Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-mkpzs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T18:25:14.950Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

POST-STERILIZATION AUTONOMY AMONG YOUNG MOTHERS IN SOUTH INDIA

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 November 2013

SASEENDRAN PALLIKADAVATH ,
IRUDAYA RAJAN ,
ABHISHEK SINGH ,
REUBEN OGOLLAH  and
SAMANTHA PAGE
SASEENDRAN PALLIKADAVATH*
Affiliation:
Global Health and Social Care Unit, School of Health Sciences and Social Work, University of Portsmouth, UK
IRUDAYA RAJAN
Affiliation:
Centre for Development Studies, Trivandrum, India
ABHISHEK SINGH
Affiliation:
Global Health and Social Care Unit, School of Health Sciences and Social Work, University of Portsmouth, UK
REUBEN OGOLLAH
Affiliation:
Global Health and Social Care Unit, School of Health Sciences and Social Work, University of Portsmouth, UK
SAMANTHA PAGE
Affiliation:
Global Health and Social Care Unit, School of Health Sciences and Social Work, University of Portsmouth, UK
*
1Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

This study examined the post-sterilization autonomy of women in south India in the context of early sterilization and low fertility. Quantitative data were taken from the third round of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-3) carried out in 2005–06, and qualitative data from one village each in Kerala and Tamil Nadu during 2010–11. The incident rate ratios and thematic analysis showed that among currently married women under the age of 30 years, those who had been sterilized had significantly higher autonomy in household decision-making and freedom of mobility compared with women who had never used any modern family planning method. Early age at sterilization and low fertility enables women to achieve the social status that is generally attained at later stages in the life-cycle. Policies to capitalize on women's autonomy and free time resulting from early sterilization and low fertility should be adopted in south India.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Biosocial Science , Volume 47 , Issue 1 , January 2015 , pp. 75 - 89
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Acharya, D. R., Bell, J. S., Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen, E. R. & Regmi, P. R. (2010) Women's autonomy in household decision-making: a demographic study in Nepal. Reproductive Health 7(15), 1–12.Google Scholar
Acharya, R., Sabarwal, S. & Jejeebhoy, S. J. (2012) Women's empowerment and forced sex within marriage in rural India. Economic and Political Weekly XLVII(2), 65–69.Google Scholar
Afridi, F. (2010) Women's empowerment and the goal of parity between the sexes in schooling in India. Population Studies 64(2), 131–145.Google Scholar
Allendorf, K. (2010) The quality of family relationships and use of maternal health-care services in India. Studies in Family Planning 41(4), 263–276.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bloom, S. S., Wypij, D. & Gupta, M. D. (2001) Dimensions of women's autonomy and the influence on maternal health care utilization in a north Indian city. Demography 38(1), 67–78.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chacko, E. (2003) Marriage, development, and the status of women in Kerala, India. Gender and Development 11(3), 52–59.Google Scholar
Char, A., Saavala, M. & Teija, K. (2009) Male perceptions on female sterilization: a community-based study in rural central India. International Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health 35(3), 131–138.Google Scholar
DasGupta, M. (1995) Life course perspectives on women's autonomy and health outcomes. American Anthropologist 97(3), 481–491.Google Scholar
DasGupta, M., Lee, S., Uberoi, P., Wang, D., Wang, L. & Zhang, X. (2000) State Policies and Women's Autonomy in China, India, and the Republic of Korea, 1950–2000: Lessons From Contrasting Experiences. Policy research report on gender and development. Working Paper Series No. 16, World Bank.Google Scholar
Dharmalingam, A. (1995) The social context of family planning in a south Indian village. International Family Planning Perspectives 21, 98–103.Google Scholar
