Men’s Attitude Towards Contraception and Sexuality, Women’s Empowerment, and Demand Satisfied for Family Planning in India
Outcomes: Sexual and Reproductive Health
View SourceKey Social Norms Take-aways Gender norms that reinforce male authority and stigmatize women’s contraceptive use remain major barriers to family planning access in India. Programs must work at the community level to transform harmful beliefs among men, promote women’s empowerment across multiple domains (especially employment), and create supportive environments for women’s reproductive decision-making.
Objectives This study examined how men’s attitudes toward contraception and control over women impact women’s ability to satisfy their family planning needs in India. It also investigated whether women’s empowerment indicators (education, employment, and age at marriage) could offset the negative effects of these harmful gender norms.
Methods Researchers analyzed data from the 2015–2016 India National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4), focusing on 323,291 married women with any demand for family planning. They measured community-level gender norms by aggregating men’s responses to five indicators of restrictive attitudes about contraception and women’s autonomy. A multilevel random intercepts logistic regression model assessed the associations between men’s norms, women’s empowerment, and contraceptive use.
Results Men’s restrictive attitudes—especially beliefs that contraception is solely a woman’s responsibility and that women using contraception become promiscuous—were widespread and negatively associated with women’s contraceptive use. In communities where these norms were strong, women’s education and wealth did not significantly improve contraceptive uptake. However, women who were employed or married as children showed higher contraceptive use even in restrictive environments. Employment was the most consistent protective factor, helping women maintain contraceptive use even where male-dominated norms were prevalent.
Conclusions Men’s attitudes exert a strong influence over women’s ability to meet their contraceptive needs, often outweighing the effects of women’s empowerment. Addressing only women’s empowerment without tackling harmful male norms is insufficient. Interventions must challenge restrictive gender norms while promoting women’s education, employment, and reproductive autonomy.
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