In our a male-dominated Indian society, women rarely get any say in major decision of the house. From buying a car to sending the kid to school, most important decisions are taken by the male members of a family.
And now in a shocking revelation, a new report suggests that women do not even have 'reproductive autonomy.' The decision of having a child or avoiding pregnancy is usually taken by the husband or the mother-in-law!
What this report revealed
The report that was published in the Indian Journal of Community Medicine’s latest issue included data from 500 women participants, who revealed some shocking details.
- 46 percent said that they could not use a condom because it was their husband's decision
- 39 percent said that they faced forced sex and sexual violence at the hands of their husbands
- 23 percent of these women faced physical violence
- 33 percent of these women faced verbal violence
But the most shocking part of this report was that only 12 percent of these women fought back, while 88 percent never complained.
Dr Nilanchali Singh, who authored this study said that the primary reason for all these problems is that women do not enjoy 'reproductive autonomy.'
Why there's no reproductive autonomy?
"This reproductive control by a man can exist in several forms - economic or monetary control (depriving a women by not giving her money to buy contraceptives), emotional (accusing her of not trusting him, telling her that due to work stress he forgot to buy contraception), and physical (getting angry and violent over her contraceptive requests). Many a time they just ignore her advice regarding contraception. All these behaviours expose her to the risk of recurrent pregnancy and at times, recurrent induced abortion," she told Daily Mail.
She adds that this domestic violence by a spouse or a partner who is in this type of relationship often includes
- Injuries
- Chronic pain syndrome
- Depression
- Suicide attempts
- Substance abuse
- Sexually transmitted infections
- Less frequent contraceptive use
Although the study emphasises that almost 29 percent of these women were illiterate, she presses on the fact that almost 8 percent of these are educated women who are unable to fight back.
“Women in abused relationships have limited decision-making regarding contraceptive use and family planning. Women’s lack of control over her reproductive health is increasingly recognised as a critical mechanism underlying abused women’s elevated risk for unintended pregnancy,” she added.
This study was conducted by Delhi University’s College of Medical Sciences.
Read: Supreme Court: Daughters-in-law should be treated as family and not housemaids
Please leave your comments in the box below. Check out theAsianparent Community for more insightful parenting tips. Don’t forget to take our readership survey to help us serve you better. Like us on Facebook and follow us on Google+ and Twitter to stay up-to-date on the latest from theIndusparent.com!
