Suffering in silence: Obstetric fistula in Asia
The reportage from Afghanistan, Nepal and Pakistan highlights the efforts in treating fistula through stories of women who endured and overcame the condition.
Nepal
DHARAN, Nepal –Dhani Devi Mukhiya remembers the days when her relatives shunned her in public and her husband threatened to bring home another wife. For some of the villagers in her community in Nepal, the obstetric fistula that she lived with for seven years was ‘punishment for a sin’ she had committed in her ‘previous life’.
Dharan, Nepal – When Rita Devi Chaudhary gave birth to her first child, at age 23, a small fistula that had caused her mild discomfort since age 10 tore into a much larger injury. As a result, like many of the 2 million women living with the condition globally, she began to suffer chronic incontinence – and constant humiliation and discrimination.
DHARAN, Nepal – At the age of 17, Palesh Devi Rajdhobi was married off to a man she had never met. One year later, she gave birth to her first child. Then another, and another. When she was pregnant with her sixth, she knew something was wrong.
“By the time I was taken to the hospital, it was already too late. Two tragedies befell me. I had a stillbirth and started leaking urine constantly,” Ms. Rajdhobi told UNFPA.