Poland is located in Central Europe, to the east of Germany. The population of the country was about 38.4 million in 2018. The population is concentrated in the southern area around Krakow and the central area around Warsaw and Lodz, with an extension to the northern coastal city of Gdansk. Catholics make up 87.2% of the population. In terms of education, women have a literacy rate of 99.7% and school life expectancy of 17 years. At the end of 2014, women accounted for 59% of the total number of people with higher education, 72% of people with post-secondary school or college education, and 54% of people with secondary education.
A “shock therapy” programme during the early 1990s enabled the country to transform its economy into one of the most robust in Central Europe. Poland joined NATO in 1999 and the EU in 2004. With its transformation to a democratic, market-oriented country largely completed and with large investments in defense, energy, and other infrastructure, Poland is an increasingly active member of Euro-Atlantic organisations.
Source: extracted from CIA World Factbook: Poland
Key findings from Population and Housing Census 2011 on the situation of SRHR in Poland are as follows:
Maternal Health:
Contraception:
Abortion:
According to the UN Abortion Policies and Reproductive Health around the World (2014), abortion is permitted to save a woman’s life, to preserve a woman’s physical health, to preserve a woman’s mental health, in case of rape or incest or because of foetal impairment.
Child Early & Forced Marriage (CEFM):
Violence Against Women:
Extracted from Violence against women: an EU-wide survey
Published on December 31, 2014