Who answers my questions at Jacarandas?

Dozens of women write to us daily in search of information related to abortion and other issues related to sexual and reproductive health. 82% of women who write with questions related to abortion are under 28 years of age and of these, 28% are minors. This is possible because the Jacarandas Line manages a more personal approach with each person who writes to us. Robots or automatic responses are not used, but completely personalized attention is provided to each person.

This is possible because the Jacarandas Line team is made up of young women who can more easily empathize with the people who write to us. However, most people don't know the profile of those responsible for answering their messages and answering their questions, so here we are going to tell you how we work.

In the beginning, we were a team made up only of lawyers trained in abortion. But why lawyers? Because of the nature of access to abortion in Colombia, it is important to know the legal framework and to know how to use the tools available to assert our rights. In addition, the same World Health Organization has established that professional training in medicine is not necessary to be able to train in abortion.

However, as more and more inquiries arrived at the Jacarandas Line, we identified that many women had medical questions about their sexual and reproductive health. So, we were faced with the need to have a professional doctor who had the specialized knowledge in these subjects to be able to provide personalized answers to each woman who writes to us. However, this health professional is not responsible for speaking directly with users since most of the consultations are focused on access to abortion.

This year we decided to have the support of a psychologist so that, together with a lawyer, she can attend the Line. We identify the need to have this professional profile since we receive many inquiries about issues related to gender-based violence in which women seek first psychological support. So, the professional is trained in abortion and in psychological care for those who need it.