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![A group of people, some wearing Ipas orange caps, sits in colorful plastic chairs. They are listening attentively to a person dressed in traditional attire seated in front of a banner about gender-based violence and a chalkboard. The room has purple and pink walls.](https://www.ipas.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Nigeria-religious-leaders-RS10285a-150x150.jpg)
Combatting gender-based violence is a massive challenge in Nigeria, where nearly one of every three women and girls aged 15-49 has experienced physical violence, including rape and other forms of sexual violence. Ipas has developed a crucial partnership with religious leaders that’s helping to change this.
![Abortion is not a crime. Abortion is not dangerous. Abortion is not rare. Abortion IS health care.](https://www.ipas.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/00-A-Sept28-Abortion-is-NOT5-150x150.png)
![Safe abortion training in DRC.](https://www.ipas.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/6667-A-DRC-WISH-2-150x150.jpg)
![Safe abortion training in DRC.](https://www.ipas.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/6667-A-DRC-WISH-2-150x150.jpg)
A bold new effort to coordinate and catalyze the safe abortion movement across Francophone Africa is under way.
![Mexico Abortion Decriminalization](https://www.ipas.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/7129-A-MexicoDecriminalization-150x150.jpg)
![Abortion is not a crime. Texas SB 8 is draconian and extreme](https://www.ipas.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/00-A-Abortion-is-not-a-crime-TX-150x150.png)
![Abortion self-care with misoprostol](https://www.ipas.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/6919-A-MisoPacks-150x150.png)
In Nigeria, where abortion is highly restricted and access to services is limited, more and more people are self-managing their abortions after going to patent medicine vendors (PMVs) for abortion information and pills.
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![Youth provide support for women and girls affected by the deadly volcanic eruption near Goma](https://www.ipas.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/00-A-DRC-youthvolcano-150x150.jpg)
Representatives of seven youth groups from across the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) are joining forces to advocate for sexual and reproductive health and rights, including safe abortion care in accordance with the Maputo Protocol.
![A group of people, some wearing Ipas orange caps, sits in colorful plastic chairs. They are listening attentively to a person dressed in traditional attire seated in front of a banner about gender-based violence and a chalkboard. The room has purple and pink walls.](https://www.ipas.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Nigeria-religious-leaders-RS10285a-150x150.jpg)
Combatting gender-based violence is a massive challenge in Nigeria, where nearly one of every three women and girls aged 15-49 has experienced physical violence, including rape and other forms of sexual violence. Ipas has developed a crucial partnership with religious leaders that’s helping to change this.
![Ipas at the Generation Equality Forum](https://www.ipas.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/GEF-A-Genderation-Equality-Forum-150x150.png)
![Hidalgo becomes third state in Mexico to legalize abortion](https://www.ipas.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/7035-A-Mexico-IWD-150x150.jpg)
![Repeal Helms Now in front of the Capitol](https://www.ipas.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/6999-A-RepealHelms-150x150.jpg)
Anu Kumar, President and CEO of Ipas, released the following statement in response to the U.S. House of Representatives’ State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs Subcommittee Appropriations Bill’s historic exclusion of the Helms Amendment and critical advances for reproductive justice globally:
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As a brutal civil war in the Tigray region of Ethiopia continues, Ipas Ethiopia is taking action to ensure that sexual and reproductive health care services are a priority at more than 125 health facilities across the region—a move prompted by widespread reports that rape and sexual violence are being used against women and girls as a weapon of war.
![Members of AfriYan – African Youth and Adolescent Network](https://www.ipas.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/6965-A-Makoki-ya-Mwasi-DRC-150x150.jpg)
Legal access to abortion and contraception in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) was officially expanded in 2018, when the Maputo Protocol effectively became the law of the land. But much work remains to make accessible abortion care a reality.