Dyson, T. & Moore, M. (1983) On kinship structure, female autonomy, and demographic behavior in India. Population and Development Review 9(1), 35–60.Google Scholar
Ghuman, S. J., Lee, H. J. & Smith, H. L. (2006) Measurement of women s autonomy according to women and their husbands: results from five Asian countries. Social Science Research 35, 1–28.Google Scholar
Giridharadas, A. (2008) With India's new affluence comes the divorce generation. The New York Times, Asia Pacific.Google Scholar
Gulati, L. (1993) Population ageing and women in Kerala State, India. Asia-Pacific Population Journal 8(1), 53–63.Google Scholar
ICPD (1994) International Conference on Population and Development. URL: http://www.un.org/ecosocdev/geninfo/populatin/icpd.htm#intro (accessed 12th March 2012).Google Scholar
IIPS & ORC Macro (2007) National Family Health Survey (NFHS-3), 2005–06, India. International Institute for Population Sciences, Mumbai.Google Scholar
Jejeebhoy, S. J. (2002) Convergence and divergence in spouses' perspectives on women's autonomy in rural India. Studies in Family Planning 33(4), 299–308.Google Scholar
Jejeebhoy, S. J. & Sathar, Z. A. (2001) Women's autonomy in India and Pakistan: the influence of religion and region. Population and Development Review 27(4), 687–712.Google Scholar
Kishore, S. & Gupta, K. (2009) Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment in India. National Family Health Survey (NFHS-3), India 2005–06. International Institute for Population Sciences. Mumbai.Google Scholar
Koenig, M. A., Foo, G. H. C. & Joshi, K. (2000) Quality of care within the Indian Family Welfare Programme: a review of recent evidence. Studies in Family Planning 31(1), 1–18.Google Scholar
Malhotra, A., Vanneman, R. & Kishor, S. (1995) Fertility, dimensions of patriarchy, and development in India. Population and Development Review 21(2), 281–305.Google Scholar
Mistry, R., Galal, O. & Lu, M. (2009) Women's autonomy and pregnancy care in rural India: a contextual analysis. Social Science & Medicine 69, 926–933.Google Scholar
Moursund, A. & Kravadal, O. (2003) Individual and community effects of women's education and autonomy on contraceptive use in India. Population Studies 57(3), 285–301.Google Scholar
Mumtaz, Z. & Salway, S. (2005) ‘I never go anywhere’: extricating the links between women's mobility and uptake of reproductive health services in Pakistan. Social Science & Medicine 60(8), 1751–1765.Google Scholar
Niraula, B. S. & Morgan, S. P. (1996) Marriage formation, post-marital contact with natal kin and autonomy of women: evidence from two Nepali settings. Population Studies 50(1), 35–50.Google Scholar
Pallikadavath, S. & Wilson, C. (2005) Paradox within a paradox: the fertility of the lower caste in Kerala. Economic and Political Weekly 40(28), 3085–3093.Google Scholar
Rahman, L. & Rao, V. (2004) The determinants of gender equity in India: examining Dyson and Moore's thesis with new data. Population and Development Review 30(2), 239–268.Google Scholar
Saavala, M. (1999) Understanding the prevalence of female sterilization in rural south India. Studies in Family Planning 30(4), 288–301.Google Scholar
Saavala, M. (2001) Fertility and Familial Power Relations: Procreation in South India. Curzon, Richmond.Google Scholar
Saavala, M. (2006) Sterilized mothers, women's personhood and family planning in rural South India: culture, power and agency, gender. In Fruzzetti, L. & Tenhunen, S. (eds) Indian Ethnography. Stree, Kolkata.Google Scholar
Saleem, S. & Bobak, M. (2005) Women's autonomy, education and contraception use in Pakistan: a national study. Reproductive Health 2(8), 1–8.Google Scholar
Senarath, U. & Gunawardena, N. S. (2009) Women's autonomy in decision making for health care in South Asia. Asia Pacific Journal of Public Health 21(2), 137–143.Google Scholar
Shroff, M., Griffiths, P.Adair, L., Suchindran, C. & Bentley, G. (2009) Maternal autonomy is inversely related to child stunting in Andhra Pradesh, India. Maternal Child Nutrition 5(1), 64–74.Google Scholar
StataCorp (2009) Stata Statistical Software. Stata Corp LP, College Station, TX, USA.Google Scholar
Zavier, F. & Padmadas, S. (2000) Use of a spacing method before sterilization among couples in Kerala, India. International Family Planning Perspectives 26(1), 29–35.Google Scholar