"Yes" to abortion but "no" to sexual rights: the paradoxical reality of married women in rural Tamil Nadu, India

Reproductive Health Matters
T K Sundari Ravindran, P Balasubramanian

Abstract

This study in rural Tamil Nadu, India, explored the reasons why many married women in India undergo induced abortions rather than use reversible contraception to space or limit births in terms of women's sexual and reproductive rights within marriage, and in the context of gender relations between couples more generally. It is based on in-depth interviews with two generations of ever-married women, some of whom had had abortions and others who had not, from 98 rural hamlets. The respondents were 66 women and 44 of their husbands. Non-consensual sex, sexual violence and women's inability to refuse their husband's sexual demands appeared to underlie the need for abortion in both younger and older women. Many men seemed to believe that sex within marriage was their right, and that women had no say in the matter. The findings raise questions about the presumed association between legal abortion and the enjoyment of reproductive and sexual rights. A large number of women who had abortions in this study were denied their sexual rights but were permitted, even forced, to terminate their pregnancies for reasons unrelated to their right to choose abortion. The study brings home the need for activism to promote women's sexual rights and ...Continue Reading

Citations

Jul 26, 2008·AIDS and Behavior·Prabha S ChandraMahendra Kumar
Apr 9, 2013·Global Health Action·Linda SannevingSarah Thomsen
Apr 17, 2010·International Journal of Gynaecology and Obstetrics : the Official Organ of the International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics·Chibuike O ChigbuStella E Iwuji
Dec 9, 2015·Studies in Family Planning·Sushanta K BanerjeeDeepa Navin
Jul 19, 2013·Journal of Health Psychology·Coral Manhas
May 19, 2018·Journal of Biosocial Science·Seema Sharma, Muthusamy Sivakami
Dec 20, 2019·Journal of Biosocial Science·Manas Ranjan PradhanAntim Alok Saraf

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