REPRODUCTIVE CONTROL!;

WHO’S RESPONSIBLE? WHO’S DECISION?

Abstract

The aim of this study was to assess the frequency of various forms of in-law
perpetuated reproductive control asserted on the female and any possible factor such as
education level or early age of marriage which might be responsible for it as various studies
have demonstrated that violence against women has been documented to be perpetuated
not only by male partners but also by the family members of male partners. This multi-centric
cross sectional observational study was carried out on 424 consecutive patients in 6 hospitals.
The mean age (+ S.D) was 33.7+7.8 years and age of marriage (+S.D) was 21.3+2.8
years.116(27.4%) were uneducated, 142(33.5%) had obtained education till primary level,
124(29.2%) had secondary education and 42(9.9%) had higher level of education. Upon asking
about any life time in-law perpetuated reproductive control 205 (48.3%) of the females answered
one or more than question as yes and 142 (33.5%) of the participating females said that the
in-laws advised their husbands to go for a second marriage if they did not become pregnant.
The more uneducated the participants of the study were, more abuse was faced at the hands
of her in-laws (p-value <0.005). The most common form of reproductive control asserted by
the in-laws was telling the husband to go for a second marriage if the female did not become
pregnant and this was most commonly seen in the less educated females (p-value <0.005).In
conclusion increased efforts are needed to involve the in-laws in programs that seek to improve
women’s reproductive health.