Reproductive Health Choices of Homeless Young Adults in Low-Income Settings and the Cyclical Implications of Gender-Based Violence in Ghana

The phenomena of homelessness and gender-based violence are serious global and public health issues, particularly in developing countries. Both situations predispose young adults to severe psychosocial and health challenges. Together, adolescents and youth form a group called “young people” which accounts for 30% of the world’s population. This stage forms part of their transition to adulthood, and it is characterized by various challenges, including risk-taking behavior, peer influence, homelessness, alcohol and substance abuse, teenage pregnancy, etc. The situation is worse in low-income settings where young adults, both young men and women, face harsh life conditions that drive them to resort to the street and who are at risk of harm, neglect, and abuse. Around 736 million women globally have faced violence, including intimate partner and non-partner sexual violence, at least once in their lives, especially among those aged 15 and above (World Health Organization, Violence against women prevalence estimates, 2018: global, regional, and national prevalence estimates for intimate partner violence against women and global and regional prevalence estimates for non-partner sexual violence against women, 2021). Furthermore, nations classified as least developed by the Sustainable Development Goals have a significant frequency of gender-based violence (World Health Organization, Violence against women prevalence estimates, 2018: global, regional, and national prevalence estimates for intimate partner violence against women and global and regional prevalence estimates for non-partner sexual violence against women, 2021). Homelessness is a serious contemporary concern that affects both high- and low-income settings; however, those in low-income communities bear the brunt of it. Approximately 1.6 billion people worldwide are homeless (Habitat for Humanity, 2015). Youth living in unfavorable settings are unable to make age-appropriate decisions relating to their sexual and reproductive health. The chapter discusses events leading to young adults being homeless and subjected to various forms of abuse or violence as well as the impact of these events on their reproductive health choices.