Abstract
Several policy initiatives support the empowerment of women to improve their reproductive health. Little is known, however, about the inverse effect that reproductive health might have on women’s empowerment. Women are pressured to conform to their reproductive role, and an inability to do so might affect their empowerment, including control over their own body. This study uses a panel dataset of 504 married women in Northern Tanzania. We find that women who suffered a pregnancy loss show more tolerant views of partner violence (regr. coefficient -0.363; p-value: 0.001), and that child mortality lowers their perceived control over the sexual relationship with their spouse (odds ratio 0.262; p-value: 0.016). The number of children alive did not affect bodily integrity. These results confirm that women’s bodily integrity is partly dependent on the ability to fulfil their reproductive role. They strengthen the case for policies and programmes that improve women’s reproductive health, and underline the importance of counselling after pregnancy or child loss.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 323–341 |
Number of pages | 19 |
Journal | Studies in Family Planning |
Volume | 48 |
Issue number | 4 |
Early online date | 10 Aug 2017 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Dec 2017 |
Keywords
- Reproductive health
- bodily integrity
- empowerment
- pregnancy loss
- intimate partner violence
- child mortality
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tanzania
Profiles
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Ben D'Exelle
- School of Global Development - Professor of Economics
- Centre for Behavioural and Experimental Social Science - Member
- Behavioural Economics - Member
- Behavioural and Experimental Development Economics - Member
- Environment, Resources and Conflict - Member
- Gender and Development - Member
- Impact Evaluation - Member
Person: Research Group Member, Academic, Teaching & Research