Decision Making and Role Playing: Young Married Women's Sexual and Reproductive Health in Ahmedabad, India

Abstract

This MA thesis examines the decision-making capacity of young women married during adolescence within the context of their sexual and reproductive health in an urban ghetto in the city of Ahmedabad, India. Specifically, the development literature on married female adolescents (MFAs) is characterized by negative health indicators such as higher rates of unwanted pregnancies, reproductive tract infections, sexually transmitted diseases, high infant and maternal mortality and morbidity coupled with the phenomenon of early marriage, poverty and an overall lower social status. The result is a disempowering discourse that constructs and presents them as powerless victims who lack any decision-making capacity and are perpetually oppressed. This research is an effort to move the discussions of “Other third world women” outside the realm of victimization by challenging and destabilizing this disempowering, hegemonic discourse. We must ask what does decision making look like for these women, as exercised within the context of their sexual and reproductive health. This qualitative analysis is informed by primary research through focus groups and semi-structured interviews with young married women, and was conducted with the help of a local NGO, Mahila Patchwork Co-operative Society. The study provides insights on the young married women’s participation and role in determining their own health outcomes (negative and positive) to better inform programs and services offered by the community NGOs.