Alejandra knew she was committing a crime when she spent $50 to purchase four abortion pills on the black market in Caracas. If caught, she risked six months to two years in a Venezuelan prison.

The opportunity came via a Whatsapp thread, a forum for secretive dealers to sell all kinds of rare products, at inflated prices.

After countless tears and self-doubt the 35-year-old shoved the pills in her mouth and waited for the inevitable to happen. Five hours later, after heavy bleeding and agonising cramps, she miscarried.

“I was so scared and in so much pain,” says Alejandra, who asked that her real name not be used.

In Venezuela, where ideology is still largely controlled by the Catholic Church, it is illegal to terminate a pregnancy unless the mother’s life is at risk or in the case of foetal impairment. It means that abortion is that second highest killer of women aged 12 to 49 in the country, according to online publication Latin America Bureau, and the cause of 16 per cent of all maternal deaths.

The UN estimates that some 22 million unsafe abortions take place each year worldwide, resulting in the death of about 47,000 women from complications.