Women's multi-dimensional empowerment and the choice of modern contraceptives

Background: It has generally been accepted that women who are empowered are more likely to practice family planning. Much less has been known about the associations between women's empowerment and choice of family planning methods. This study aims to examine different dimensions of women's empowerment and how they may influence modern contraceptive use in selected African countries.

Methods: The outcome is categorized as follows: no modern contraceptive use, female-only modern contraceptives (i.e. methods that do not require men's involvement and awareness), and female-and-male methods (i.e. methods that require men's involvement and/or awareness). Male and female sterilization users are excluded because a series of questions on fertility and family planning negotiation and choice will not be applicable. Data come from the latest Demographic and Health Surveys in Namibia, Swaziland, and Zambia– countries that meet selection criteria. Bivariate and multivariate analyses are used to examine relationships between individual and community-level factors, women's empowerment and modern contraceptive use.

Results: Preliminary analyses show positive associations between the use and choice of contraceptives and each of the six dimensions of empowerment: household finance, social-cultural activities, health care, fertility preference, sex negotiation with spouse, and domestic violence, although the magnitude of the associations varies by country.

Implications: Next steps will be multivariate analyses, in which socio-demographic characteristics that may influence both women's empowerment and modern contraceptive use are controlled for. Findings of the study will provide insights to the relative importance of different dimensions of women's empowerment and family planning practice and recommendations to improve both.