Background
The majority of studies analyzing men’s attitudes toward contraception have focused on women’s perception of men’s attitudes; few studies have directly taken into account the views of men. There have also been few studies that focus on men’s attitudes toward gender equality and contraception in urban areas. Gender equality refers to women and men having equal participation in decision making and control of resources, and equal value and treatment. This study aimed to fill these two gaps in knowledge. The researchers focused on four key hypotheses:
Gender equality refers to women and men having equal participation in decision making and control of resources, and equal value and treatment.
Researchers used data collected by the Measurement, Learning & Evaluation (MLE) Project in 2010 in the cities of Agra, Aligarh, Allahabad and Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh, India. The analyzed data came from 6,431 married men between the ages of 18 and 54 in the four target cities.
The multivariate analysis examining gender sensitive decision making shows a significant association between a high score of gender sensitive decision making and current modern contraceptive use as compared to non-users. The data also showed that, compared to men with less favorable attitudes about gender equality, the men with medium or high gender equality attitudes were significantly more likely to be users of modern FP methods.
The results found that, in urban areas, men’s attitudes on gender equality are an important factor in the use of FP methods. There exists a positive and significant relationship between men’s gender sensitive decision making and gender equal attitude scores with their likelihood of using a modern contraceptive method, but restrictions on mobility is not positively associated with contraceptive use.
There exists a positive and significant relationship between men’s gender sensitive decision making and gender equal attitude scores with their likelihood of using a modern contraceptive method, but restrictions on mobility is not positively associated with contraceptive use.
Programmatic Implications
This study fills a gap in the research on FP use as it focuses directly on men’s attitudes and the uptake of FP methods in urban settings. Results show the importance of FP programs engaging with men to enhance their attitudes toward gender equality. This can be done through peer outreach (interpersonal communication) or via the mass media. Such interventions may have an influence beyond contraceptive use to improve health and social outcomes for women, such as reducing gender based violence, preventing HIV infection and enhancing women’s participation in economic activities and thus their overall empowerment.
This story was originally written by the Measurement, Learning & Evaluation Project, which evaluated the Urban Reproductive Health Initiatives (UHRIs) in Kenya, Senegal, Nigeria and India. The Challenge Initiative is charged with expanding access to the proven solutions and successes developed under the UHRIs.
