Travel distances from institutions designated to detain women and girls to procedural (surgical) abortion facilities in Australia: A geospatial analysis

Abstract

Women are a fast growing population in prisons in Australia. The growing number of women in prisons challenges the ability of correctional services to meet gendered healthcare needs. People in prisons for women face a number of barriers accessing essential sexual and reproductive healthcare needs, including access to abortion. Distance is one potential barrier to accessing care. The purpose of this study was to create a directory of all institutions of incarceration designated to detain women or girls in Australia (including state-based correctional centres, youth detention centres, immigration detention centres, and secure forensic hospital); create a directory of all known procedural abortion facilities listed in state and territory-based abortion service directories and; measure the distance in kilometres and travel time between institutions of incarceration designated for women or girls and procedural abortion facilities. Among the 49 identified institutions designated to incarcerate women or girls, we identified distances between institutions of incarceration and procedural abortion services ranging from 0.4 to 2604 km, with the largest distances observed in Western Australia. The majority of institutions of incarceration were located between 20 and 100 km away from a procedural abortion facility. Despite decriminalization, the availability of procedural abortion varies greatly across Australia, and inequities may be exacerbated for people in state or youth correctional centres, immigration detention centres, and secure forensic hospitals or rehabilitation units. Distance represents just one barrier to accessing essential reproductive healthcare, and further research is needed to identify additional barriers and implications for health equity, reproductive justice and reproductive autonomy.