Most citizens say pregnant girls should be allowed to stay in school.
Key findings
- Majorities of Mauritians say that contraceptives should be made available to anyone who is sexually active regardless of marital status (68%) or age (56%).
- Most citizens say that abortion is "sometimes" or "always" justified if a pregnancy threatens the woman's health or life (91%) or is the result of rape or incest (82%).
- Majorities also consider abortion justifiable if the woman is economically unable to care for a child (61%) or doesn't want the pregnancy "for any reason" (53%).
- Two-thirds (66%) of Mauritians say pregnant girls should be allowed to stay in school.
- More than nine in 10 citizens (94%) say schools should teach sexuality education to help young people make informed decisions.
- Mauritians overwhelmingly support women's right to decide for themselves whether and when to marry (86%) as well as how many children to have and when to have them (77%).
Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5 takes a comprehensive approach to gender equality by seeking not only to empower women to access higher spheres of decision making, but also to guarantee their sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR).
Keep up with the latest headlines on WhatsApp | LinkedIn
According to the United Nations (2024) Sustainable Development Report, Mauritius still needs to address significant challenges in meeting the targets under SDG 5, including by facilitating access to modern methods of contraception.
The National Sexual and Reproductive Health Policy 2022 and its Implementation Plan 2022- 2027 are a step in that direction, aiming to help women and girls make informed decisions about their sexual and reproductive health (GIS, 2022). In addition, sexuality education has been integrated in the national school curriculum as a means to facilitate access to accurate SRHR information, especially for preteens and young adolescents at risk of unhealthy sexual practices (Haruna, Hu, Chu, Mellecker, Gabriel, & Ndekao, 2018). The most recent national contraceptive prevalence survey, in 2014, revealed that teachers were the primary source of information on sexual matters, underscoring the importance of sexuality education in the school setting (Ministry of Health and Quality of Life, 2016).
Knowledge of contraception is high in Mauritius: As of 2014, 99.6% of married women aged 15-49 were aware of at least one method of contraception, credited in part to the extensive network of family-planning service points across the island (Ministry of Health and Quality of Life, 2016). In that demographic group, unmet need for family planning was 12.5%.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
A decade since the last national survey on the prevalence of contraceptives, reproductive health perceptions and behaviour, and family planning, what do we know about the attitudes of Mauritians on SRHR issues? This dispatch reports on Mauritians' views on SRHR as recorded in a special Afrobarometer survey module in 2024.
Findings show that a majority of Mauritians support access to contraceptives for anyone who is sexually active regardless of age or marital status. Majorities also consider abortion at least "sometimes" justifiable if the pregnancy threatens the woman's life or health, resulted from rape or incest, would leave the woman economically unable to care for a child, or is unwanted "for any reason."
Mauritians overwhelmingly support the teaching of sexuality education in school, and most say pregnant girls should be allowed to continue their education.
Large majorities say that girls and women should be free to make their own decisions about whether and when to marry and about how many children to have and when to have them.
Preesha Ramtohul Preesha Ramtohul is a senior research consultant at StraConsult Ltd., the Afrobarometer national partner in Mauritius.
Zuhayr Mustun Zuhayr Mustun is a researcher at StraConsult Ltd.
