Barriers and facilitators to sexual and reproductive health rights for Persons with Disability in Nepal: a scoping review

Abstract

AbstractPersons with disability have the same sexual and reproductive health needs as people without disability but their rights have consistently been overlooked. They face numerous challenges to access sexual and reproductive health services in Nepal, however coherent evidence on nature, size, and extent of these challenges are not available. We carried out a literature review to explore barriers and facilitators encountered by persons with disability while accessing sexual and reproductive health services in Nepal. We reviewed published government policies on reproductive health and disability, searched PubMed database and used google scholar search engine to find literature published between 2011 to 2021 that reported on barriers and facilitators to sexual and reproductive health rights for person with disability in Nepal. Out of 2145 identified literature only 21 literatures meeting the eligibility criteria were included in the analysis. We found inadequate inclusion of PWDs in health sector policies, lack of knowledge about SRH needs, misconception and poor attitude and lack of social support in accessing SRH rights and services. In Nepal, people with disabilities face multitude of barriers in accessing sexual and reproductive healthcare. Multilevel measures informed by further studies on vulnerabilities and experience of different subgroups of PWDs.