Women in Marriage and Use of Family Planning Services
A Feminist Approach
Abstract
After the colonial rules in Nigeria gender inequality has been institutionalized and the scars of gender division of labour especially in decision making in marriage are still being battled with up till the era of fundamental human rights. The study therefore explored the influence of socio-economic and cultural factors on the use of modern family planning services by married women in Nkanu area of Enugu state, Nigeria. It focused on married women’s awareness and utilization of modern family planning services, who decides when to access or not to access these family planning services in marriage. Therefore the objectives were to ascertain if married women in the research area were aware and accessed family planning services. Both quantitative and qualitative interviews were conducted with 1002 respondents using interviews, focus group discussions and in-depth interviews. The research design for the study was cross-sectional survey design. Respondents were from Nkanu –West and Enugu-East local government areas of Enugu state and only couples who were currently in union and had been in marriage for at least one year with or without children and had sought family planning services or not participated in the study. The result showed that the married women in the study area have knowledge of modern family planning services; but the decision to use or not was the prerogative of the husband no matter the level of education of wife and even of husband. Therefore the conclusion shows that there is unequal power relationship in marriage, the level of education of couple especially that of the husband and his knowledge of modern family planning services is improved but not the major determinant of use of family planning services in the study area. The researchers recommend that there is dire need for restructuring the socialization process that should be inclusive of socialization agents in the prerogative of fundamental human rights especially in the study area.
