Gender and Reproductive Health: Religious and Social Perspectives to Women's Health Rights in Nigeria
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Date
2013-06-11
Authors
Eshiet, I
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Abstract
The paper assesses the religious and social perspectives to women's reproductive health rights in Nigeria. Reproductive health deals with the physical, mental and social wellbeing of individuals in all matters relating to their reproductive system. Reproductive health rights therefore, implies that individuals should be able to have a satisfying and safe sexual life, with the capability to reproduce and the freedom to decide if, when and
how often to do so. However, these rights are oftentimes hindered by socio-cultural and religious barriers. The paper utilizes secondary sources to gather information on the socio-cultural and religious barriers to women's reproductive health rights in Nigeria. The sociological theories of gender roles serve as the theoretical underpinning of the paper. Findings reveal that socio-cultural and religious attitudes have affected women's reproductive health in Nigeria, thus resulting in high incidence of unwanted pregnancies, abortions, maternal mortality and sexually transmitted infections. The paper recommends value reorientation as a panacea for this ugly situation. This should be done through community self-assessment approach in which culturally and religiously oriented reproductive health programmes are designed to meet women's reproductive health needs.
Description
Conference Papers
Keywords
Gender , Reproductive Health , Health Rights , Women
Citation
Eshiet, I (2013) Gender and Reproductive Health: Religious and Social Perspectives to Women's Health Rights in Nigeria.Paper presented at the Ninth International Conference on Interdisciplinary Social Sciences, held at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.