PP5, male, 27 years old) condomless sex. He explained that:

The above narrative corroborates that of another “I used to buy one particular condom (name withheld) at
participant who disclosed that experience has taught her the cost of 150 naira (0.36 USD). But during the lockdown,
a lesson about buying reproductive care products from it was sold between 300 naira and 350 naira (0.73 USD)
within her neighborhood and this experience influenced and (0.85 USD) at chemist shops around here. I could not
her decisions and behaviors during the lockdown. afford to use condom all the time considering how often I
According to her: make use of it. I was mainly doing the “withdrawal thing”
“I once went into a nearby chemist shop to purchase even though I am scared at the moment as I am yet to go
sanitary pad during one of my monthly menstrual for a test since then.” (PP20, male, 33 years old)
cycles. After about 5 days that I went back there to get a Implicit in the above narratives is that high cost of
balm, the young man started to ask me if the menses has contraceptives heightened the risk for STDs among the

Volume 10 Issue 1 (2024) 61 https://doi.org/10.36922/ijps.2354